ACEC/Michigan has been actively working on several legislative initiatives that affect your business. We are nearly halfway through the 2-year legislative session and have had some success already. Below is a quick summary:

Statute of Limitations

After SB 35 was caught up on the Senate floor, ACEC acted quickly to introduce a new bill (SB 882). Essentially, this is a single-section bill that is less susceptible to amendments by other groups looking to forward their agendas. On December 1, the bill successfully passed the Senate with 36 YES votes (2 members were absent). The bill is now headed for the House Judiciary Committee. This bill would return the statute of limitations from 6+ years back to 2 years for malpractice claims brought against engineers, architects and surveyors.

Timing of Architects Licensing Exam

In early November, the legislature passed HB 4793 and the Governor signed the bill into law to become Public Act 143. This bill put Michigan in-line with 40 other states and allows architectural graduates to take their licensing exam out of college prior to obtaining the required professional experience. They still are required to obtain the necessary experience and obtain references before they can become a licensed architect. This issue was a priority of our partners, AIA, but ACEC supported the effort.

Transportation Funding

This is an ongoing effort that has been very difficult. A portion of the bills that will increase transportation funding have been introduced (HB 8961-Public Private Partnerships, SB 862-Increases Diesel Fuel Tax to 19 cents, etc.). House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Pam Byrnes has indicated that a bill will be introduced in January that will increase the gasoline tax and will be co-sponsored by a Republican. ACEC met with Republican members of the House thought to be sponsoring the gas tax increase bill to show our support and discuss the importance and expertise of consulting engineers. ACEC remains an active member of Michigan’s Transportation Team (MTT) and assists regularly with coalition efforts. We have recently helped to promote the use of the 1-888-719-3087 number to contact your legislator. When you call this number and enter your zip code, you are connected to your legislator. Statistics are collected indicating: number of calls, to which legislators, etc. on a weekly basis.

We are have actively opposed SB 388 & 389 which diverts vehicle registration fees to parks. ACEC maintains that vehicle registration fees should only be used to fund our transportation system.

The diesel tax parity bills (SB 862 & 863) are on the agenda for the Tuesday, December 8 meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee. The bill would raise the tax on diesel fuel 4 cents to make it equal to the gasoline tax (19 cents).

ACEC is also tracking several bills dealing with DEQ permits, expansion of the Consumer Protection Act, and a bill to eliminate tax-on-tax issues for engineering services under the Michigan Business Tax.

Architects & Engineers Legislative Day has been scheduled for March 17, 2010.

For more information Contact: Cindy Schmitz