By Larry Ames, president

Dear Assemblywoman Lupardo,

I am President of the Southern Tier Association of Home Inspectors, which serves licensed home inspectors in 10 counties of New York.  NYSDOS had granted authorization for remote continuing education training to be conducted during the pandemic emergency and we effectively were able to have our meetings and provide high-quality CE programs by Zoom.  As things appeared to be easing up a bit this summer DOS withdrew authorization for remote CE training.  Instead of getting better, conditions in our area relative to the pandemic have been getting worse, especially with the rise of variants, resistance to vaccination and masking, etc.  I also serve as a director on the board of the state professional association, NYSAHI.  We requested from DOS that remote CE be reauthorized in light of what has been described for our area by the government as substantial risk, high transmissibility and emergency conditions.  That was denied.

  I called DOS and requested the same authorization for remote CE for only the nonprofit professional associations, as the ability to offer CE is a cornerstone of those organizations and in person CE is not a safe option at our regular monthly dinner meetings which generally may last up to four hours in a meeting room.  The response I got was that there was no enabling Executive Order.  I told them that my reading of the law enabled state agencies to act under emergency authority and that since this pandemic is an emergency it would seem reasonable that they could take the simple act of giving the authorization.  I was told that the decision was made by others.  I asked for the names and contact information for the decision-makers and was told that that could not be disclosed!

The lack of authorization to continue to conduct remote CE is beginning to weaken our important professional organization.  Home inspectors are all about safety and our leadership believes that meeting in person is unsafe and an unnecessary risk.  I can see no reason why DOS would withhold such authorization from us at this time.  I request your assistance in getting temporary authorization to conduct remote continuing education for our nonprofit professional association very soon.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter and for your assistance in the past.

Sincerely,

Larry Ames

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Follow up from Larry:

All,

I had an essentially immediate response from Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo’s office to my email today looking for progress on this matter.

I was told a number of things:

DOS is apparently looking favorably on granting authorization for remote CE.

They are in the process of reviewing with their legal counsel to determine if they can undertake authorization on their own or if it requires an Executive Order or legislative approval.

If legislative approval is required, it most likely would not come up until January when the legislature reconvenes.

I re-emphasized the need for the regional organizations to have the ability to conduct state approved remote CE and how that is linked to their survival during this time of pandemic with substantial risk and high transmissibility status.

I am hoping for some good news.

Stay Safe Out There!
Larry