AIA Calls on Capitol Hill to support Resilience Legislation
Today, the American Institute of Architects circulated a message to the House of Representatives to build support for H.R. 5177, the National Mitigation Investment Act. This legislation, introduced by Reps. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Albio Sires (D-NJ), would create new incentives for states to adopt better building codes, authorize a new building code enforcement grant program, and initiate a broad study of federal disaster program costs. This measures will help communities become more resilient, reducing disaster costs and saving lives. Along with members of the BuildStrong Coalition from the insurance, first responder, engineering, and codes communities, AIA staff have been meeting with key Members of Congress and their staffs to ask for their cosponsorship of this important new legislation. The text of today's letter is below:
Dear Representative:
The American Institute of Architects, representing over 88,000 building design professionals across the nation, urges you to become a cosponsor of H.R. 5177, the National Mitigation Investment Act.
This recently introduced bill will reform our fragmented federal disaster response system in order to save taxpayer dollars, reduce property damage, and protect American lives. The bill offers states incentives for adopting safer building codes through a boost in FEMA mitigation funding, creates a pilot code enforcement grant program to ensure that codes are being applied properly, and authorizes the first comprehensive study of our nation’s disaster response spending programs in over 20 years.
The American Institute of Architects is a member of the BuildStrong Coalition, a group of designers, firefighters, emergency managers,contractors, insurance companies, and code officials all dedicated to building more resiliently in the face of ever more frequent and severe disasters. This coalition’s broad membership demonstrates the consensus across a broad swath of private and public sector organizations for this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.
The beginning of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season this month reminds us of the importance of preparing our communities for natural disasters. However, while these severe storms pose significant threats along the East Coast, we must also remember that disasters take many forms and regularly impact communities across the entire country. With this in mind, we hope you will join us in supporting this much-needed legislation by becoming a cosponsor of H.R. 5177. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
The American Institute of Architects
Ian McTiernan, Manager, Federal Relations