National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Hill Day
Seven members of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) leadership, led by Bryan C. Lee, FAIA, converged on Capitol Hill on April 22 to advocate for a range of architect-friendly policy positions. Issues discussed included the preservation of 179D energy-efficient building tax credits, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the Democracy in Design Act, equality for contracting and government procurement, professional designation for graduate student loans, and the preservation of the historic Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
NOMA met with Senator Angela Alsobrooks (MD) and Representatives Amo (RI), Beatty (OH), Bynum (OR), Cleaver (MO), Sewell (AL), Torres (NY), and Waters (CA).
AIA Champions Bipartisan FEMA Reform
AIA submitted a letter on April 23 to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure urging the passage of the FEMA Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill to modernize the Federal Emergency Management Agency. AIA is calling on policymakers to act on the bill, particularly given the growing impact of disasters across the United States. Between 2011 and 2024, 99.5% of congressional districts experienced at least one federally declared major disaster due to extreme weather. AIA voiced support for various provisions of the bill, including:
- Establishing FEMA as an independent, cabinet-level agency,
- Streamlining transparency and depoliticizing disaster declarations,
- Protecting and strengthening FEMA's mitigation programs and Public Assistance,
- Ensure transparency in how funds are allocated and assess Interagency collaboration, communications and Mitigative measure success.
The Bill has been voted on by the Committee and returns to the House for further consideration.
AIA Delegation Participates in GlobalABC Sustainable Construction Summit
President Illya Azaroff, FAIA and AIA Senior Director of International Affairs Derek Washam attended the Sustainable Buildings and Construction Summit held in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Summit, hosted by the UN Environment Programme's Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), brought industry leaders from across the built environment together to discuss sustainable construction strategies and tools. President Azaroff moderated a plenary panel on transitioning to a resilient built environment and presented the renovations of AIA's Global Campus as a case study for retrofitting during a workshop on culture, heritage, and social sustainability.
AIA Submits Comments on FY 2027 House Appropriations
AIA submitted a series of FY 2027 House appropriations testimonies urging robust investments in healthy, resilient, and energy-efficient buildings across key subcommittees, including Homeland Security, Interior–Environment, Energy and Water, Labor–HHS–Education, and State. The letters call for stronger funding for resilience and hazard mitigation programs, building technologies and codes, indoor air quality and environmental health research, historic preservation, and secure, sustainable diplomatic facilities that reflect U.S. leadership at home and abroad. Below is a summary of our requests:
- National Security/State: Urges at least $2.0 billion for the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations to maintain secure, sustainable, and resilient diplomatic facilities worldwide that reflect U.S. values and protect American personnel abroad.
- Labor–HHS–Education: Calls for robust Nation Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to expand research on indoor air quality and environmental health, plus support for Department of Labor's YouthBuild Program and report language on professional degree classifications and student loan limits affecting architecture and other graduate professions.
- Homeland Security: Requests $900 million for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities(BRIC), $715 million for Flood Mitigation Assistance, and $233 million in base funding for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to stabilize the federal mitigation pipeline and support resilient design, hazard mitigation, and climate-ready infrastructure in communities nationwide.
- Interior–Environment: Supports roughly $10 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with preserved staffing, targeted increases for indoor air quality and toxics programs, robust funding for low-embodied-carbon construction labeling, brownfields and water infrastructure, Tribal climate resilience, ENERGY STAR, and $250 million for the Historic Preservation Fund, along with clarifications for Kennedy Center funding uses and Commission of Fine Arts qualifications.
- Energy and Water: Presses for strong investments in Department of Energy's (DOE) Building Technologies Office, building energy codes, weatherization and state energy programs, ARPA E and advanced building construction, Renew America's Schools, ENERGY STAR, EIA building-energy surveys, Federal Energy Management Program, and protection of the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Buildings Fund to drive efficiency, resilience, and lifecycle savings in federal and private buildings.
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Courtney Prentiss, AIA, NOMA, NCARB
AIA Government Affairs Committee Member
Immediate Past NAC At-Large Director, Advocacy
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