Greer woman fights licensure for interior designers
For her nationwide fight against legislation to require licensing and registration of interior designers – a battle she's won in South Carolina but expects to keep fighting – Greer's Patti Morrow has been honored with the 2014 Unsung Hero Award from the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation.
She received a $25,000 check and encouragement to keep up her work, which she began nearly 10 years ago when her former home state of New Hampshire was considering such legislation. She set aside furniture catalogues and space plans, closed her personal interior design practice and founded the Interior Design Protection Council.
But some interior designers in South Carolina say such legislation would benefit some.
Legislation was introduced last year but died in committee. It's likely to return.
"The reason we keep defeating these bills is there is no health, safety and welfare jeopardy to the public," said Morrow, who moved to Greer two-and-a-half years ago and travels across the nation to educate interior design trade association members and testify at legislative hearings. "There have been 13 government agencies that have researched and studied the topic, and every single one, including the Federal Trade Commission, issued reports that said interior design licensing does absolutely nothing to protect the public beyond measures that are already in place with codes, building officials and all of that stuff."
Nicole Norris, the president of the South Carolina Interior Design Coalition and an interior designer practicing out of locations in Sumter and Mount Pleasant, said licensing and registration would protect public interest, though, and enable interior designers to bid on some state and federal projects that would otherwise require alliance with architects.
"We are basically unable to pursue those opportunities because we're not recognized as registered professionals in the state of South Carolina," Norris said. "Even though for certain projects we would be capable with our education to design, because they would require an architectural stamp and they don't even recognize interior designers, we would not be able to submit drawings ...
"We have the training and the ability to do the interior design contract drawings for the build-out and submit those, but because we're not recognized as professionals, we have to ally ourselves with an architect. We're not trying to be architects because we're clearly stating that we don't do load-bearing work, but we want to be able to do what we're trained to do, because we do have rigorous schooling and we do have a national exam that's a two-day exam that is recognized nationally."
That exam, the National Council for Interior Design Qualification exam, is among requirements to gain certification from the American Society of Interior Designers.
But Morrow says that and other requirements that would be included for state and national certification are unnecessary, and she said they're used to hinder competition.
"When Barack Obama was elected president, he did what every other president before him had done – he redesigned the living quarters of the White House," Morrow said. "Washington D.C. has a law that requires interior designers to be licensed. But who did President Obama choose for his interior designer? Michael Smith, an interior designer from California who is not licensed nor an ASID member. So if it's OK for the most protected person in the world to hire a non-licensed interior designer, shouldn't it be OK for everyone else?"
Morrow has testified at hearings in California, Pennsylvania, Texas, Massachusetts, Michigan and elsewhere. She testified in Columbia last year during South Carolina's consideration of legislation, sponsored by Thomas McElveen of Sumter.
"The problem is when they sponsor a bill, legislators are not told that the bill will put interior designers out of business," Morrow said. "They're quite horrified to learn that they've pretty much been thrown under the bus. It's all about jobs. Anything about jobs is a really hot topic with legislators."
Norris, however, says the issue is about expanding opportunities for qualified designers.
"A lot of people who don't have the education and have not taken that (NCIDQ) test who still practice certain forms of design, say maybe kitchen or bath design without formal training, oppose the legislation because they think that it's going to hurt their business, but really it's trying to increase opportunities for those of us who are qualified to do the more involved interior design work and have the training and education and have passed the national exam," Norris said. "I think that's a misconception because those folks are not going to be disallowed to do what they're doing. They're just not going to be able to pursue those other opportunities that we aren't able to do right now anyway – those ones bidding on federal and state projects, getting projects stamped for non-load-bearing projects in our local jurisdictions."
Norris has worked toward passing legislation for years, and she hopes the time will come when it will pass.
"ASID applauds individuals who are involved in the legislative process and commends their courage to advocate," said Alexis de Armas, government and public affairs specialist for the ASID. "Ms. Morrow's stance is that she feels interior design regulation creates an anti-competitive market and restricts the opportunities for interior designers to practice within their discipline. However this is not the case and in fact is the exact opposite. The legislative policy of ASID is to expand the interior design profession and open markets for those who are qualified to practice in a selected scope of work. ASID believes that legal recognition of our profession is best achieved through the enactment of legislation that does not limit, restrict or prevent the practice of interior design and allows state-qualified interior designers to perform additional services related to the practice of interior design as applicable governing jurisdictions deem appropriate."
Morrow says she'll be there to fight that legislation.
"Many excellent candidates from around the country were nominated for the award," said Helen Krieble, who founded the foundation named for her father, the former chief executive of the Loctite Corporation, "to further democratic capitalism and to preserve and promote a society of free, educated, healthy and creative individuals."
"Patti embodies the spirit of the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation Unsung Hero Award and stood out for her work to protect independent interior designers around the country," Helen Krieble said.
Morrow received her award at the State Policy Network's 22nd annual meeting last month in Denver.
"I expect the bills to be back," Morrow said. "They're like zombies. These bills just will not stay dead. They keep coming back over and over in state after state. I've helped to kill over 150 bills so far that in some way would've impacted the rights of interior designers to practice.
"I never expected to be doing this in a million years. I couldn't imagine myself lobbying or testifying. I never wanted to be a political activist, but it just sort of fell into my lap and I couldn't sit by idly and let a small handful, very much a minority of industry insiders, try to eliminate the competition by using the government."
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