Members Make Their Voices Heard Through Legislative Action Center
In the May issue, we told you all about the ASHI Legislative Action Center (LAC), your one-stop shopping center for legislative activity. As far as we know, ASHI is the only home inspector organization that offers this service to its membership.
By going to www.homeinspectorregulation.com, you can track inspector regulation in your state, see what’s going on in other states, find out who your elected representatives are, contact them by e-mail, and much more.
The e-mail is particularly powerful. It gives members the ability to mount grassroots lobbying efforts to affect legislation. Each state has its own action center page. When you go to your state’s page, you will see brief descriptions of any current legislation affecting you as an inspector. You can link to other pages for the history and full description of the bills, as well as the bill language and any amendments.
Suncoast takes action
But that’s just the beginning. In Florida, the ASHI Suncoast Chapter didn’t like the direction HB 315 – Building Assessment and Remediation – Home Inspector Services was taking. They felt the bill had started out with promise to protect consumers and elevate the profession. But along the way, the bill got amended to the point where it didn’t even resemble itself. Suncoast members felt all the consumer protection had been stripped away and the bill, if passed, would be harmful.
When the bill passed both houses and was ready to go to the governor for signature, Suncoast decided to take action. The chapter issued a press release and an Action Alert clearly stating its position. The chapter called on all its members to send a letter to the governor urging him not to sign the bill.
Action Center allows effort to expand statewide
They also sent copies to HQ, and when we saw it we offered them the use of the Legislation Action Center so they could reach out to the entire ASHI membership in Florida (more than 400 home inspectors) to take action. Suncoast jumped on the offer.
Here’s how it works. Go to the LAC (www.homeinspectorregulation.com). Go to State Official, scroll to FL and click “GO.” In the Action Alert sticker HQ created, click “TAKE ACTION.” Now you see the e-mail HQ created for Suncoast, based on its letter. (NOTE: you can only send this e-mail if you are a Florida resident. Go ahead and try it.) When the e-mail is successfully sent, the sender is taken to a page that thanks him and urges him to follow up with a phone call to make sure the governor received the message. That’s what the experts who created the LAC recommend as the most effective action.
Governor calls Suncoast
Does it work? Suncoast told us the governor’s office called asking them why they were opposed to HB 315. Message delivered. Message received. Mission accomplished.
The governor received the bill for action on June 9. By the time you read this article, he will have signed it or not. Whatever happens, the ASHI membership will be in a better position to carry on because of the efforts of ASHI Suncoast Chapter and the LAC.
For more information on the LAC, call or e-mail Bob Kociolek at 847-954-3177 or bobk@ashi.org.
To find out more about ASHI Suncoast’s efforts, call or e-mail Cheryl Harris
at 727-578-1962 or PR@ASHISuncoast.com.
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