Dear members of AIA Arizona:
I am writing to give you an important update on the process for the sunset review and continuation of the Arizona Board of Technical Registration (BTR) now in the Arizona state legislature. This is an update and clarification in relation to an email and a LinkedIn post deployed by BTR itself on March 15.
Background
State agencies such as BTR undergo regular sunset reviews in which lawmakers can decide whether to continue their operation for up to 10 years. AIA Arizona is actively advocating for a continuation of the BTR.
The BTR continuation bill, HB2253, was not placed on the agenda or heard by the Senate Government Committee, and therefore the bill itself has effectively "died.” However, this is not an uncommon aspect of the legislative process, and other agencies are in the same situation.
For the continuation process of BTR and other agencies now stalled because they were not heard by a committee, the continuation language will now be integrated into the forthcoming budget negotiations.
That will take time. Full-scale budget negotiations likely will not commence until April, as all parties will await the final March economic numbers. In the meantime, our lobbyists continue to engage with legislative leadership and the Governor’s office to ensure that this is in the queue of items that must be addressed in the budget.
Further Background
As noted in a February 15 email to AIA members, HB2253 was supported by the Arizona House Commerce Committee, 8-1-1, and AIA member Jeff Flemming, AIA, testified in that committee's hearing in favor of the bill. He was the only person to testify for AIA (thank you, Jeff!). After passing the House in a 41-10 vote, HB 2253 moved to the Senate.
Unfortunately, it was assigned to the Senate Government Committee chaired by Sen. Jake Hoffman (R), who expressed opposition to continuing the BTR in its current form during the Committee of Reference hearing. As a result, the BTR continuation was not heard in the Senate Government Committee and effectively "died.”
Why is this an issue?
Republicans hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate, but there is an ideological divide within the majority party with some members referred to as the Freedom Caucus. Sen. Hoffman of the Freedom Caucus chairs the Senate Government Committee. A January 24 story by KJZZ had more full insight on the issue of select Freedom Caucus legislators, including Senator Hoffman, “weaponizing” this sunset review process for multiple agencies. BTR is not the only agency that has its continuation process now stalled due to Sen. Hoffman. The Arizona Commerce Authority continuation is the highest-profile one. Additional smaller agency continuations are also stalled.
Is this currently impacting BTR?
No, but its staff leadership is expending considerable time on this, away from its usual day-to-day work. The Board of Technical Registration continues normal operations, though, and your licenses and the licensing processes are not currently in jeopardy.
While the “regular” legislative review process would have allowed for a faster answer on BTR continuation and its next term, the forthcoming legislative budget negotiation process is anticipated to include the continuation in time before the BTR term expires on July 1.
While Sen. Hoffman chaired the Senate Government Committee that was to hear the BTR continuation, he is not the President of the Senate.
What can I do now as an architect?
The BTR messaging on March 15 had a call to action to write to legislators, including Sen. Hoffman. But because HB2253 is now dead, that call to action is now outdated (and the bill was not going to be heard by Sen. Hoffman’s committee anyway). The forthcoming budget negotiation process will incorporate the BTR continuation, and leaders of both the House and Senate are fully aware of the agency continuations that they need to take up before end of the session.
But you may wish to contact House and Senate leadership to remind them that, as an architect, you find it important to include the continuation of the Board of Technical Registration in the forthcoming budget negotiation process.
Arizona Senate President
Sen. Warren Petersen
(602) 926-4136 wpetersen@azleg.gov
Arizona House Speaker
Rep. Ben Toma
(602) 926-3298 btoma@azleg.gov
What is AIA doing?
The AIA Arizona Government Affairs Committee is very active this year advocating for the statewide architecture profession at the state legislature. The Government Affairs representatives on the 2024 AIA Arizona Board of Directors are Christian Solorio, AIA, and Brandy Koch, AIA. Together with the full committee, myself, and lobbyist AZ Policy Connect, your team at AIA Arizona is advocating robustly on the behalf of all architects statewide, whether or not they are dues-paying members of AIA.
Specific to this BTR continuation issue, we are meeting with legislators and BTR as needed, often in person. Last week Wednesday, I met with our lobbyist Janna Day of AZ Policy Connect and BTR Executive Director Judith Stapley in the office of Rep. Justin Wilmeth (R) to discuss BTR next steps within his party. While the BTR issue was already in the Senate side and out of his purview, we were able to underscore awareness of the issue to Rep. Wilmeth as it will come to budget negotiations.
In addition, AZ Policy Connect (hired by AIA) is in many ways the lead lobbyist on the ground on this issue. The BTR does not have its own paid lobbyist. AZ Policy Connect has coordinated with efforts of other professions, and has met with the Governor’s office as well as the staff of both the House and Senate leadership on this issue.
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