In this issue:
· How the Elections Will Impact Architects

How the Elections Will Impact Architects
With this year’s elections ushering in Democratic majorities and President-Elect Barack Obama, many have vowed to address key issues that affect architects and their clients. Next year, the AIA will be advancing several of its key advocacy priorities:

Economic Recovery
“The AIA has developed a package of economic stimulus proposals to help get the design profession back to work, which we hope Congress will address this year,” says Andrew Goldberg, Assoc. AIA, senior director of federal relations.

Obama has promised to eliminate capital gains taxes on small businesses and reduce payroll taxes for self-employed small business owners. In addition, he has proposed a comprehensive health-care reform plan that would create a new small business health-care tax credit and cover a portion of businesses’ health costs.

Sustainability and the Environment
Obama has promised to pass a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, and has said he will make improving the energy efficiency of buildings a top priority. The AIA worked to include language in the Democratic Party platform last summer that supported making buildings more energy efficient.

Both Obama and Sen. John McCain supported climate change legislation. In June, the AIA worked with a bipartisan group of senators on a proposal to provide incentives for green building.

Transportation and Community Development
Obama promised to reform the nation’s transportation system by creating a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank and by linking transportation to community planning. He has also vowed to create a White House Office of Urban Policy. Obama’s views on transportation and planning align directly with the AIA’s policies; the AIA’s 2008 study Moving Communities Forward highlighted the need to design transportation systems in ways that strengthen communities.

For a complete list of results for all other measures that may affect architects and the profession, as well as the election results of the AIA members who ran for state offices, please read the current issues of The Angle.