CSAA Signals
Vol. 10, No. 2 —January 15, 2004
440 Maple Avenue East, Suite 201, Vienna, VA 22180
703-242-4670; Fax 703-242-4675

Vienna, Va., January 15, 2004--The Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) and the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) announced today their intent to vigorously pursue the Alarm Monitoring Licensing Standards and Reciprocity Act of 2004. This Bill is being introduced to the 107th Congress, 2nd Session, and has the interest of a number of Senators and Congressmen.

Click here to access a copy of the Alarm Monitoring Licensing Standards and Reciprocity Act of 2004.

According to Bill Signer, AICC representative on Capitol Hill, “after working closely with the members of CSAA and the AICC on reciprocity legislation over the years, I believe that this issue is clearly positioned to have the best opportunity in years since the Congress is intent on moving legislation that makes it easier for companies to conduct business across state lines in this electronic era. Also, they know they are behind the times on these issues. We are thrilled that so many organizations are joining us in seeking a national resolution to this problem plaguing central stations across the U.S.”.

Several years ago, the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) was approached by the Security Industry Association's (SIA) Third Party Monitoring Group who indicated that the issue of licensing and reciprocity between states was an issue of considerable importance to many third-party monitoring companies and asked the AICC to address it. Subsequently, CSAA developed a licensing and reciprocity draft standard. Soon after, the AICC decided that a more effective method of establishing a licensing reciprocity initiative was to move it though Congress in the form of a Bill that would apply universally to all states.

Subsequently, at the behest of some state security licensing regulators, the issue was given over to their professional association, the National Association of State Investigative Regulators, NASIR, who believed that they could get reciprocal licensing arrangements between the states. However, after three years, there were only three states with reciprocal licensing agreements and those were questionable.

"Clearly, the time has come for the monitoring industry to pursue this issue at the federal level. This issue has been more than a financial burden on monitoring companies; it has been a tremendous physical burden, as they have to send employees to various states for fingerprinting, etc. In this day and age that is unacceptable,” said CSAA’s Executive Vice President Steve Doyle.

Last year, a draft of the Bill was presented to the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) for review and they have subsequently suggested that the AICC/CSAA initiative be incorporated into one of the pending Homeland Security Bills as this process moves forward.

According to David Avritt, chairman of the SIA Third Party Monitoring Group and a member of CSAA’s Board of Directors, "we are pleased that this issue is finally getting the national recognition that it deserves. This will benefit not only the third party companies, but many others who monitor across state lines. There is no consistency between state requirements and more and more state laws are making it extremely difficult to conduct monitoring across state lines--this issue must be addressed”.

Joe Miskulin, chairman of the Proprietary Central Station Council and superintendent of the State Farm Central Station operations commented that ”all of the companies in the PCSC have licensing reciprocity issues and it is one of our highest priorities. We are pleased that this will represent the interests of all of our proprietary central stations, which includes some of the largest companies in the U.S., such as State Farm, Wal-Mart, Target, Boeing, John Deer and Company, the Eckerd Corp, AutoZone, and many other nationally known companies”.

Lou Fiore, Chairman of the AICC, commented that "the time is right and the entire industry needs, and wants this Bill, so we are pressing ahead with what we have to do. The AICC has worked on this Bill for almost two years now accommodating the concerns of as many organizations as possible and we are now ready to move forward”.

CSAA President Dick Sampson noted that "there will be an opportunity for all interested parties to join in planning the campaign to move this legislation forward at the upcoming NAMTSE meeting in Memphis, April 15-19, 2004. NAMTSE is the only major industry meeting and exposition that is designed by and for alarm dealers, and it is open to all. As a result, it is a truly fitting place to kick off the campaign."

For further information, please contact either Steve Doyle, CSAA Executive Vice President at 703-242-4670, Ext. 13.