MALSCE Government Affairs Update - December 2020

MALSCE Government Affairs Update - December 2020

by Abbie Goodman, MALSCE Chief of External Affairs

See MALSCE Covid-19 Resource Page for current news on Covid-19 Issues

#ConstructionStopsCOVID: Announced 12/22/20: First-in-nation initiative between Greater Boston Building Trades Unions & Contractors and global health leader Partners In Health will promote COVID-19 safety in construction industry and beyond  More

Labor Department Rescinds AAM 212; Reverses Rule on Davis-Bacon for Survey Crews. . .December 14, 2020: NSPS today announced it won a major victory in its efforts to enhance and promote professionalism in surveying as the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor has rescinded All Agency Memorandum (AAM) 212. . .  More

Digital Coast Act Clears Congress, Signed Into Law 

Legislation to establish a constituent-driven program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide a digital information platform capable of efficiently integrating coastal data with decision-support tools, training, and best practices and support collection of priority coastal geospatial data to inform and improve local, State, regional, and Federal management of the coastal region became law on December 18, 2020, when President Trump signed S. 1069, the Digital Coast Act  More

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

The next Board of Registration  meeting will be on January 28, 2021 on GoToMeeting. To connect to the meeting, go to this page on January 26 to download the agenda with connection instructions.

• The November 19, 2020 Board Meeting Minutes will be posted here.
• December 22, 2020 Meeting: Agenda: https://www.mass.gov/doc/notice-of-meeting-and-topics-119/download

December 22 Board of Registration Meeting Highlights - these are not minutes, but a summary: This Board of Registration meeting was held by GoToMeeting. Some Board members and DPL staff were able to be seen during this virtual meeting. 

Review / Approved Minutes from November 19, 2020 Public Session

Discussion Items

• Next Meeting Date – January 28, 2021
• Chair Safety Protocols / Remote Meeting Protocols: Continue to maintain Covid-19 safety protocols
• Recognizing Dennis Drumm, now retired from Board of Registration. Dennis served in this role since 1996,

The following people outside the Board of Registration offered their thanks to Dennis Drumm for his long time service on the Board of Registration

• Erin LeBel former Board Executive Director
• Brian Koczela, colleague
• Darren Hardy, MALSCE President
• Paul Tyrell, Board of Registration Chair, also shared made some remarks talking about Dennis’s contributions to the profession and as a remarkable person.

• NCEES 2021 Member Board Administrators’ Meeting & Board Presidents’ Assembly
  • Typically held in Atlanta, will be held remotely
  • Matt, Eric and Paul will attend virtually, Azu volunteered to attend

Board Counsel Legal Report:

• Status update on proposed Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) regulations

Consumer Affairs has regulations under review, nothing new to report

• Joint Policy on Professional Practice: the Board is still awaiting input from the Board of Registration of Architects, expected in January 2021. The Board Counsel for the Board of Registration of Architects will reach out to Sheila York with some edits  (Lynn Reid)
• Local Registered Engineering Licenses:  This is the Town of Swansea issue reported last month. Board Counsel Sheila York is seeking permission from the DPL General Counsel to contact the Town of Swansea Board of Health about the matter. The Board urged her to reach out to Town of Swansea as soon as possible.
• Hearing Date / 01-29-21 @ 10:00 a.m.: this Will be a sanctions hearing; will be online on Microsoft Teams

Executive Director Report:

• NCEES Enforcement Exchange: Matt Keigen opened up one case regarding a licensee’s  discipline in another state that the licensee had not been reported to Board in Massachusetts
• Go to Meeting – Microsoft Teams: DPL will be moving meetings from GoTo Meeting to Microsoft Teams starting in January 2021
• The Board received an updated Case status report

Review of Applications:

• 65 applications arrived by mail this week at DPL, mostly civil applications. Board members will receive a report about the applications
• Application Review Report: Board approved application report
• Good Moral Character (GMC) Discussion – will be in executive session
• October Juris Prudence Land Surveying Results from Exam Committee, presented by Dennis Drumm: 40 question exam was held this fall. The committee reviewed 19 questions. One question was confusing so everyone got credit for that question. The committee determined that a passing score was 70%. Fifteen (15) people took the exam; 5 people passed. The next highest score after the 5 was 67.5%.

Correspondence:

• MA Blue Print Question: “I have a question pertaining to a Title V septic system I had installed at my home in Lanesborough, MA. The blueprint includes the following as part of the engineer's plan, "Protect slopes from erosion." What would be your interpretation of that statement?”
  • Action: Homeowner will be advised to contact the design professional who prepared the plan for clarification. Board is unable to provide more information.

• Chapter 91 License Plans question: “What is the most appropriate and accepted way for Chapter 91 license plans to be stamped?  By a Professional Engineer, Professional Land Surveyor or Both?  It would seem to me that any plan that shows offsets to proposed or existing waterfront structures from property lines should be stamped by both the PLS and the PE who prepared the information…..”
  • Action: the correspondent will be advised to check the Board’s FAQs here: https://www.mass.gov/service-details/frequently-asked-questions-about-board-of-registration-of-professional-engineers

Public section concluded at approximately 10:12. The Board reconvened in Executive Session regarding some complaints against licensed professionals.

- End of public session of Board of Registration -

- - - -

Legislation

Return to Formal Session to finish FY2021 budget and some other bills:

• FY2021 State Operating Budget:  As of 12/11/20,  Governor Baker signed a $45.9 billion FY2021 state budget. Governor Baker slashed $156 million in spending through vetoes that the legislature will consider overriding before the end of the year.
• Still to be done are bills in conference committee including transportation, climate change, economic development, and health care policy. The end-of-session deadline could prompt negotiators to compromise, or just virtually log out of their talks. House leaders have advised members of the potential for formal sessions throughout next week. Senate leaders did not release a session schedule beyond Monday's informal session.

Links to budget and certain other bills in conference committees of interest to us:

FISCAL 2021 GENERAL BUDGET Bill: https://malegislature.gov/Budget/FY2021/ConferenceCommittee

The version of the budget with the Governor’s vetoes not yet available

CLIMATE CHANGE

Bills: S 2500 and H 4933
House Vote: July 31, 142-17
Senate Vote: Jan. 30, 36-2
House Conferees: Thomas Golden, Patricia Haddad, Brad Jones
Senate Conferees: Michael Barrett, Cindy Creem, Patrick O'Connor
Date Sent to Conference: Aug. 6, 2020

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Bills: S 2874 and H 4887
House Vote: July 28, 156-3
Senate Vote: June 29, 40-0
House Conferees: Aaron Michlewitz, Ann-Margaret Ferrante, Donald Wong
Senate Conferees: Eric Lesser, Michael Rodrigues, Patrick O'Connor
Date Sent to Conference: July 30, 2020

TRANSPORTATION BOND

Bills: H 4547 and S 2836
House Vote: March 5, 150-1
Senate Vote: July 16, 36-4
House Conferees: William Straus, Mark Cusack, Norman Orrall
Senate Conferees: Joseph Boncore, Michael Rodrigues, Dean Tran
Date Sent to Conference: July 23, 2020

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

MBTA Budget Issues:  The MBTA faces increased pressure from stakeholders not to make the service cuts it proposed to deal with a large FY2022 budget deficit (est. $308M)

Transportation Finance Bill – no new action expected: House finalized their version of bill on March 4, with 5 cent gas tax, corporate tax, TNC fees. 

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

A Bill We Oppose: Transparent Business bill sent to study as previously reported. With a formal budget process underway post-November 3, we need to watch out for this being filed as an amendment. We also expect to see a refile in January 2021.

No change since March: City of Boston Municipal Lobbying Registration 

Two current city councilors, Michelle Wu and Andrea Campbell, both recently announced their intentions to run for Mayor of Boston in 2021. Mayor Walsh has not yet announced his plans.  As a result, we are unlikely to see any effort to fix the problem our members can face with the current wording of the lobbying ordinance: 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

Opportunities to Serve on Boards and Commissions -Gubernatorial appointment requests:

• 1 PE Mechanical (Female) needed for Board of Building Regulations and Standards: https://www.engineers.org/about/news/board-of-building-regulations-and-standards-seeks-mechanical-pe-for-board-service-3105
• 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