One piece of current legislation that the GAC is monitoring is the Fair Chance Licensing bill. This bill has the potential to affect licensure or practice for 30-plus different occupations and professions. The current law allows each professional or occupational board to deny an individual the ability to practice due to a conviction, with few limits. An individual may be denied for a felony or even a misdemeanor that “relates” or “adversely affects” the individual’s occupation. The proposed new legislation would implement a pre-application process and require individualized consideration of all applicants guided by factor-based analysis. The legislation — as currently written — would also shorten the current 20-year lookback on convictions and limit consideration of older convictions after a period of conviction-free years. Twenty-six-plus states across the U.S. have already implemented the factor-based analysis, and another 10 have partially implemented these standards, while some 11-plus states have fully implemented the limitations on older convictions, and another eight have partially implemented these standards. The GAC will continue to monitor this bill as it moves through the legislature and look to our membership for input regarding how to proceed.

Another topic discussed in detail in the last few months is the licensure for Interior Designers. Our committee was invited and attended an open forum with AIA national and other state AIA members across the country to discuss this subject. Licensure for interior designers is a current trend in several states across the country that could allow interior designers to do limited work without needing to team or work with a licensed architect. Although there is no current legislation in Wyoming pushing to license interior designers, it is picking up speed across the country. It has the potential to greatly affect the two professions.

The GAC was contacted by the State Board of Architects about the possibility of introducing an amendment to the Practice Act to the 2023 State Legislature. They are asking our membership if there are items in the Practice Act that need to be changed and how they should proceed. The meeting with the State Board is tentatively scheduled for October or November of this year. The GAC membership will be reaching out to State Legislators as a resource as the bill develops.

Along with our lobbyist, Will Wedemeyer, the GAC will develop a grassroots program that will help our committee react as new legislation is introduced that impacts the profession of architecture. This program will consist of a list of strategic partnerships between our membership and state legislators and will allow us to reach out and advocate more quickly and effectively on behalf of the AIA membership.

The conversation about taxing professional services came up in the last legislative session and will continue to be a point of discussion while the State wrestles with budget shortfalls. The GAC will continue to keep the membership informed about future bills.

In a cost-saving measure by the State, a bill was introduced to the 2021 legislature that would have repealed the state statute that requires 1% of the cost of state-funded projects to go toward public art. After hearing about the bill, the GAC membership reached out to their local legislators to discuss what this means and whether this was truly a cost-saving measure when the state was already cutting back on capital construction projects. The bill failed in appropriations.

The Wyoming State Board of Architects is looking for new members. Several members are stepping down, and AIA Wyoming has been asked to help fill these positions. If you are interested or know someone interested, please contact Emily Cronbaugh with the State Board of Architects.

Finally, if any of these issues or others are of particular interest to you, please contact a member of the committee and let us know how we can help our fellow members advocate for the good of the profession.

The Government Advocacy Committee (GAC) of AIA Wyoming works to educate and engage our members while advocating on behalf of the AIA membership on legislation and regulations that support the value of architecture. The committee meets remotely once a month and is looking for new members. If interested, please contact Dale Buckingham.