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Last
Thursday, Senate Bill 1453 passed the Illinois Senate with 45 voting yes,
5 voting no, and 2 members voting present. The previous session week saw
the House pass the bill with 86 yes votes, 23 no votes and 6 present
votes. With an immediate effective date, a "supermajority" vote
was needed and that margin was received with many more to spare even in
the face of strong and hard working opposition. This legislation
clarifies the original intent of the Local Government Professional
Services Selection Act and makes it consistent with the State QBS law,
which is used to hire design professionals for public works projects.
Senate Bill 1453 now heads to the Governor for his consideration.
It is important to thank people on multiple levels:
*First, Senators and Representatives. 131 of them voted in support of
QBS, almost 80% of the entire General Assembly. We also had twelve bill
sponsors.
*Second, AIA members. More than 300 emails, faxes and phone calls came to
legislators from people like you who spoke out. On several occasions,
Representatives and Senators told us they heard from their architects
back home who want this bill.
*Third, our coalition partners. We often work in concert with other
advocacy groups and government agencies in the design and construction
industry and this case was no different. The list of supporters is both
impressive and dedicated to the issue at hand.
*Fourth, other groups who joined in spreading the word and gaining
support, especially the Association of Licensed Architects and the
American Society of Landscape Architects.
*Fifth, attorney Kevin Sido from Hinshaw & Culbertson. Kevin worked countless
hours on the court case leading up to this legislation. His analysis and
expertise were the basis of our successful arguments in Springfield.
*Finally, lobbyist Shirley Anderson, my office colleagues at AIA
Illinois, plus legal and government affairs staff at National.
Twenty years ago the first QBS act was making its way through the Illinois
legislature. For many of those years, it was accepted as the industry
standard and used in 45 other states. A 2004 lawsuit essentially gutted
the local QBS act and after working its way through the courts sent us to
the legislature with specific instructions on how to clarify the legislative
intent.
Over the intervening months and for 6 short days in November, that has
been our singular focus-to restore the integrity
of qualifications based-selection. With the Governor's signature, we will
have done just that. I can think of no better example of why we are here
and what we are built to accomplish. We can't win them all, but when we
do, it's only because of your support. Thank you.
-Mike
For more information on Senate Bill 1453 or to see how your State elected
officials voted please use the links below:
SB 1453-Issue Brief
http://www.aiail.org
/site/subs/newsroom_subs/QBS%20brief.html
SB1453-Senate Concurrence Vote-11/30/06
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/94
/senate/09400SB1453_11302006_014000C.pdf
SB1453-House Third Reading Vote-11/15/06
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/voteh
istory/94/house/09400SB1453_11152006_005000T.pdf
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