This year's legislative session ended without the architects submitting their proposal for a new licensing bill. The architects did suffer a resounding defeat at the hands of the interior designers.

When the interior design bill was first proposed six years ago, the engineering community opposed it. The interior designers worked earnestly and diligently with the engineers to develop language that was acceptable to both sides. In the end, the engineering community tacitly supported the bill by agreeing not to oppose it.

The architects were adamantly opposed to the bill. The bill passed the house easily because the architects believed they had the bill defeated in the senate. The senate asked the engineers to help mediate a settlement between the architects and the interior designers. They never reached a resolution, mostly because the architect refused to compromise according to the engineers on the panel. The interior design bill finally passed on the last day of the session. That win was attributed to a group of little old ladies who campaigned hard against the much better funded lobbyists for the architects, and to the fact that the architects have developed some powerful enemies through their political shenanigans.

There is a strong probability that the architects will submit their proposal for a new licensing law at next year's legislative session, and they will be looking to regain some of the ground they lost this year. They reportedly have a large war chest well in excess of $150,000, and they are known for fighting dirty. The engineering community needs to be vigilant and prepared for a fight. JECA has appointed a committee to recommend a strategy for retaining lobbyists. There will probably be a call later to help support preparations for this expected battle over licensing laws.

Registered engineers outnumber registered architects by a significant margin, and that doesn't count all the engineers working for corporations or the Government that do not require licensing. Public utilities, building contractors, railroads and county engineers would also be impacted by this proposed legislation and will probably join the engineers in opposing the new architect's bill. But in spite of all this support, we must beware of the ruthless and politically savvy tactics employed by the architects to get their bill passed. We cannot afford to lower our guard.