One of ACEC New York’s critical functions is to act as an advocate, on behalf of its members, before local and state government.  Through a variety of approaches -- direct lobbying, committee work in meetings -- ACEC New York strives continuously to support legislation of particular importance to the professional A/E consulting community.
 

ACEC New York’s lobbyists in Albany and New York City meet regularly with government officials.  Major legislative activities include:

Monitoring new legislation
Drafting, initiating and promoting specific legislation to address issues of concern
Enlisting the cooperation of other professionals in pursuing legislative matters of mutual interest
Writing and publishing articles and reports addressing targeted legislation
Studying state and national legislation, informing/advising membership and recommending appropriate action
Helping coordinate, develop and implement programs/activities to support and increase financial participation of ACEC New York-Political Action Committee
Helping coordinate and encourage participation in ACEC New York-sponsored activities, including regional lobby days and legislative receptions

ACEC New York's lobbyists are:

Albany: Bill McCarthy, Bolton-St. Johns, Inc.
New York City: Kenneth K. Fisher, Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen LLP


ACEC New York Position Papers
ACEC New York writes position papers on specific legislative actions that the organization deems to be goals of all its members. To view and print copies of the position papers, click:

Investment Needed - NYS Thruway
Congestion Pricing for New York City
QBS
Design Build
Outsourcing
Corporate Governance
Transportation Bond Act
Wicks Law

Issues at the Forefront

Governor Paterson issues Executive Order: Insuring the Cost Effectiveness of Contracts for Personal Services. ACEC New York will continue research on this matter.

ACEC New York advocates for important issues:

1
 Timely passage of the state budget and agency funding, to ensure that state agencies have the resources to coordinate and administer the engineering service contracts necessary to carry out their capital programs
2
 Modification of New York State corporate law to permit a small percentage of ownership by non-licensed professionals in engineering firms
3
 Encouraging government entities to manage resources more effectively by relying on private industry for professional engineering services
4
 Common sense lobby reform
5
 Expanding QBS (Qualifications-Based Selection) procurement methods to include public authorities and public benefit corporations

Other issues of importance are:

6
 Practice Erosion.  Existing professionals and emerging professionals who are not engineers are intruding on parts of the engineering practice.  Engineers must continue to be allowed to practice in the areas that have been and will continue to be engineering. Further, existing engineering services should not be opened to unlicensed professionals or professionals who are not correctly licensed.
7
 Good Samaritan. Design professionals who may be asked to provide technical skills for the public good in cases of emergencies are asked to make fast judgments, often without the opportunity to prepare in a manner consistent with their normal practice. Life-threatening collapses of buildings or other structures require the best judgment available at that time. Design professionals should be exempt from any liability in cases when they act as good samaritans.
8
 Design-Delegation. ACEC New York has defended against attempts to increase liability and exposure to primary design engineers.
9
 Passage of the Statute of Repose, a bill that imposes a 10-year "statute
of repose" for design professionals, in order to bar certain third-party lawsuits. At the present time, New York is one of fewer than five states that offer no third-party protection for design professionals. A project, at some point, needs to move from design responsibility to maintenance and owner responsibility. In New York's business unfriendly environment, a well-designed project can be the basis of a lawsuit 25 years later.
10
Passage of an amended version of Wicks Law, to better reflect today's construction industry needs. The new version will take into account inflationary adjustments and the real costs of doing business; further, many studies have shown that Wicks adds costs. A fair solution would be to let public owners decide what they feel is best for the project.
11 Design-Build.  ACEC New York endorses a two-step procedure and implementation process for design-build, which includes a registered design professional representing the owner throughout the project, and registered design professionals on the design-build team who are independent of the owner and selected on the basis of qualifications and expertise.