WA-PPDF ACHIEVES VICTORY!
Both Senate and House Interior Design Practice Acts Considered Dead for this Session
The cut-off date for bills to be out of their house of origin policy committee has come and gone without HB 2895, HB 3223 or SB 6707 making it out of committee. This is a significant victory for WA-PPDF which combined effective lobbying with a phenomenal grassroots effort to defeat these bills which would have put many designers in Washington state out of the interior design business.
While neither House bill received a hearing, the Senate bill was given a hearing on February 5. WA-PPDF members Vonda Marsland and Marie Blackburn, along with Michael Bindas of the Institute for Justice, joined representatives of the AIA/Washington and the Building Industry Association of Washington to provide a panel of very effective testimony that helped keep the bill from being voted out of committee. This hearing was followed up by the WA-PPDF Lobby Day on February 6 which resulted in WA-PPDF members from around the state “sealing the deal” by talking directly with their legislators and urging them to oppose the Interior Design Practice Act.
Congratulations are certainly in order for all WA-PPDF members who proved that by making phone calls and working with legislators, you can make sure your business is protected. However, since this bill will most likely be back next year, there is still a need to grow the coalition and keep talking to legislators. Invite them to your business over the summer so they can see what you do first hand. Make sure you go to town hall meetings so they will know you still care. And --- since this is an election year – be sure to talk to the people running for the legislature about the impact an interior design practice act would have on your business.