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AIA Maryland |
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2008 Legislative Update American Joe Miedusiewski As of this writing the 2008 Maryland General Assembly is in day 13 of its 90 – day legislative session. Coming on the heels of a Special Session called by Governor O'Malley to address a $1.5 billion structural deficit, the next eleven weeks promise to be more demanding for legislators than usual. Fiscal experts predict that the deficit will continue for a couple more years, albeit at a lower level. Observers are expecting that fatigue and a lack of state money will dampen legislative efforts on bills that have a fiscal note (price tag). To date a combination of 412 house and senate bills have been introduced. Conversations have been getting greener in the halls of our state capital in recent years. Talk of green buildings, heightened interest in the environment and energy conservation efforts abound. While this refreshing attitude is an encouraging sign, caution over the state's present fiscal situation has caused a dampening effect on green initiatives. However, there is reason to be optimistic. The Maryland Green Buildings Standards Act of 2008, would require state buildings over $5M where the state provides $2M to be high performance buildings. Additionally, when the cost of renovating a state building or school is $2M or more and the state provides at least $2M, the building is required to be a high performance building. However, there is a provision which requires the Department of Budget and Management to perform an analysis of compliance versus benefits, which could result in a waiver of the bill's high performance provisions. AIA MD will consider whether amendments are appropriate or to proceed with more strongly worded legislation. A bill establishing a task force on classroom indoor air quality standards is laudable, but as drafted it has no provision for an architect or mechanical engineer to serve on the task force. AIA MD will discuss amending the bill at its upcoming board meeting to include an architect among the members. AIA MD intends to support the Maryland Society of Surveyors in its effort to establish a mechanic's lien for debts in connection with land surveying services without regard to whether a building has been erected, repaired, rebuilt or improved on the property. A special thank you needs to be expressed to all AIA MD members who responded to our requests for email, phone calls and visits to Annapolis during the 2007 Special Session. Efforts to impose a professional services tax were successfully opposed by AIA MD. In fact, all design professionals were united in opposition to such a tax. After the dust settled, a computer services tax was included in the legislation. A major effort is now being mounted by the computer industry to repeal the tax which is estimated to yield approximately $200M. Numerous bills are being introduced to repeal the tax. Should the repeal be successful, professionals across-the-board need to be vigilant as they could be vulnerable to a services tax. AIA MD will keep its membership informed on this developing issue.
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