IN THIS ISSUE
** 2000 Legislative Session in Full Swing
** Highway Funding Still In Limbo
** UST/AST Rules Battle Continues
** Engineering Hall of Fame Goes "Virtual"
** ACEC Licensure Task Force
** Top 20 Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century
** ACEC Government Affairs Report
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2000 LEGISLATIVE SESSION IN FULL SWING
The first three weeks of the 2000 Legislative session have ended with the passage of the first major deadline of the session. February 24th was the date for all bills to be out of committee in the "House of Origin". With the passing of that deadline, the number of bills being considered has started to dwindle, but there are still many bills still active.
This being the second half of a two-year session of the 47th Legislature, bills that didn't pass during the 1999 session remain active this year. With that, let's look at a few numbers:
* 3,708 bills/resolutions were introduced during the two-year session (1,931 during the 1999 session; 1,777 during the 2000 session)
* Of the 1,931 introduced in 1999, only 434 (22%) were signed by the Governor.
* Of the 3,708 introduced, 1,308 are still active, or about 35%.
* Of the 1,777 introduced in the 2000 session, 1,024 are still active, or about 58%.
CECO is active tracking several bills of interest, and is being diligent in watching for floor amendments as the 1000+ bills that are still alive are considered on the floor of the House and Senate. Below is a listing of major bills that CECO is watching.
** House Bill 2495 - by Covey of the House and Henry of the Senate creating the State Office of Administrative Hearing. This bill would create a new state agency that would assume the administrative hearing duties of all state agencies, boards and commission, such as the State Board of Registration. CECO and a coalition of other associations were successful in stalling similar legislation during the last session.
The bill would remove all administrative hearings from the State Board and place the hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. The State Board would continue to conduct investigations into possible violations of the registration statutes and file complaints/charges, but would not conduct the administrative hearing regarding the charges. All charges would be forwarded to this new state agency which would conduct the formal hearing regarding the charges.
If this bill passes, the State Board's only function would be approve or reject license applications.
According to last year's authors, the purpose of the bill is to take administrative hearing functions out of the Oklahoma Tax Commission and other agencies that have Administrative Law Judges on staff. Apparently there is a concern that the public is not getting a "fair and impartial" hearing before those agencies since the regulatory Board employs the Judges. As the bill progressed, we were told that the bill would be "fixed" to alleviate our concerns. However, no action was ever taken to "fix" the bill, so the coalition successfully derailed the bill.
We will work with the authors again this year in an effort to protect the functions of the State Board and the myriad of other state boards that would be affected. CECO has talked with proponents of the bill who tell us they would be agreeable to exempting "professional" regulatory boards.
The bill is awaiting action by the full House. The title has been struck, which means that if it makes it though both the House and Senate, its fate will ultimately be decided in Conference Committee.
** Senate Bill 1034 - by Milacek of the Senate and Collins of the House creating licensure for Home Inspectors. This bill would begin the licensing of Home Inspectors. CECO's interest in the bill is that some engineering firms conduct home inspections, generally in special circumstances regarding structural integrity of the home, and CECO does not want PE's to be required to hold a special license to conduct these inspections.
In it's current form, registered professional engineers are "exempt" from the licensing requirements, which is consistent with CECO's position.
We will continue to monitor the bill to assure that the "exemption" remains in place.
** Senate Bill 1250 - by Robinson of the Senate and Paulk of the House relating to Public Building and Public Works. This is the Design/Build bill that was the subject of a special Task Force this past fall.
The Task Force, which include representatives of two CECO member firms, Lance Benham and Pat Carroll, has drafted proposed language that is now being put into the bill. Basically the Task Force recommended that ACEC Design/Build Model, which is what the federal government adopted three years ago.
Under the Task Force recommendation, first and foremost, the traditional "design-bid-build" system would be the preferred delivery system for the state. However, if the Department of Central Services determined that a specific project was suited to the Design/Build system, D/B could be used.
The recommendation further stipulates that a two-step system be put into place under which the owner/agency would hire a design team to do the initial design to a 35% completion. At that point, the preliminary design would be given to the interested design/build teams that would then base their "competitive proposals" from the preliminary design.
CECO continues to work closely with the sponsors of the bill and all other interested parties. The bill is still a long way from being placed into law, and some hurdles may arise. However, at this point, we believe that this is a very good "first step" in developing a system which will protect the integrity of the qualifications-based selection process while at the same time allowing the state to take advantage of delivery systems other than the traditional "design-bid-build" system.
The other major issue that CECO is following deals with the funding of the second portion of the $1 billion CIP highway program. For more information see the following story.
CECO will continue to monitor these and other bills. If you have any questions, please call. Also, check the CECO web site (http://www.cecok.org) for regular updates and current bill language.
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HIGHWAY FUNDING STILL IN LIMBO
Last week CECO sent a special "Legislative Alert" to all member firms addressing the additional $300 million in funding necessary to complete the $1 billion CIP highway program. The $300 million is the second phase of the program which was authorized by the Legislature in 1997.
There are two parts to the additional $300 million. The first part is authorization of $150 million in general obligation bonds, with the second $150 coming from general fund appropriations.
The $150 million in bonds can be authorized immediately by the "Bond Oversight Committee", a three person committee comprised of the Governor, Speaker of the House, and President ProTem of the Senate. With the simple "stroke of a pen" by each of the three, the bonds can be sold.
Secretary Neal McCaleb, during a press conference at last week's "Transportation Day at the Capitol" said that, "The Governor is ready, willing, and anxious" to sign the document to issue the bonds.
The other $150 million much come through the appropriations process later this session. There is concern that legislative leaders may try to delay this for another year.
The time is now for you to contact your House and Senate member. Encourage them to pressure the Speaker and President ProTem to agree to sell the bonds. And, remind them that the Legislature promised a $1 billion highway program, not a $700 million program.
The time is now -- don't wait!!!!!!!!!
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UST/AST RULES BATTLE CONTINUES
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission will hold a hearing on proposed permanent rules governing Licensing of UST/AST Consultants on Tuesday, March 7th.
As reported in the past two issues of the CECO Report, the Petroleum Storage Tank Advisory Council has been considering new rules for the licensure of consultants.
The Advisory Council first proposed emergency rules in November. CECO and the State Board of Registration opposed certain sections of the proposed emergency rules, and recommended changes which were consistent with the rules under which UST/AST consultants have been working for the past several years. The Corporation Commission agreed with CECO and the State Board, amending the proposed emergency rules and then adopting the amended rules.
The Advisory Council was then charged with developing permanent rules for the Commission's consideration. CECO appeared at the Council's meeting earlier this year recommending the Council simply propose that the emergency rules be made permanent. However, the Advisory Council ignored the action by the Commission, and has sent virtually the exact same set of permanent rules to the Commission that the Commission initially rejected.
CECO has written all three members of the Corporation Commission expressing our opposition to the permanent rules for the same basic reasons as we originally opposed the rules. CECO has strongly recommended that the Commission reject the Advisory Council's proposed rules, and instead convert the emergency rules to permanent rules.
CECO will appear before the Commission on March 7th, and we would encourage any member interested in this issue to also attend. The hearing will be held a 9:30am, Tuesday, March 7th, in the Commission Chambers on the 3rd Floor of the Jim Thorpe Building in Oklahoma City.
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"ENGINEERING HALL OF FAME GOES "VIRTUAL"
All CECO members will shortly be receiving an initial mailing from the NATIONAL ENGINEERING HALL OF FAME, seeking members.
The NEHOF is an effort that began in Wyoming several years ago, had stalled, and needed new leadership. The ACEC Committee of Fellows was asked to look at the idea, and several of the Fellows were elected to the NEHOF Board of Directors.
The Board has now converted the Hall into a "virtual" Hall of Fame, operating on it's own web site, http://www.Engineer.org. There are already several hundred members, and it is hoped that a large number of ACEC members will join. Bylaws, Policies, and Rules have been written and adopted, and a Strategic Plan is in formation. The criteria for candidates for the Hall is in process of being written.
There should be several possible candidates from Oklahoma in all disciplines and fields of engineering. The Newsletter will explain much more in detail, or you can contact Paul Sprehe if you have questions.
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ACEC LICENSURE TASK FORCE
As part of ACEC's efforts to address the business aspects of licensing and registration issues, a Task Force has been formed. The group met in December and discussed a variety of issues including the merits of licensing in the modern business environment; other stakeholders that need to be engaged in the licensing debate; facilitation of reciprocity; and, industry/government exemptions.
Also, ACEC leaders met with leaders from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) to discuss how the two associations can cooperate on licensing and registration issues. NCEES is composed of engineering and land surveying licensing boards, including Oklahoma's State Board.
Among a number of action items, the meeting produced plans to cooperate on publicizing NCEES' National Registry; bring more PE's into the engineering exam-writing process; and, hold an NCEES exam-writing workshop at the ACEC Convention this spring.
A follow-up meeting will be held later this year.
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TOP 20 ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon and a self-described "nerdy engineer," said on his astronomic feat does not even rank among the top 10 engineering of the 20th century. In fact, space exploration came 12th, right the Internet and right after highways. No. 1 was widespread electrification, based the key criterion of improving the quality of life for the most people.
Gray-haired, ruddy-faced and thin-voiced, Armstrong, 69, has generally been a reluctant speaker in Washington since he first stepped on the Moon on July 20, 1969 on the Apollo 11 . He was the first of 12 men who have walked on the Moon.
But he seemed to relish talking about technological achievements to an audience consisting mostly of engineers. "I am and ever will be a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer," Armstrong told a luncheon crowd at the National Press Club, where he announced the top 20 engineering achievements of the 20th century.
"The 20th was a century often punctuated with the terror of war," Armstrong said, "... but the 20th was the first century in which technology ... touched people in ways that were unimagined ... Engineering helped create a world in which injustices could not remain hidden."
Widespread electrification was chosen as the greatest feat of the century because "its impact is vast and it has touched the majority of people on the planet," according to a statement by the National Academy of Engineering, which organized the selection of the top 20 engineering feats.
The automobile was second, the airplane was third, a clean water supply was fourth, and electronics - from vacuum tubes to transistors to microprocessors - was fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were radio and television, agricultural mechanization, computers, the telephone and air conditioning and refrigeration.
Numbers 11 through 20 were: interstate highways, space exploration, the Internet, imaging technologies that revolutionized medical diagnostics, household appliances, health technologies the mass production of antibiotics and artificial implants, petroleum and gas technologies, laser and fiber optics, nuclear technologies and the invention of high-performance materials.
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ACEC GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS REPORT
The first two stories of this week's GA Report are controversial articles from the Washington Post regarding the Army Corps of Engineers' Waterways Program. ACEC is currently opposing the Corps' involvement in commercial activities in competition with our membership, particularly involvement in the Los Angeles school district. Next week, ACEC will be providing you with our detailed position on this issue and new resources on privatization/outsourcing on our website.
Washington Post: Army Corps of Engineers Drumming Up Work - 02/24 - "The military commanders of the Army Corps of Engineers have launched a behind-the-scenes campaign to boost the agency's $4 billion civil works budget by more than 50 percent, at a time when the Clinton administration is publicly questioning the agency's traditional agenda of major water projects." For full text of this article visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25026-2000Feb23.html
Washington Post: Corps Officials Accused of Distorting Economist's Study - 02/15 - "On February 14, The Pentagon launched a wide-ranging inquiry into alleged misconduct by top Army Corps of Engineers officials, and pledged to seek an independent review of a $50 million Mississippi River study that the officials have been accused of distorting." For full text of the article visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-02/15/077l-021500-idx.html
GSA FY 2001 Public Buildings Budget: $779 million for Courthouses - The President's FY 2001 budget proposes $6,256,026,000 for the GSA Federal Buildings Fund, of which $779,788,000 is earmarked for new construction. For full text of the article visit http://www.acec.org/programs/wr02242000.htm#gsa
ACEC-Supported Small Business Liability Reform Act Moves to the Senate - After passing the House, H.R. 2366 heads for the Senate in hopes of a hearing. For full text of the article visit http://www.acec.org/programs/wr02242000.htm#2366
Regulatory Reform put on Hold - Last week H.R. 1987 was quickly drawn from consideration on the floor of the House of Representatives after Republican leaders felt the bill would have been defeated. For full text of the article visit http://www.acec.org/programs/wr02242000.htm#reg