AIA Ohio Advocacy Day Recap

AIA Ohio Advocacy Day brought members from across Ohio together in Columbus on March 6, 2024. The full-day event included a panel discussion on affordable housing legislation, conversations with Karen Kasler of the Ohio Statehouse News Bureau, AIA Ohio Lobbyist Luther Liggett, and Ohio Board of Architects Executive Director Shannon Himes. AIA Ohio members met with legislators at the statehouse to discuss issues important to the profession including housing, updates to the residential building code, and historic tax credits.

AIA Cincinnati had eight members in attendance, including Graham Kalbli, AIA. NCARB, LEED AP, Principal at New Republic Architecture who shared his takeaway from the event:

“Statehood day was great. Special kudos to Kate Brunswick [AIA Ohio Executive Director] and Karen Planet, AIA [of RWA Architects, chair of the AIA Ohio Government Advocacy Committee] for their efforts to pull off an organized, efficient, and fun event. I came away with a renewed purpose to be a better advocate for our profession at large, and for what we do locally for our built environment. It was excellent exposure to how things work (or don’t work) in state government, and it fully reinforced my beliefs that if we don’t get involved, we get the government we deserve. It was great to see that, for what we were advocating for, was well received on a bi-partisan basis. I hope to be invited to do it again next year, as I learned that one of the keys to successful lobbying efforts is a continued parade of familiar faces on behalf of the lobby in order to build rapport, relationships, and trust with our state legislators.”

We hope you’ll get involved in AIA’s advocacy efforts! And consider a contribution to the AIA Ohio PAC.