PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Year in Review BY MITCH BLAKE, AIA In February, AIA Wyoming was represented by Jessica Howard (executive director), Ellen Martin (associate director), and myself at the annual Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. During the summit, AIA National President Evelyn Lee, FAIA, pointed out that membership in AIA National has passed 100,000 people, a big milestone for our professional organization. She identified several areas where our profession is evolving in response to emerging technologies and expanding spheres of influence. Evelyn also led an engaging panel discussion with Leah Alissa Bayer and Illya Azaroff. Leah has a virtual firm that is staffed remotely and does multi-family housing, custom residential, master planning and workplace design. Illya is the president-elect of AIA National and runs a practice focused on disaster response, climate adaptation and resilient design. Illya’s office operates on a 32-hour work week. Keynote speaker Baratunde Thurston, host of the podcasts “How to Citizen with Baratunde” and “Life with Machines” and host of the TV show “America Outdoors,” spoke on the importance of active citizenship for professionals. He shared his philosophy of using the word “citizen” as a verb, encouraging us to get involved in our communities and utilize our skills as architects for the greater good. Another item discussed at the summit was AIA National’s focus on the Framework for Design Excellence in its awards programs. They are encouraging local AIA chapters to incorporate these principles into their local awards. At the conclusion of the Leadership Summit, we went to Capitol Hill to lobby Wyoming’s congressional leadership. Jessica, Ellen, and I were privileged to meet with Senator Barrasso, Senator Lummis, and Representative Hageman, as well as their staff members, at “Wyoming Wednesday,” where we discussed the following topics given to us by AIA National: \ Design Freedom for Federal Architecture h Requested support for the Democracy in Design Act and opposition to any efforts to remove local control, hinder design freedom, or add bureaucratic hurdles for approval of federal building designs. \ Arbitrary Fee Limitations for Federal Contracts h Requested that Congress should direct the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council to amend the FAR to align with clear statutory language, pass legislation to eliminate arbitrary fee limitations and mandate Qualified Based Selection (QBS) fair fee negotiations for all architectural and engineering (A/E) design contracts across the federal government. \ Architects Support More Housing h Requested that Congress fund or expand programs that enable more affordable and workforce housing to be built. h Requested support for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. h Requested support for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. h Requested support for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and Workforce Housing Tax Credit. \ Architects Support Community Resiliency h Requested that Congress act decisively to prioritize resilience in the nation’s built environment. h Requested support for the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program. h Requested that Congress introduce legislation similar to the Resilient AMERICA Act to better protect our communities from the devastating impacts of natural disasters. h Requested that Congress introduce legislation similar to The Shelter Act that offers a 25% tax credit for qualified disaster mitigation expenditures, capped at $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for businesses. Also requested that Congress incentivize investments in resilience by individuals and businesses, encouraging proactive measures to protect properties and communities. 5
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