TEXAS FUSION CENTER PRIVACY POLICY BILL

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TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY SIGNS H.B.3324 - THE FUSION CENTER PRIVACY POLICY BILL

Effective Immediately!

From the Desk of Paul Landers, Texas Motorcycle Rights Association State Chairman

On Saturday morning June 18th, the calls started coming into the Texas Motorcycle Rights Association state office. Governor Rick Perry had

signed into law H.B.3324, a.k.a The Fusion Center Privacy Policy. On the Governor's website he expressed that some of the laws he had signed
were to keep Texans from less government intrusion which is exactly what this law will do.

As reported earlier, the Texas Motorcycle Rights Association (TMRA2) along with many other rights groups and coalition partners worked this
historical civil rights bill all the way to the end with a relentless fervor, and vowing to never give up.

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/ tlodocs/82R/billtext/pdf/ HB03324F.pdf#navpanes=0

This is what the law means to Texans:

H.B.3324: Was signed by the Governor on June 17,2011, and will become law effective September 1, 2011. The law will requires all fusion
centers in Texas (including El Paso) to create a strong privacy policy which at a minimum prevent the collection of non-criminal information
based solely on political, religious, or social views. This law is a huge victory for Texans and is the first civil rights bill passed by the
Lone Star State in decades.

What started as a local effort to create a strong privacy policy for the Austin Regional Intelligence Center was introduced in a state law
requiring Texas Fusion Centers to respect the constitutional rights involving privacy and protected liberties of Texas citizens.

The strongest language in the law was amended by Senator Kirk Watson under S.B.1572 and then merged into the language under

Ruth McClendon's Fusion Center bill, H.B.3324, to provide the following:

Sec. 421.085. PRIVACY POLICY REQUIRED.

(a) Requires each fusion center
operating in this state to adopt a privacy policy providing at a minimum
that, with respect to an individual or organization, the fusion center:
(1) Will not seek, collect, or retain information that is based solely
on any of the following factors, as applicable to that individual or
organization:
(A) religious, political, or social views or activities;
(B) participation in a particular organization or event; or
(C) race, ethnicity, citizenship, place of origin, age, disability,
gender, or sexual orientation; and
(2) will take steps to ensure than any agency that submits information
to the fusion center does not submit information based solely on a
factor described by Subdivision (1).
(b) Prohibits a factor described by Subsection (a) (1), in a criminal
investigation, from alone giving rise to reasonable suspicion.
Authorizes a factor described by Subsection (a)(1), however, to be used
in connection with a specific description of a suspect in the
investigation.
(example: They cannot collect data on you or your organization because
of the club you are in (INCLUDING VETERAN CLUBS), the people you
associate with, the religion you believe in (this is all religions), the
political bumper stickers on your vehicle, because you attended a
political protest, because you went to a motorcycle rally, because you
are a Ron Paul, or Tea Party supporter, because you are a member of the
NRA or any other second amendment group or association, because of the
color of your skin, because you are old and/or disabled, and despite
what gender or sexual orientation you are.)

Prior to passing this law, there was no oversight at the state level for
fusion centers in Texas. The United States Department of Justice has
released guidelines for best practices in response to many concerns and
obvious issues at some centers nationally, including one specifically in
Texas.

C.S.H.B. 3324 codifies a Texas Fusion Center Policy Council (policy
council) recently created by the Department of Public Safety of the
State of Texas (DPS). The policy council consists of representatives
from the fusion centers and is given responsibility for, among other
things, making recommendations to DPS on rules regarding governing the
operations of fusion centers in Texas.
The policy council will share best practices as well as develop and
share strategies for meeting federal standards. Additionally, the
policy council would create a privacy advisory group with at least one
privacy advocate.

(This part of the law means that an ordinary citizen not affiliated with
DPS or any of the government agencies will sit on the Policy Council to
represent "The People of Texas".)

C.S.H.B. 3324 requires DPS rules to include guidelines for a common
concept of operations, monitoring activities by the policy council, and
adherence to state and federal laws designed to protect privacy and
other legal rights of individuals.

C.S.H.B. 3324 amends current law relating to the operations and
monitoring of fusion centers in the state. The law amends the
Government Code to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to
create the Texas Fusion Center Policy Council. The law includes
guidelines and duties that would apply to Texas Fusion Center Policy
Council. Following recommendations of the Texas Fusion Center Policy
Council, the Law would require DPS to adopt rules to govern the
operations of fusion centers in this state.

The Law would require fusion centers to pay any costs associated with
certain audits and prevent fusion centers from receiving state grant
money if the center does not comply with certain guidelines required by
rules to be adopted by DPS. Members of the policy council would not be
entitled to compensation, but would be entitled to reimbursement for
travel expenses.
The bill would require each fusion center to adopt a privacy policy.

SECTION 6. Amends Subchapter E, Chapter 421, Government Code, by adding
Sections 421.083, 421.084, 421.085, and 421.086, as follows:

Sec. 421.083. TEXAS FUSION CENTER POLICY COUNCIL. (a) Requires DPS to
create the policy council and the bylaws for the policy council to
assist DPS in monitoring fusion center activities in this state.
(b) Provides that the policy council is composed of one executive
representative from each recognized fusion center operating in this
state.
(c) Requires the policy council to:
(1) develop and disseminate strategies to:
(A) facilitate the implementation of applicable federal standards and
programs on a statewide basis by each fusion center operating in this
state;
(B) expand and enhance the statewide intelligence capacity to reduce
the threat of terrorism and criminal enterprises; and
(C) continuously review critical issues pertaining to homeland security
activities;
(2) establish a privacy advisory group, with at least one member who is
a privacy advocate, to advise the policy council and to meet at the
direction of the policy council; and
(3) recommend best practices for each fusion center operating in this
state, including:
(A) best practices to ensure that the center adheres to 28 C.F.R. Part
23 and any other federal or state law designed to protect privacy and
the other legal rights of individuals; and
(B) best practices for the smooth exchange of information among all
fusion centers operating in this state.

(The Privacy Policy Council will be helpful in continuously reviewing
issues of civil rights violations involving Fusion Centers.)

Sec. 421.084. FUSION CENTERS OPERATING IN THIS STATE: RULES AND
MONITORING. Sec. (a) Requires DPS, after considering the
recommendations of the center under Section 421.082(b)(4), and the
policy council under Section 421.083(c)(3), to adopt rules to govern the
operations of fusion centers in this state, including guidelines to:

Section (d) Prohibits a fusion center from receiving state grant money
if the fusion center adopts a rule, order, ordinance, or policy under
which the fusion center fails or refuses to comply with rules adopted by
DPS under Subsection

(a), beginning with the first state fiscal year occurring after the
center adopts the rule, order, ordinance, or policy.

(This means if the Centers do not adopt these rules, they will NOT
receive grant money.)

Sec. 421.086. REPORT. Requires the policy council annually to submit
to the governor and to each house of the legislature a report that
contains, with respect to the preceding year:
(1) The council's progress in developing and coordinating the statewide
fusion effort and intelligence network described by the governor's
homeland security strategy;
(2) the progress made by fusion centers operating in this state in
meeting the fusion center guidelines developed under the Department of
Homeland Security State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center Initiative
established under 6 U.S.C. Section 124h; and
(3) a summary of fusion center audits or reviews conducted under
applicable rules adopted by DPS.

(The Fusion Center privacy council will now have to report directly to
the Governor and legislature on all their actions and progress in
changing their guidelines to meet this state law. No report to the
legislators was required prior to the passage of this law.)

It is our hope that every state that contains one or more of these intelligence gathering facilities will use our Privacy Policy
Legislation to protect the Civil Rights of ALL citizen bikers in their own individual state.

The Texas Motorcycle Rights Association would like to thank everyone who worked so hard on this law to make it happen. The Fusion

center bill was introduced under three different authors. Many thanks to Senator Kirk Watson and his staff for S.B.1572,

Rep. Sefronia Thompson and her staff for H.B.3219, and to Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon and her staff for H.B.3324.

Our gratitude to TAG, ACLU, and to all who testified (especially the Veteran MC's), our TMRA2 Legislative Task Force for walking the

process through from start to finish, The Rebel Riders MC for providing video evidence, The Texas COC&I for bringing the problem to our

attention, the US Defenders/ COIR, TMRA2 and everyone else who called and sent over 10,000 letters in support of the bills. This historic

Legislation to protect the rights of ALL motorcyclists would not have been possible without our entire community pulling together to remind our Legislators
that they work for us, and our best interests need to be their best interests!

Respect to all,

Paul Landers
State Chairman - Texas Motorcycle Rights Association
National Lt. Commander - US Defenders