Legislative Update: Jan. 30, 2012

Posted on by cguske
All but one of the bills seeking to protect Virginians’ jobs from outside sources were voted down in committee Thursday night, Jan. 25.  But the bills concerning eminent domain still remain.The VSAIA and representatives of several other business organizations have scheduled a tentative meeting with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling for Monday morning.  Our complaint with the constitutional amendment and those bills seeking to modify the amendment is the uncertainty that they engender.Virginia’s eminent domain law worked well for many years.  And in reaction to the 2005 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London, Virginia legislators in 2007 revised existing law.  This law appeared to respond to the inequities revealed in Kelo.  But in the 2011 session, legislators believed a constitutional amendment was necessary.

The amendment, which must pass two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly and be approved by the voters, and the 2012 pending legislation make it impossible to advise architects’ clients on the probable cost and time requirement for their potential projects.  Or even to suggest that one site might be better than two or three others being considered.  The members of the Joint Legislative Committee (JLC) – representing of the VSAIA, the Virginia Association of Professional Engineers, and the American Council of Engineering Companies/Virginia – believe these legislative measures go too far.  Some of this year’s legislation inserts provisions that would compensate land owners for “lost access and lost profits.”  These and other provisions make the construction projects less certain and more expensive, the JLC members believe.

The protectionism bills did not attempt to adjust the existing language that allows Virginia state agencies and localities to mimic the procedures adopted by neighboring states.  For example, protectionist language that exists in North Carolina law will be used against North Carolina vendors who wish to conduct business in Virginia.

The JLC also opposes a bill to require localities to use the e-Virginia (eVA) site to advertise their upcoming projects.  Currently, localities must advertise in a “newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the contract is to be performed.”  Architects on the JLC complained about eVA’s performance and the quality of projects generated.

Within the myriad bills and interests represented in those bills lie a few measures that the VSAIA will support.  The VSAIA will support the high-performance buildings bills introduced by Del. Chris Jones and Sen. Chapman Petersen (HB 1167  and SB 160) and three bills that support procedures already being conducted by the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (HB 390, HB 937, and HB 938).

Architects representing the VSAIA on the JLC committee are David Puckett, AIA, and William Evans, AIA.  The committee meets weekly during the session to work with our legislative counsel Reggie Jones and Patrick Cushing, both of Williams Mullen.

Practice
Oppose:  Bills would amend constitutional amendment concerning eminent domain

HB 5, HB 597, HB 1145, HJ 3, SB 240, SJ 3, SJ 67, and SJ 117

 

Committees reviewing these bills killed most of them January 25
HB 449, HB 529, HB 530, SB 377, SB 525,  SB 526, SB 572, SB 589, SB 601

 

Amend:  Bill would provide tax incentives for large firms hiring SWAM businesses. JLC would delete a provision to narrow the “small” definition to those only in underutilized business zones.

HB 228

 

Oppose:  Quality of e-Virginia’s product for architects does not match that found in print media.

HB 1193

 

Regulation

Support:  Would require General Assembly to receive study from DPOR prior to considering regulating any profession.   Would expedite licenses for qualified spouses of military personnel (APELSCIDLA does this for all applicants already).  Would accept qualified military experience in consideration of licensure by comity (APELSCIDLA does this for all applicants already).

HB 390, HB 937, and HB 938

 

Energy

Support:  Would establish specific energy criteria continually updated by Department of General Services and based upon LEED, Green Globes, and other standards.

HB 1167 and SB 160

 

Support:  Would require the Virginia Department of General Services to audit all state-owned buildings 50,000 s.f. or larger to determine their energy footprint and to update that analysis annually.

SB 621

 


APELSCIDLA Update: June-July

Posted on by cguske

Draft legislation concerning unlicensed practice and continuing education was shown to architects serving on the regulatory board at their May meeting.  The architects and board staff had no official comments, but offered some suggestions.

The first of the two proposed measures aims to add flexibility to the continuing education requirements that, if passed, would put Virginia in a good position to accommodate changes being discussed at the national level by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.  The second aims to strengthen the laws identifying unlicensed practice.

Architects serving on the committee are J. Everette “Ebo” Fauber, AIA-E, James Boyd, AIA, and Michael LeMay, AIA.  Boyd was elected as section chairman for the 2011–2012 year.

In discussing continuing education, Fauber explained that the nation’s registration boards are all over the map with their requirements.  For example, Virginia requires 16 hours per biennium.  Fauber said 34 jurisdictions require 12 per year.  Most jurisdictions specifically require hours in health, safety, and welfare.  Virginia does not.  The more critical element to standardizing criteria nationally, he and Boyd agreed, was the reporting period end date. 

NCARB’s model law is being reviewed in an attempt to establish common criteria throughout the country including a single reporting date.  Currently in Virginia, the month an architect received his license is the reporting — or re-registration — date every other year.  In allowing the board to slide architects’ re-registration dates to a single date, those architects licensed in multiple jurisdictions would find it easier to manage their records.  

Delegates to NCARB’s national meeting in June will discuss and vote on the package of resolutions that includes revising its model law.

The proposals concerning unlicensed practice initially have been inserted into the list of unlawful acts that apply to any occupation requiring a license.  To the existing list of nine acts, the VSAIA is suggesting three.  These are:

  1. Entering into a contract to provide a professional or occupational regulated service or offering to provide a regulated service without holding a valid license to provide the regulated service.
  2. Advertising to provide services regulated by the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation when the individual or business entity is not certified or licensed to practice the regulated occupation including, but not limited to, telephone directory listings, Internet websites, and radio and television advertisements. 
  3. Including unlicensed persons or business entities in published rosters or lists of persons who offer a regulated service where the person or business entity is not certified or licensed to offer the regulated service, including telephone directories, Internet sites, newspapers and periodicals.   

Both of these proposals were viewed earlier by the Joint Legislative Committee (JLC), which will determine how to refine the drafts prior to the 2012 legislative session.  Along with the VSAIA, the JLC comprises the two statewide engineering societies:  the American Council of Engineering Companies and the Virginia Society of Professional Engineers.