Committee Members:
Mitch Blake, AIA
Cornelius Kinsey, AIA
Lewis Matthew Miller, AIA
Lyle Murtha, AIA
Charlie Van Over, AIA
Will Wedemeyer, AIA
Will Wheatley, AIA
The mission of the Government Advocacy Committee is to advocate for legislation and regulations that support the value of architecture. 2023 was an exciting year for AIA Wyoming and the profession of architecture. For a few years and with the support of the membership of the chapter, AIA Wyoming has been working in collaboration with the Wyoming Board of Architects and Landscape Architects (WBALA) to review and possibly make changes to the Architects Practice Act. This year, the stars aligned with two great boards (AIA Wyoming and WBALA) working together and our very own member and legislator, Senator Stephan Pappas, AIA Emeritus. We requested that Senator Pappas sponsor a bill to make amendments to the Practice Act.
The large part and focus of this bill were to allow alternative paths to licensure outside attending a National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB) Program, which Wyoming does not have. AIA Wyoming also supported changes to administrative burdens and authority to provide grant funds that were also included in this bill. After months of working on the agreed-upon language, SF 113 Practice Act Amendments legislation was considered during the 2023 State of Wyoming Legislative Session. We thank the sponsors of the bill and the members of the Senate and House Travel Committees for their support of this legislation as it went to the floor of both Houses for consideration. Once the legislation was officially passed, we celebrated by attending the signing of the bill by Governor Mark Gordon. Thank you to the members of AIA Wyoming, the Government Advocacy Committee, the Board of Directors and staff for their grassroots efforts in contacting legislators throughout the months to support this effort. Thank you to our affiliate organizations, WBALA, National Council of Architectural Regulation Board (NCARB), and Council of Landscape Architectural Boards (CLARB) for this collaborative effort.
Since the passing of this bill, AIA Wyoming organized a Task Force of members to assist WBALA in crafting the rulemaking language. The Task Force includes Randy Byers, AIA; Clint Taylor, AIA; Mitch Blake, AIA; Lewis Matthew Miller, AIA and Dale Buckingham, AIA. The work continues, and we look forward to the outcome and seeing more architects in Wyoming.
Other state legislation the chapter supported during the 2023 Legislative Session consisted of the support for Governor Mark Gordon’s request for increasing the funds into the Corpus of the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund. Lastly, we monitored a bill that would provide a tax credit for expenditures to improve abandoned and nuisance buildings.
Another achievement for our chapter was making visits to Washington, D.C., by our President, Dale Buckingham, AIA and Executive Director, Susan Menghini. They made visits to all three offices of our Wyoming Congressional Leadership with Federal issues that all AIA members across the country also discussed with their Congressional Leadership. Lobby Day 2023 provided architect members with a platform to directly advocate for legislation impacting the profession before Members of Congress and Congressional staff. Topics of discussion included two bipartisan pieces of legislation: the Resilient AMERICA Act, which would make significant changes to the federal government’s ability to prepare communities for future natural disaster events, and the request for no federal mandate on architectural design.
We were not able to attend the AIA’s State and Local Government Network Conference, but we hope to participate next year. Architects must have a seat at the table when important civic decisions are made and must play a vital role in crafting public policy solutions that address the most prominent issues facing states and cities. By advocating solutions within the built environment to address issues like school safety, climate change and affordable housing, architects are at the forefront of solving these critical challenges. The more architects work with state and local elected officials, the greater the positive impact on these and other important issues facing the profession, the business and our communities.
The committee continues to work on local, state and federal issues surrounding the profession. We are pleased with our success in 2023. We are appreciative of our engaged members and industry partners.
