Spring Advocacy Brief: 2021

Apr 19, 2021 By IIDA HQ

Catch up on what our IIDA Advocacy chapter teams have been doing—bills that have passed and those still on the floor for votes.

By IIDA HQ Apr 19, 2021

IIDA rounded up advocacy news from across the country—several of our chapters shared updates on recent wins and ongoing efforts in their states. We’re grateful for our IIDA advocates for all the tireless work they do to support advancement in design excellence, legislation, leadership, accreditation, and community outreach to increase the value and understanding of interior design.

The Carolinas

Chelsea Harrell, IIDA, VP of Advocacy
IIDA Carolinas

The IIDA Carolinas chapter has 2 bills in NC running concurrently in the house, HB223, Alternative Fuel Incentives Amendments, and senate SB188. Both bills have made it past their first reading and have been sent to committees. IIDA, ASID, and AIA spoke at the senate hearing for the Committee of Commerce and Insurance. This committee will have a vote in the next coming weeks. We are very happy with where we are right now with the bills. Having the support of the NC Board of Architecture has been invaluable and having AIA NC stand up and say they would remain neutral has also given us hope that this will be the year we can see positive change with our legislature.

FLORIDA

Rebecca Davisson, IIDA, VP of Advocacy
IIDA North Florida

Lisbeth Linert, IIDA, VP of Advocacy
IIDA South Florida

There are several bills that tangentially affect our industry currently in committee in Tallahassee, spanning building design, home based business, building inspections, local occupational licensing, and online sales tax. We are paying close attention to them, but not actively fighting.

Both the house and senate are currently reviewing HB 471 and its partner SB 344 Occupational Regulation Sunset Review. Sections 481.201 – 481.231 Architecture and Interior Design are not scheduled to be reviewed until 2025 but we are future-focused in supporting this effort, to make sure we retain our regulation.

HB 471 “Legislative Review of Occupational Regulations” by Rep. Alex Rizo (R-Hialeah)

Remains a Sunset Review bill, and would establish a schedule for the systematic review of occupational regulatory programs to determine whether the program should be allowed to expire, be fully renewed, or be renewed with modifications.
Per the bill, the statute that regulates registered interior designers – Chapter 481, Part I, F.S. - would be repealed on July 1, 2025, unless renewed by the Legislature. The bill has not been heard in any of its four committees of reference

SB 344 “Legislative Review of Occupational Regulations” by Sen. Manny Diaz (R- Hialeah Gardens) is now a review-only bill; it is no longer a Sunset bill.

Industry-related bills we are watching:

HB 55 "Building Design" by Rep. Toby Overdorf (R-Stuart) and the Senate version, SB 284 "Building Design" by Sen. Keith Perry (R-Gainesville): Prohibits local governments from adopting land development regulations that require specific building design elements for single- and two-family dwellings unless certain conditions are met.
HB 403 "Home-based Businesses" by Rep. Mike Giallombardo (R-Cape Coral) and the Senate version SB 266 “Home-based Businesses” by Sen. Keith Perry (R-Gainesville): Outlines the ways that home-based businesses are regulated, what regulations they must follow, and what constitutes a home-based business.
HB 667 “Building Inspections” by Rep. James Mooney, Jr. (R-Key West), and the Senate bill, SB 1382 “Building Inspections” by Sen. Keith Perry (R-Gainesville): Requires local building enforcement agencies to allow requests for inspections to be submitted electronically, and defines when virtual building inspections are, and are not allowed.
HB 735 “Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing” by Rep. Joe Harding (R-Ocala) and the Senate version, SB 268 “Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing” by Sen. Keith Perry (R-Gainesville): The bill prohibits local governments from requiring a license for a person whose job scope does not substantially correspond to that of a contractor or journeyman, and also authorizes municipalities to offer certain trade workers journeyman licensure.
HB 15 “Taxation” by Rep. Chuck Clemons (R-Gainesville) and the Senate version - SB 50 “Taxation” by Sen. Joe Gruters (R- Sarasota): Requires out-of-state retailers and marketplace providers with no physical presence in Florida to collect Florida’s sales tax on sales of taxable items delivered to purchasers in Florida if the out-of-state retailer or marketplace provider makes a substantial number of sales into Florida.

IOWA

Lisa Schettler, IIDA, VP of Advocacy
IIDA Great Plains Chapter

Iowa is actively pursuing legislation to update our interior design registration law with a better description of commercial interior design and to add stamp/seal privileges to our registration with certain parameters. Our bill passed the House 86-9, but failed to be brought to committee in the Senate. Because this is the first year of a biennial session, we will be able to pick up where we left off this year, which means we keep our House File / approval. Next session (2022) we will need to convince the Senate to pass the bill and get the governor to sign.

OKLAHOMA

Kristen Brumley, IIDA,VP of Advocacy
IIDA Texas Oklahoma Chapter

Oklahoma has active legislation. A bill has passed unanimously through the Senate and will make one last stop in the house before the governor's desk.

HB 1147 By Representative Mike Osburn includes the following changes:

Change of title from RID (Registered Interior Designer) to RCID (Registered Commercial Interior Designer)
Stamp and seal provisions
Added definition for Interior Designer
Eliminated one architect board position and added one Interior Design board position

UTAH

Karlie Primich, IIDA, VP of Advocacy
IIDA Intermountain Chapter

Thursday, January 21, 2021, there was a unanimous vote to remove Title 58, Chapter 86, State Certification of Commercial Interior Designers Act from sunset review. The process began during the October 2020 interim session, and we have now completed the process. As a local IIDA chapter advocacy leader, I reached out to certified commercial interior designers in the region. The following individuals provided public comments along with myself: Julie Barfuss, Evan Cindrich, Whitney Reynolds, Kaye Christiansen Englert, and Sydnie Young. These public comments covered a range of topics related to how interior design impacts the public's health and safety and eventually contributed to a unanimous vote to remove our law from sunset review.

HB49