MALSCE Government Affairs Update - August 2020

MALSCE Government Affairs Update - August 2020

by Abbie Goodman, MALSCE Chief of External Affairs

Important Renewal Information for All Licensees in Massachusetts:

Be sure to renew your PE and PLS  licenses before October 1, 2020; the PE and PLS license renewal deadline was extended due to COVID-19. More: 
https://www.mass.gov/doc/notice-important-renewal-information-for-all-licensees/download

Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Advisory on the Use of Job Titles that include the term “Engineer” or “Surveyor”

June 8, 2020: In response to questions received from the engineering and land surveying business community, the Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (“the Board”) issued an advisory opinion on the use of engineering or land surveying job titles by unlicensed individuals working within the engineering and land surveying business community.

Download Advisory Here

Board of Registration Responds to FAQ on Professional Engineers (PE) Certifying Site Plans with Property Lines

Issued June 2020:  In this posting, the Massachusetts Board of Registration responds to this frequently asked question: Can a Professional Engineer (PE) certify a site plan which references a property line determination that was previously completed by a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS)? 

Download Board of Registration's FAQ Posting Here

Division of Professional Licensure /  Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors

The next Board meeting will be on September 24, 2020 on GoToMeeting. To connect to the meeting, go to this page on September 22 to download the agenda with connection instructions.

August 27, 2020: Link to Board Meeting Agenda

Meeting Highlights - these are not minutes, but a summary of what I heard during the meeting

This Board of Registration meeting was held by GoToMeeting. Some Board members and DPL staff were able to be seen during this virtual meeting. 

The Massachusetts PE and PLS license renewal deadline was extended to October 1, 2020 under Governor Baker's issued COVID-19 Executive Order No. 41, rescinding the prior orders as of July 10, 2020. Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors are still encouraged to renew their licenses online as soon as possible. 

COVID-19 response

Be sure to check out MALSCE's COVID-19 Resources and Guidance for MALSCE Members page for the latest news on Massachusetts' official actions.

Legislation

No change since March: Dig Safe Bills reported favorably in House and Senate, sent to respective Ways & Means Committees

We need you to contact your Legislators to get these bills moving.

S. 1392 Reported Favorably Out of Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland in early February; House version of bill already in House Ways & Means

Contact your Massachusetts Legislators and ask them to support our Dig Safe Bill

• Sample letter for you to modify and email and mail  to your State Representative and your State Senator on either the House bill, HB 2815 or the Senate bill, SB 1392 

Background

• Link to Scott Cameron's Testimony .On December 17, 2019, MALSCE leader Scott Cameron, PLS represented MALSCE and ACEC/MA to testify in support of the bill
• S. 1392, An Act relative to public safety in excavation had hearing before the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security on December 17, 2019 at the Massachusetts State House

As of February 28, 2020, S. 1392, An Act Relative to Public Safety in Excavation was reported favorably out of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security.  This bill, along with many others, in currently in the Senator Clerk's office. We expect this bill to be sent to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means soon. At that time, we'll be asking MALSCE members for help to move this bill. Advocacy needed when S.1392 lands in the next committee

• The House version of this bill: H.2815, An Act relative to improving public safety in excavation, was reported out favorably from the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy in late July. The bill is now in the House Committee on Ways and Means.

To view the fact sheet on the bill from our May 2019 Engineers and Land Surveyors Day at the State House, click here.

If you have questions, contact Abbie Goodman.

Transportation Bond Bill – Bill now in conference committee

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S2739

On July 23, 2020,  the legislature appointed a 6-member conference committee to develop a compromise bill to fund more than $17B billion in transportation improvements. The conference committee is expected to merge the bills within a week.  The Senate conference committee members are : Transportation Committee Co-chair Senator Joe Boncore, Ways and Means Committee Chair Senator Michael Rodrigues, and Fitchburg Republican Senator Dean Tran. The House conferees are: Transportation Committee Co-chair Representative William Straus, Revenue Committee Co-chair Representative Mark Cusack, and Lakeville Republican Representative Norman Orrall.
The conference committee will reconcile an $18B House bill (H 4547) and a roughly $17B Senate bill (S 2836).

Negotiators will debate a Senate plan to empower communities to raise local taxes for transportation projects. Because the legislature has extended its formal session for this year beyond the normal July 31 deadline, due to COVID-19 and state budget issues, the conference committee is working in August and September to resolve differences between the two bills. We are hopeful that they will reach a compromise soon. Bond bills require roll call votes that can only occur during formal sessions.

Background: On July 25, 2019, the Baker-Polito Administration filed a transportation bond bill seeking $18 billion in additional capital authorization to invest in building and modernizing a transportation system that meets the needs of residents, businesses and cities and towns statewide. The authorization would be used to fund existing programs as well as several new initiatives designed to lessen impacts from roadway congestion and ensure reliable travel throughout the Commonwealth.

On July 30, 2019, the House, followed by the Senate, assigned this bill to the Joint Committee on Transportation, which may hold a hearing on this bill in September. The transportation bond bill will be first heard by the Joint Committee on Transportation, followed by a hearing before the House Bonding Committee, before going to the House Ways and Means Committee and then to the full House for a vote. Following the House vote, the bill would then be reviewed and acted on in the Senate.

The bill had a hearing before the Joint Committee on Transportation on October 8 at 10 AM at the State House. This bill was filed as H4002.

Transportation Finance Bill – no new action yet

House finalized their version of bill on March 4, with 5 cent gas tax, corporate tax, TNC fees. Senate expected to propose their plan in June.

Transportation Revenue Debate Summary - Debate on this bill, formerly H. 4508, concluded in the House on 3/5/2020. This bill is now in the Massachusetts Senate, where its fate is unknown due to the huge strains on the state's revenues because of COVID-19. The new bill is now H4530 and is in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means

• On March 4, 2020, the Massachusetts House of Representative approved a major tax bill (113-40) that is estimated to generate more than half a billion dollars for transportation infrastructure. The House debated for nearly 8 hours
• The legislation is estimated to bring in $522M to $612M per year
• In the bill the state's 24-cents-per-gallon gasoline and diesel taxes would increase by 5 cents and 9 cents.
• The House's proposal also seeks increases to the corporate minimum excise tax from $456 for all companies to a tiered structure at the top of which companies with more than $1 billion in sales would pay at least $150,000
• Transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft would be subject to higher costs as well. The bill would increase the $0.20-per-trip flat fee to $1.20 for each non-shared ride and $2.20 for every luxury ride, while keeping the cost the same when users carpool. It is important to note that the legislation does contain language aimed at preventing the companies from passing those hikes directly onto riders.
• Rental car companies would be required to pay sales tax when they purchase vehicles for their fleets, a tax from which they are exempt under existing law
• The legislation does not call for adjustment of roadway tolls to incentivize off-peak travel, a practice referred to as congestion pricing, but it does require a one-year study of the topic.
• One amendment that was adopted would see the Fiscal and Management Control Board that oversees the MBTA grow from five seats to seven, adding representation for the city of Boston and another municipality in the T's coverage area, the original House bill proposed extending the board from its July 1 expiration to 2023 with a further extension to 2025 possible, but it left the structure in place
• Section 11 of the bill would edit the list of exemptions in the state’s sales tax law (Chapter 64H of the Massachusetts General Laws) to add “sales of rolling stock used by common carriers to transport goods in interstate commerce.
• Similar language (in Section 14 of the new bill) would also exempt “storage, use or other consumption of rolling stock, used by common carriers to transport goods in interstate commerce” from the state’s 6.25% use tax, which applies to equipment purchased out-of-state. Under current law, the 6.25% sales tax on a $150,000 truck purchase would generate $9,375 in revenue for the Commonwealth’s Transportation Trust Fund.
• In a prepared statement, Kevin Weeks, the executive director of the Trucking Association of Massachusetts, said that 37 other states already exempt truck sales from their sales taxes, and wrote that “the trucking industry in Massachusetts has been in decline as many trucking companies have gone out of business or moved to other states.” The statement from Weeks also notes the 9-cent increase to the diesel fuel tax, which will land squarely on his industry, and argued that eliminating the tax on new trucks would give fleet owners an incentive to operate “newer, cleaner, and safer trucks in the Commonwealth.”
• The House did not include proposed amendments that would have scrapped or blunted several of the tax and fee hikes or an amendment that would have repealed the gas, corporate and vehicle sales tax sections of the bill if and when surtax on household income above $1 million takes effect
• Governor Charlie Baker opposes both the gas and corporate tax increases that are included in the bill.

A Bill We Oppose:

Transparent Business bill sent to study: but firm is making offers to states for free software

Previously reported: I was notified that this firm is offering free software to some states’ governors.  I’ve sent a letter to EOTSS Secretary Woods or our coalition to send to appropriate executive branch officials expressing our grave concerns about the software.

Background: This bill was sent to a study by Joint Committee on State Administration, which is good news for our community.  We still must look out for potential amendments to other bills.  Bill has been refiled in New Jersey, which started its new session in January 2020. ACEC/MA in coalition with MassTLC, CompTIA, TechNet and others testified in opposition to H.2769, An Act relative to state government processes to verify hours worked on computers for certain government contracts. The proposed legislation, if enacted, would mandate that state agencies direct their consultants to install hours-tracking software on their computers to track the time spent on projects.  Robin Greenleaf testified on behalf of ACEC/MA in opposition to this bill.

MassDOT Issues New Traffic Data Guidance (as of 5/11/20)

MassDOT Highway Division issued Engineering Directive E-20-005, Guidance on Traffic Count Data.  This directive, dated May 11, 2020, provides guidance on how to estimate existing and future traffic counts in lieu of taking new traffic counts after March 13, 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions were implemented in Massachusetts.  Traffic counts taken in 2020 may undercount the baseline for which future years are based.

This directive introduces new MassDOT Guidance on Traffic Count Data, dated April 2020, which supersedes Section I.B (Traffic Volumes) of the Traffic and Safety Engineering 25% Design Submission Guidelines.  For additional information and guidance regarding traffic data in Massachusetts, please also refer to the Traffic Volume and Classification page on mass.gov.

No change since March: City of Boston Municipal Lobbying Registration 

Short version: design professionals attending meetings with clients on development projects with city of Boston will probably have to register as lobbyists if expressing an opinion that could be construed as advocating for or against a project

See Updates on this issue on the ACEC/MA Website page on the Boston Lobbying Ordinance

People can email their own questions about their own individual work to lobbying@boston.gov

MALSCE's External Affairs Chief and ACEC/MA Executive Director Abbie Goodman is working in coalition with NAIOP and other business associations on issues of concern to design professionals.  

Here's a copy of the letter and the legal memo that the coalition delivered to Mayor Walsh and Boston CIty Councilors several months ago.

In mid-August, the Municipal Lobbying Compliance Commission, created under the ordinance, requested comments from lobbyists, lobbyist entities and clients subject to the ordinance, as the Commission develops regulations to interpret, implement and enforce the ordinance. The Commission planned to finalize regulations prior to the December 15, 2019 registration deadline for the 2020 registration year, but that has been delayed. Here is the link to the letter filed by ACEC/MA, 

Action Requested: If you live/vote in Boston, email Abbie Goodman with the neighborhood city council district where you live for grassroots efforts. Link to check your Boston City Council District

The Boston Lobbying Ordinance uses a very broad definition for lobbying that may include some work done by engineers, land surveyors and other design professionals working on public and private sector projects in Boston. ACEC/MA, working in coalition with the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, Greater Boston Real Estate Board, NAIOP and others, is seeking clarifications and guidance on this issue that it will share with MALSCE leadership. 

Opportunities to Serve on Boards and Commissions

Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, Registered Architects and other Design Professionals living in and licensed in Massachusetts are sought after to serve on certain public boards and commissions created under state law or by regulations. This is an opportunity to participate directly in government, by providing your professional expertise to help shape public policy for the benefit of residents. For more on serving and how to apply, see this link: https://www.engineers.org/get-involved/public-boards-commissions

Gubernatorial appointment requests:

• 1 PE now needed for  MSBA Designer Selection Panel:  https://www.engineers.org/about/news/msba-designer-selection-panel-seeks-2-pes-ma-designer-selection-board-seeks-1-pe-engineer-for-board-1737