06/20/2023

Experience Capitol Hill with ACEC Ohio Members

The ACEC Annual Spring Convention and Legislative Summit took place last week in Washington, DC.  As always, ACEC had excellent keynote speakers including former CNBC Economist Marci Rossel, former NJ Governor and Presidential Candidate Chris Christie, former NFL player turned magician Jon Dorebos and an appearance by US DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg.  The conference was interspersed with educational sessions and committee meetings but the highlight for attendees is going to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional offices.  

The ACEC Ohio team hit the hill on Tuesday and visited with both Ohio Senator’s offices along with the Congressional offices of Brown, Miller, Carey, and Sykes. On Wednesday, meetings were held with Congressman Balderson, Wenstrup and Davidson.  Key advocacy issues included workforce development, repealing the R&D Tax Amortization requirements and implementation of IIJA (Click here for advocacy fact sheets).  What made the conversations with the delegation more impactful was the personal story of our member, Anil Tangirala, who attained his U.S. Citizenship the week before our visits after two decades of working through the legal immigration process.  We asked Anil about his first time on Capitol Hill and he shared the following:

“I think the ACEC National Legislative Summit was great. This was my first time, and I was happy to be part of it. I just received my U.S. Citizenship after 21 years of working in the US in the A/E industry. Remedying workforce shortages was high on the agenda of ACEC’s advocacy team and part of the hill visits.  Although the path to citizenship was very long for me, I was fortunate to receive my employer, ms consultants, support through this journey. There are many folks in our industry, like me, who still don’t have the clarity on their legal immigration journey and are awaiting their citizenship. Also, not having clarity on this issue provides undue burden on employers as they spend a lot of time and money to keep their skilled employees. I think Congress should provide much needed relief by increasing the H1B Visas and green cards.  Providing an efficient legal immigration system to all these folks who are highly qualified and would benefit the A/E industry. I spoke about my experiences and journey with the Ohio Senators and Congressional offices, and everyone recognized that this is an important issue that needs addressed especially in the present times when we have workforce shortages in our industry. I really appreciate ACEC Ohio and Beth Easterday who provided an opportunity for me to attend the Hill visits.”

Join us next year in DC!