AIA Maine Legislative Update: Winter 2025

By: Elizabeth Fraizer, Legislative Advocate
Pierce Atwood

The 132nd Legislature started its work in earnest on January 8, 2025. Since then, most committees have been holding orientation and receiving updates from agencies under their jurisdiction. Additionally, on January 10, 2025, Governor Mills released her proposed Biennial Budget. That budget seeks to close a $450 million structural gap by making targeted spending cuts and increasing certain retail and licensing taxes. On January 24, the Revisor of Statutes released the list of bill titles, available here. Among the 2,400 bills included in that list is AIA Maine’s own bill to require continuing education for Maine architects.

Until it is printed, the bill will be known by its “Legislative Request” (LR) number, 986 – An Act to Require Continuing Education for Maine Architects. The proposed legislation is being sponsored by Rep. Tiffany Roberts of South Berwick and will likely be printed sometime in the next couple of weeks. This proposal would require a licensed architect to complete a minimum of 12 hours of Health, Safety, and Welfare continuing education credits. The proposal would exempt architects who are retired from active practice and create a two-year delay for the requirement for newly licensed architects. Once printed, our bill will be scheduled for a public hearing, and we will alert members at that time and encourage you to submit supportive testimony!

Meanwhile, AIA Maine is actively watching new legislation as it is printed. On February 10, we testified in support of LD 100, which will raise the informal bid threshold for architectural services from the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS) from $25,000 to $50,000. This will allow the Department to take better advantage of the informal bid process, and architects pre-qualified for the informal process would likely see more opportunities for work if this bill is enacted. 

We anticipate the hottest topic in legislation of interest to AIA Maine in the next two years will be housing-related. From building codes to zoning rewrites, over two dozen bills touch on housing pending hearings in the next six months. There will be a lot of opportunities for AIA Maine to weigh in during those discussions, and we will keep you posted as they evolve! Thank you, as always, for helping advance our advocacy efforts! 

Contact Legislative Committee Chair David Matero at david@davidmatero.com or Elizabeth Frazier at efrazier@pierceatwood.com.