February is upon us and we have already accomplished a great deal.
The Virginia General Assembly is in session and has been a major area of focus for AIA Virginia. We have been advocating on your behalf and have had some great victories thus far. In addition, we have been able to influence the defeat of several bills that we saw as problematic. These bills include HB 2072 which would have allowed public bodies to conduct negotiations simultaneously with the top two ranked offerors. How about the smack-down of HB 2804 that would have required design professionals working with state agencies to install software that allows for the verification of the number of hours worked on a project using a computer. Bills pertaining to the reduction of Greenhouse gas emissions have not been successful. When the
The PAC contributions that you made in 2018 provided us numerous opportunities to be present at fundraisers and build personal relationships with legislators. We are seeing the fruits of that labor this session. Our [AIA Virginia and ACEC Virginia] bill, HB 2198 passed the House and is now waiting to be heard in the Senate. This bill will close the Qualifications Based Selection [QBS] “loophole” currently present which inadvertently erased this requirement for public bodies in the law. We successfully influenced HB 1738 which will require all school building projects, new work and renovations, to be reviewed by a person or entity with professional expertise in building security and crime prevention through building design. We have a verbal commitment from a bill patron to work with AIA Virginia in having an architect appointed to the Commission on School Innovation, Modernization, and Competitiveness being proposed by HB 2168. Thank you for making investing into the PAC part of your annual business procedures. Please make your 2019 investment at www.aiavapac.org.
And finally, our team is working hard on the upcoming Art of Practice. We will be hosting this biennial event at the Winery at Bull Run in Northern Virginia on Friday, March 22. Come spend the day in a great venue as we will have experts delivering content on topics such as recruiting, retention, succession planning, and persuasive communication.
This is a great time to be a part of AIA Virginia and our respective local components. Collectively, we are doing the necessary work to increase member value and positively advance our profession forward. I encourage you to take a moment and experience it for yourself!
Corey Clayborne, AIA, MBA
Executive Vice President