Dear Indiana design community and supporters of the Freedom Movement-Feb 2007
SB 337 has passed the full Senate and now moves on to the House. The House bill will be sponsored by Rep GiaQuinta, with co-sponsors Reps. Torr and Welch. If anyone knows these legislators, now would be a good time to contact them. Once we know what House Committee the bill will be referred to, we will request that letters and phone calls opposing the bill be made.
This bill will benefit a very small minority of interior designers who will be able to market themselves as "State Registered" and YOU WILL NOT.
We simply cannot allow this group to monopolize all the business in Indiana. We need your help to stop it.
ARE YOU OUTRAGED YET?
You should be! This legislation is being "allowed" to pass because....
- It has the blessing of the Governor, who [mistakenly] believes that this bill does not have the same anti-competitive effect as the bill he vetoed in 2007. It does.
- Allegedly, Governor Daniels' Chief of Staff is the sister of the coalition lobbyist. Politics as usual -- it's not WHAT you know (i.e. there is no threat to the health, safety and welfare), it's WHO you know!
- Senator Alting, Chair of the committee that already passed the bill, and other legislators have indicated that they are tired of ASID's constant barrage so they are giving ASID the most watered-down law possible.
THESE JUSTIFICATIONS ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT A LEGITIMATE GOAL OF GOOD GOVERNMENT!
NO LAW SHOULD EVER BE ENACTED BASED ON "GETTING ASID OFF OUR BACK!"
Click here for more information on SB 337 and to read IDPC's Feb. 19th call to action.
Click here for more information on SB 337 and to read IDPC's Feb. 12th call to action.
TAKE ACTION
Click on these links to contact Representatives GiaQuinta, Torr and Welch and request that they drop their sponsorship of this bill because the design community does not NEED or WANT it.
Click on this link to contact Governor Daniels and ask him to withdraw his support for this bill, as it has EXACTLY the same effect as the bill he vetoed, contrary to what his chief of staff may have told him.
Some points to mention:
- ASID has neither the mandate nor the right to set up design policy for designers in the entire U.S., which is what they are trying to do
- Allowing a small group of designers to use legislators to create a Cartel within the design community cannot be allowed
- Protective, anti-competitive legislation benefits neither the majority of designers nor consumers
- Independent designers, who are the vast majority of designers in the U.S. Do not support this legislation
- Midlife is the traditional way that designers come into the business, and denying them the Constitutional right to pursue their chosen careers is unacceptable
- Students who cannot apprentice with NCIDQ-certified designers will never be able to become registered and will always be placed at an unfair competitive disadvantage
Money spent on education will be lost
DON'T THINK THAT OTHERS WILL DO THIS FOR YOU --
THIS BILL HAS GOTTEN THIS FAR BECAUSE OF
THE APATHY OF THE DESIGN COMMUNITY.
YOUR COMPLACENCY NOW WILL DESTROY YOUR COMPETITIVENESS LATER.
YOUR FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS.