AZ INTERIOR DESIGN ALERT

                                     LEGISLATION

The Interior Design Coalition of Arizona (IDCA) will bring a bill to regulate the interior design industry in February, 2008.  Read more

How to contact your legislator, click here

Legislation is being proposed in states all over the United States and in Canada.  Why do you care?  Because every time a state imposes legislation, it increases the likelihood that you, too, will have legislation imposed on you.  Please read further to become fully informed about the impact legislation will have on you.

Colorado Governor Ritter veto letter, click here 

Indiana Governor Daniels veto message, click here  

Texas interior designers “just say no” to interior design regulation,
click here  

New Mexico strikes a blow against those opposed to free speech rights, click here   

Regulation is a national problem but legislation is being rejected across the USA,  Read more

Other opposition efforts working to protect your right to practice:

Hot off the presses!   AIA, the American Institute of Architects, has just published a new Position Paper stating their opposition to interior design licensing in all states across the country.  Read more 

Live Free and Design:  www.livefreeanddesign.org

Interior Design Freedom:  www.interiordesignfreedom.org

Institute For Justice:  www.ij.org

National Kitchen and Bath:  www.capwiz.com/nkba  

In Michigan, if this law is passed, it will be a criminal offense to practice without a license!  Michigan Interior Design Bill---Who is Protected by "Consumer Protection?" Click here  

Currently, six states are facing efforts to regulate interior designers.  Some of these Bills are unbelievably restrictive.  All are being advocated by coalitions set up and orchestrated by ASID.  In Pennsylvania, designers would be required to open their medical and mental health records for review in order to obtain their license and can even be required to submit to medical and psychological counseling to determine their “fitness” to work as a designer, can require designers to warrantee their work for years and can impose fines up to $10,000 for any infraction, including those unintended.  Want to know more?  Read a synopsis of that bill to see what you could be facing, click here 

Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Michigan currently have bills pending in their legislatures.  Washington State is also dealing with a bill and there is strong and well organized opposition in all states except Michigan.  In order to “…begin with a title act and move inconspicuously toward a practice act within a few years”   which we know to be the methods they use to get their nose under the tent, the coalitions continue to engage in dangling waivers and concessions in a bait and switch scheme to entice designers to think regulation will never affect them.  Except for Michigan, where those designers who even know a bill is pending, of which there is a relative handful, have fallen for this scheme, all states have well organized opposition holding open town hall meetings (which few of the coalitions are willing to do) and are engaging in other means of distributing information as to what licensing means to the designers, vendors, showrooms, fabricators and other ancillary businesses.  When these people learn the facts, they are overwhelmingly opposed to this licensing scheme.

Interior Designers Step up Practice Bill Pursuit, AIA article on why this legislation is unnecessary.  Click here

Recently, the Alabama Supreme Court threw out their Practice Law that had been on the books unchallenged since 1982.  When the Alabama coalition sued Diane Lupo, Decorating Den, because she was specifying paint and pillows to a client, the case went all the way to the Supreme Court which ruled the entire Practice law unconstitutional saying “Following a non-jury trial and the submission of briefs, the trial court issued an order holding that the Act was "overly broad, unreasonable, and vague" and that it therefore violated the due-process provisions of the Alabama Constitution.  The Board filed a motion to alter, amend, or vacate the judgment and also moved for a stay of the judgment.”  To read the entire decision, click here.