NBFAA and Rep. Arcuri Succeed with Life Safety Legislation

June 19, 2008

The National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) Government Relations team met with success as they recently worked with Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY) to insert fire life safety alarms language into H.R. 3021, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act.

The measure directs the Secretary of Education to use $6.4 billion in authorized grants to state educational agencies for the modernization, renovation, or repair of public school facilities. When the bill first passed through the House Education and Labor Committee, it only mentioned fire and safety standards as one of the areas for grant recipients.

Arcuri and his staff worked along with the House Education and Labor Committee staff and were able to insert a ‘manager’s amendment;’ a last minute change to the final bill before it was approved by the full House. The amendment added the phrase, “including professional installation of fire/life safety alarms,’ to the following section:

“(3) bringing public schools in compliance with fire, health, and safety codes, including professional installation of fire/life safety alarms, including modernizations, renovations, and repairs that ensure schools are prepared for emergencies, such as improving building infrastructure to accommodate security measures;”

“These alarms are necessary to alert students, staff and teachers to evacuate a public school facility when an emergency is detected. Professional installers, such as NBFAA member companies, are essential to the proper functioning of fire or security alarm systems since they are proficient in electronic systems and the codes and standards for this type of equipment installation,” explained NBFAA President George P. Gunning

NBFAA will continue to work on this important legislation in the Senate to see that the language is preserved, and encourages all those interested in life safety issues to support our efforts. To find out more about this and other important life safety legislation supported by NBFAA visit www.alarm.org or contact John Chwat, NBFAA Government Relations director at gov.info@alarm.org.

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

ON DEMAND: DevSecOps creates an environment of shared responsibility for security, where AppSec and development teams become more collaborative. With the right training and tools, developers can become more hands-on with security and, with that upskilling, stand out among their peers... however, they need the security specialists on-side, factoring them into securing code from the start and championing this mindset across the company.

ON DEMAND: The insider threat—consisting of scores of different types of crimes and incidents—is a scourge even during the best of times. But the chaos, instability and desperation that characterize crises also catalyze both intentional and unwitting insider attacks. Learn how your workers, contractors, volunteers and partners are exploiting the dislocation caused by today's climate of Coronavirus, unemployment, disinformation and social unrest.

Security Magazine

2020 October

This month in Security magazine, we explore how Corning's global security group ensured business continuity and employee safety during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Also, we highlight the global security team at Uber and their recent security programs and initiatives. Industry experts discuss travel safety programs, career hackers, working for terrible bosses, group attribution error and more.

View More Create Account

NBFAA and Rep. Arcuri Succeed with Life Safety Legislation

Related Articles

Report Abusive Comment