Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - (Page 10)

the legal avenues of attack,” says Charles Kim, ACEC general counsel. To protect their rights, a growing number of ACEC Member Organizations have tapped into ACEC’s Minuteman Fund, the Council’s primary means for providing Member Organizations with funding for critical legal and legislative initiatives. Dating back to its roots nearly 30 years ago, the Fund’s pooled contributions have awarded more than $800,000 in matching grants to 37 State Organizations for issues involving everything from QualificationsBased Selection (QBS) and tort reform to professional liability insurance and contractual limitations on liability. “Federal law is one thing, but given the pressures from local jurisdictions and state agencies, you’ve got to have the means to respond precisely where challenges start happening,” says Hugh “Mac” Cannon, executive director of ACEC/Metropolitan Washington, D.C. “That wouldn’t be possible without the Minuteman Fund.” While a great many legal and legislative issues begin as state disputes, they frequently take on national importance as other states use them as precedents. once and for all the power every single lawsuit since the of state agencies to hire pripassage of Prop 35, includvate engineering firms rather ing two unanimous Califorthan giving jobs exclusively to nia Supreme Court rulings members of the Professional upholding the amendment.” Engineers in California GovBut winning has come at ernment (PECG), California’s a significant cost. ACEC/ public engineers union. California has amassed legal Much had been riding on bills totaling more than Prop 35 for local A/E firms “...You’ve got to $500,000 since the Prop 35 hoping to enter bids without vote. The Minuteman Fund have the means the threat of legal challenges. helped soften the blow with Engineers nationwide eagerly to respond grants that partially covered awaited the vote, given Cali- precisely where the legal fees. fornia’s status as a bellwether challenges start What’s more, Meyer says, a state. resource such as the Minutehappening.” Proponents of the amendman Fund does more than hugh “MAc” cANNoN ment were encouraged when help offset the cost of a disACEC/mEtro D.C. grassroots support for Prop pute. “When you pick your 35 netted more than $14 million in dona- battles, you have to make sure you have the tions. “We never dreamed we could raise means to see them through to the end.” that kind of money. We had more than For the past decade, that strategy has 10,000 different donors to the campaign,” helped uphold fairness in the California says Paul Meyer, executive director of A/E procurement process. ACEC/California. The celebration, unfortunately, was Legal Confusion short-lived. Prop 35 supporters soon found A/E firms in the mid-Atlantic discovered themselves defending against a steady that financial threats can come in the form stream of PECG-initiated legislative and of legal confusion created by local courts. A Ongoing Battles court challenges to the law. “If a bill goes Virginia judge’s footnote in a case in 2008, In 2000, California engineers thought they through the legislature that we believe vio- for example, questioned the enforceability had won a hard-fought victory when vot- lates Prop 35, we go to court to get an of a limitation of liability clause, which ers decisively approved Proposition 35. injunction,” Meyer says. So far, the efforts shields an A/E firm from damages beyond The ballot initiative seemed to uphold have been uniformly successful. “We won the dollar amount permitted in its contract. “Up until that point, we felt the law was clear, but there was concern that it might be open to interpretation,” says Nancy Israel, executive director of ACEC/Virrequests for Minuteman funding must be made by a Member organization. ginia. “This wasn’t something we felt we The criteria for funding are as follows: could ignore.” >> The issue(s) for which funding is requested must potentially affect a large segment Instead, Israel and ACEC/Virginia of the membership or otherwise have major precedent-setting implications. joined forces with ACEC/Metro Washington members in northern Virginia, the Dis>> The M.o. must demonstrate its own financial and political commitment to the effort. trict of Columbia, and Maryland. Together, >> The M.o. request is no greater than the amount that the M.o. itself has committed they mustered support for a bill that would to the issue initiative (e.g., an M.o. that commits $4,000 from its own resources may go to the Virginia General Assembly and seek up to an additional $4,000 in support from the Minuteman Fund). Funding in help clear up any vagueness in the existing excess of a dollar-for-dollar match may be granted on the grounds of extraordinary statute. Legal expenses were partially paid need and urgency. Funding of $50,000 or more requires the approval of the Acec for by Minuteman funds. As part of a joint effort, the two ACEC Board of Directors. State Organizations developed a simple yet >> The M.o. includes a voluntary check-off on its Member Firms’ dues invoices for coneffective strategy: The proposed bill would tributions to the Minuteman Fund, or in some other equally systematic and regular merely reaffirm the intent of the existing way encourages Member Firms to contribute to the Fund. liability statute that had been on the books >> The M.o. has a record of reasonable contributions to the Minuteman Fund. for decades. “If you look at the language >> The funding request must be submitted prior to the legal or legislative action taken that we used in the bill, you’ll see it’s only about a dozen words,” Israel says. by the M.o. for which Minuteman funds are solicited. The organizers found a state senator How to Qualify for Minuteman Funding 10 ENGINEERING INC. MAY / JUNE 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010

Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010
Contents
From ACEC to You
News & Notes
Market Watch
Legislative Action
Noble Causes
2010 Engineering Excellence Awards
Engineering America’s Recovery: Highlights from 2010 Annual Convention
Members in the News
Business Insights

Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010

Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - (Page intro)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 (Page Cover1)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 (Page Cover2)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Contents (Page 1)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - From ACEC to You (Page 2)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - From ACEC to You (Page 3)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - News & Notes (Page 4)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Market Watch (Page 5)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Legislative Action (Page 6)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Legislative Action (Page 7)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Noble Causes (Page 8)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Noble Causes (Page 9)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Noble Causes (Page 10)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Noble Causes (Page 11)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 12)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 13)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 14)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 15)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 16)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 17)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 18)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 19)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 20)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 21)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 22)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (Page 23)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Engineering America’s Recovery: Highlights from 2010 Annual Convention (Page 24)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Engineering America’s Recovery: Highlights from 2010 Annual Convention (Page 25)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Engineering America’s Recovery: Highlights from 2010 Annual Convention (Page 26)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Engineering America’s Recovery: Highlights from 2010 Annual Convention (Page 27)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Members in the News (Page 28)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Members in the News (Page 29)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Members in the News (Page 30)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Members in the News (Page 31)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Business Insights (Page 32)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Business Insights (Page Cover3)
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - Business Insights (Page Cover4)
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