2018 Directory

8 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .18 | www.aia-wyoming.org An Architect's Voice When most people in this country think about getting active in politics, pictures of Washington DC automatically come to mind. BY ANNE LAW, ESQ , AIA DIRECTOR AND COUNSEL, STATE AND LOCAL POLICY H aving spent over 10 years lobbying on the federal level, the same rang true for me at first. However, when you sit down and think about all the policies that most directly impact your daily life, the deci- sion makers are usually the ones located at the state and the local level. This rings especially true for architects since the state licenses and regulates architects by setting the minimum standards that one needs to meet, as well as disciplining them when appropriate. Archi- tects also have to design buildings to typically meet state building codes as well as comply with local codes, ordinances, and zoning in order to obtain a building permit for a project. Currently there is a national trend at the state level attacking licensure across the board for occupations as well as professions in an effort to remove burdensome regulations that may be preventing people from finding a job and working. There have been more than one instance where a state legislator didn’t under- stand what an architect actually did or why they needed to be regulated by the state since he thought architects just drew pictures. In order not to be swept up and included as one of the professions that is de-regulated, it is im- portant that architects reach out and educate their state elected representatives about what it is that they actually do and why regulation of the profession is important. Another trend that has taken hold nationally is the effort to rollback building codes based on the argument that they are too expensive and costly. Who is in a better position to explain to state lawmakers why the building code should continually be updated than the professionals who are required to make sure their buildings are designed up to code and to explain that the costs shouldn’t be measured solely by the upfront initial costs. Measures that are incorporated at the beginning of the design phase of a building can save enormous amounts of money over the life of the building especially if it is built more resilient to with- stand the rapid changes in weather we are now currently encountering. These are just two instances of where an archi- tect’s voice could be a very valuable addition to the conversation. Architects are often subject matter experts in a wide variety of issue areas and can be a resource for state and local policy makers to help them to better understand the multitude of issues they encounter. If you want to become that trusted advisor, the first and hardest step often is how to begin devel- oping that relationship with a policy maker. If you ever need help please feel free to reach out! That’s what I am here for. b