Your Profession Needs You!

Join AIA Pennsylvania and your colleagues across the state for Architects Tele-Action Day on May 5, 2020

Now, more than ever, it’s critical to remind policymakers that architecture is a vital industry with capacity to solve Pennsylvania’s toughest immediate public health and economic challenges. Architects Tele-Action Day is our opportunity to make the biggest collective impact to remind legislators that architecture goes beyond beautiful buildings: it strengthens communities, boosts economies, and protects the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

AIA Pennsylvania has shifted our legislative priorities to reflect the priorities of the times:

• Business continuity, stimulus, and economic relief for architecture firms
• Getting Pennsylvania’s essential AEC industries back to work safely
• The architect’s role in disaster assistance, mitigation, and relief

Members of all career stages and specialties are invited to pledge to pick up the phone on Tuesday, May 5th to share your professional and personal COVID-19 realities with your state Senator and Representative (or their knowledgeable staff).

Here is a rough blueprint of items you might consider covering in the brief conversation.

1. Call your State Senator and Representative’s district office between the hours of 9 am – 5pm on Tuesday, May 5. Ask to speak to the legislator, legislative staff, or constituent services associate or schedule a time to talk at a later date/time.* Find your legislator’s information here by inputting your home address. **
2. Introduce yourself as a constituent and mention you are a member of AIA Pennsylvania, representing nearly 3,000 architecture industry professionals across Pennsylvania.
3. Share how the coronavirus has professionally and personally impacted your life, livelihood, immediate community, business network, and/or the AEC community.
4. Take a moment to educate legislators on all of the things you do with help from the AIA Message Book (download, AIAU training, 2018 AIA PA District Days webinar recording & slidedeck).
5. Ask your legislators what their biggest challenges are right now. Listen and take notes to offer how you or AIA Pennsylvania could follow up to offer assistance.
6. Remind legislators to use architects and AIA Pennsylvania as a resource. Historically, architects have been overlooked as legislation impacting the built environment has been moved through the process. Now is the best time to amplify the architect’s voice in the chorus of the construction industry to ensure that it is not drowned out as decisions that affect the health, safety, and welfare of the public and the position of the architect will continue to be made during these times.
7. Thank them for their time!

*If you can’t get anyone on the phone, take a moment to drop an e-mail note with some of the above points or schedule another time to talk. Legislator e-mail contacts/forms are found in linked icons indicating website or e-mail links in legislator profiles found after input of your home address here.

**Once you have inputted your home address, click on the linked name of your PA House and PA Senate legislators to locate contact information on profile pages’ left column. Call your respective legislator’s district office phone number to reach out for Architects Tele-Action Day.