American Council of Engineering Companies/Maryland

Legislative Alert

April 4, 2022

Please FORWARD to staff at your firm and ask them to contact their representatives!

ACEC/MD is the engineering industry voice in Annapolis. This year we have been working hard to protect our industry and the issues that matter to us.

Legislation we have introduced via Senator West and Delegate Cardin (HB79/SB161) has passed the Senate unanimously but is stalled in the House Judiciary Committee. We need your help by contacting your representatives, particularly those in District 46! Be part of the solution in our political system and do your part for our industry.

If you want to learn more about why this legislation is important, see the fact sheet and informational video at the bottom of this page.

Contact your legislators by following these four steps:

  1. Find your representatives.
  2. Click Lookup to use the address lookup button.
  3. Click Email.
  4. Add your NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE. And use the text below to draft your email.

SUBJECT: Please SUPPORT SB 161 (HB 79)!
TEXT: 

Please support SB 161 (HB 79). SB 161 has passed the Senate unanimously and had a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on 3/30. It has come to my attention that the committee may prevent the bill from advancing because of lingering opposition from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) which seems to suggest that a design professional contracting with the state should be required to assume the state’s liability as the owner of the project, regardless of whether there was any fault or wrongdoing on the part of the design professional. That is WRONG and UNFAIR.

Risk managers agree that the OAG is either mistaken in its analysis, or has exaggerated the potential impacts, and appears to be all too narrowly focused on the effort it takes for the OAG to represent the state in litigation, rather than the public policy benefits of the legislation. SB 161 (HB 79) would promote a better and more equitable contracting environment in the state of Maryland, by resolving a significant uninsurable risk that design professionals are often required to accept, while also balancing potential costs to the public for this misallocation of risk. The passage of this bill is important to me and the firm that I work for, and the rest of the citizens of Maryland who place their trust in professional engineers and other design professionals who design the critical infrastructure that keeps us safe. I again ask that you express your support to the House Judiciary Committee and request a favorable vote for this common-sense legislation.

Thank you.


Fact Sheet – Duty to Defend

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