AIA Kentucky Lobbyist Greg Brotzge provides weekly updates on issues and specific legislation AIA Kentucky is following in the 2013 Kentucky General Assembly in Frankfort.  This report updates in "real-time" so you'll always have the latest information available.

View Current Report

February 28, 2013 - AIA Kentucky Legislative Day at the Capitol
8 to 9 a.m. Breakfast, followed by scheduled meetings with your legislators.
Register Here

The AIA Kentucky Government Affairs Committee welcomes all interested AIA Kentucky members who wish to participate in AIA Kentucky's advocacy efforts in Frankfort.  The Committee deals with both legislative and regulatory issues impacting the profession of architecture, architectural practice, sustainability and other matters related to design and construction in Kentucky.  If you are interested in joining the committee, which meets periodically via conference call, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

2013 Committee Members:

Eric P. Steva, AIA  (Chairman)
Chris Bowling, AIA
Charles Cash, AIA
Alvin Cox, AIA
Steve Eggers, AIA
Joe Jones, AIA
Tony Kleyer, AIA
Thomas E. Lett, AIA
Kevin Locke, AIA
Richard Polk, AIA
David R. Proffitt, AIA
Joe Schwab, AIA
Jack Stewart, AIA
Jeff Stivers, AIA
Martha Tarrant, AIA
Daniel Ware, AIA

This is the final report on the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly.

AIA Kentucky had a very good session in 2012. We resolved two issues that were problematic to the profession and suffered no major legislative defeats. In addition, our first ever legislative day was a huge success with over 20 legislators and staff in attendance. Our one setback was the inability to get our resolution on the federal "Capital Access for Main Street Act" heard in committee. While disappointing, this resolution was a small first step in getting the construction economy moving again and should in no way detract from the bigger victories we achieved.

Chief among these was the passage of HB 54 which cleaned-up a number of problems with the law on prison construction. These changes were not in the original bill but were included in the Senate Committee Substitute to HB 54. The problem language was part of the penal code overhaul (HB463) that was enacted in 2011. The major part of HB 54 for AIA was the removal of the stock plan requirement. HB 54 provides much greater flexibility while preserving the certificate of need and minimum size requirements that were in HB 463.

The other major victory was the passage of HB 496 which corrects a problem with the Kentucky Open Records Law. Interpretation of current law is that any private firm who derives at least 25% of their income from government work is a public agency and all of the company records are subject to the open records act. HB 496 corrects this problem. Once the new law becomes effective this summer, business that is obtained through a competitive selection process will not count towards the 25% threshhold.

The bills that are listed below are the ones we have been tracking that have been signed into law or are awaiting the Governor's signature.

In addition to the bills already mentioned, HB 255 which originally dealt with energy efficiency in schools, passed on the final day. You may recall AIA Kentucky worked on this bill and offered some amendments to improve it. However, as often happens, the final version was stripped of its original provisions and the bill as enacted deals with disaster assistance. HB 215 has also been signed into law but the final version converted it into a study. The summary of the other bills should be mostly accurate but be sure to check the enacted version if you need to use the legislation.

Our success this time was truly a team effort. Space does not permit mentioning everyone by name, but a number of you helped with the legislative day, made calls at the appropriate time, or reviewed and offered suggestions on legislation. We also received strong help and support from our fellow associations in the construction industry. All deserve our thanks and gratitude.

Greg Brotzge
AIA Kentucky Lobbyist