ASLA hosted its federal Advocacy Day on May 8, 2024, when 81 ASLA members attended 138 virtual meetings with members of Congress, Senators, and congressional staff to discuss policies important to the profession. As ASLA celebrates its 125th anniversary, this year’s Advocacy Day theme was Shaping Spaces, Changing Lives: 125 Years of Landscape Architecture.
Landscape architects educated policymakers about the landscape architecture profession and encouraged support for two pieces of legislation – the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act (H.R. 1477, S. 722) and the Water Infrastructure Sustainability and Efficiency (WISE) Act (H.R. 2921).
Both bills impact the work of landscape architects, helping to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare, and increasing the use of nature-based solutions for water management projects. Specifically, the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act would allow 529 savings plans to help reduce costs related to being a licensed landscape architect, including for the LARE, renewal fees, continuing education, and more. The WISE Act would increase the use of nature-based solutions to help communities address their water management needs.
ASLA also activated the iAdvocate Network to urge other grassroots advocates to help their colleagues on the Hill by contacting their legislators about the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act and the WISE Act. More than 1,100 messages were sent to Capitol Hill urging support for these two measures.
ASLA encourages advocates to continue to send letters to their federal legislators urging support for these bills.