AIA New Mexico continues its advocacy at both the federal and state levels in support of legislation and regulations that advance the interests of its members and of the community at large.

Federal
This year’s AIA Grassroots conference in Washington was held during a break in the Congressional calendar. With Congress out of town, the usual visits to Capitol Hill were replaced with opportunities for conference attendees to learn more about AIA’s government advocacy program and pick up valuable pointers on being more effective advocates. To read about AIA’s 2008 Federal Advocacy Agenda go to: www.aia.org/SiteObjects/files/2008FederalIssueAgenda.pdf.

Members of AIA New Mexico were able to put these skills to the test during the Easter Congressional Recess by visiting some of our representatives in their home district offices. Our first meeting was reported in The Angel – March 27, 2008: “On March 17, AIA New Mexico members met with New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici (R), and the result was a great conversation and the Senator's support on key issues. During the meeting, Senator Domenici, the ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, signaled his support for important small business legislation for the AIA.”

Additional meetings were held with Congresswoman Heather Wilson and with a staff member for Congressman Tom Udall.

To learn more about federal advocacy go to www.aia.org/gov/advocacy_default.

State
The 30-day legislative session in Santa Fe this year was dominated by the state budget and the issue of health care coverage for New Mexicans. Jean Gibson served as AIA-NM’s lobbyist and tracked the few bills introduced at the Roundhouse of direct interest to New Mexico architects. AIA New Mexico is gearing up for the next 60-day session, at which time we expect more legislation of interest and concern to the architecture community.

In preparation, under the leadership of Richard Haas, we are establishing PAPAs – Pro-Active Political Architects. This project has as its goals:

1. The interaction of AIA-NM members, in a non-partisan manner, with individual state legislators throughout the year, maintaining professional contact and promoting two-way communications.
2. Working closely with the AIA-NM Lobbyist to establish a professional presence in the state administration, the legislature and its associated committees.
3. Serving as a Knowledge Source to state legislators on matters of architecture, the environment and those issues that promote Quality of Life for New Mexicans.
4. Non-partisan promotion of legislative issues relevant to and of concern to AIA-NM.

In order to be a more effective advocating voice for architects, AIA-NM seeks to build an effective organizational infrastructure based on contact and interaction of its members with legislators and government agencies. Many of our members already know or have some contact with their state legislators – as neighbors, their kids soccer coaches, or from many other community activities. If you would like to learn more about how you might become involved in this project, contact Richard Haas at rhaas@zianet.com or Jean Gibson at nmdirector@aianewmexico.org.