hospitalitystyle.com

(April 2011) posted on Tue Apr 05, 2011 EDT

Should hospitality designers be licensed? Florida’s legislature is about to decide.

By Mary Scoviak

Thanks to a lot of visionaries such as Howard Hirsch, Michael Bedner, Trisha Wilson, Cheryl Rowley, Rebecca Jones, Bob DiLeonardo, Bob Puccini and Adam Tihany, it’s been more than 30 years since anyone confused a decorator with a designer. Now, it seems, Florida’s legislature might turn back the clock. Two bills currently under consideration would work to deregulate certain professions, including interior design, and reduce current regulations.

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) testified on behalf of its members against the interior design provisions in two bills passed by the Florida House of Representatives Appropriations Committee in late March. “Under the proposed legislation, which would remove safeguards designed to protect the consumer from the purview of the Business & Consumer Affairs laws in Florida, educated and experienced interior designers would be restricted from practicing in the full scope of their profession,” argued ASID’s representatives. “These restrictions effectively eliminate competition in the commercial design market, creating a monopoly for architects in the code-based built environment and increasing the cost burden on consumers.”

“ASID urges [the House Appropriations Committee] to strike the provisions from the bill that would eliminate this important voluntary licensing program,” testified ASID director of government and public affairs, Don Davis at the hearing. “If this provision is not removed and licensing is eliminated in Florida there will be a significant negative impact on consumers, students and small business owners in Florida that, in turn, will create further economic uncertainty in the state.”

ASID's position is that this legislation will disrupt small business and remove what it calls "key safeguards vital to keeping the economy on track by abolishing regulatory programs that provide stability for business and certainty in the marketplace." No date has been scheduled for the full debate on the House floor.