off-stage right

UPDATE:  For the time being lighting design is legal in Texas.  Congratulations to all who tweeted, called and rallied via Facebook.

I will assume the legislators of my home state were trying to do some good when they wrote Texas House Bill 2649.  In reading the background information the original intent seemed to come from a very real concern of dealing with high wind issues.

Having spent 11 years of my life in Texas I can attest that winds can be a very real issue.  Texas storms are no joke.  It wasn’t that long ago that a tornado decimated downtown Fort Worth.  We all saw more recently the Dallas Cowboys training facility mangled by winds.  I don’t know if this had any play in the creation of the bill but it seems as written the bill will affect the entire profession of lighting design.

Sec. 1001.3011.  LIGHTING DESIGN; LICENSE OR REGISTRATION REQUIRED. (a) A person may not perform or offer to perform lighting design services unless the person is:

(1)  licensed as an engineer under this chapter;

(2)  registered as an architect, landscape architect, or interior designer under Subtitle B, Title 6; or

(3)  licensed under Chapter 1305.

(b)  In this section, “lighting design services” means the preparation of plans and specifications that depict the placement and direction of illumination of mounted or installed lighting fixtures in the interior or exterior of a building, including the specification of bulbs, reflectors, lens, louvers, baffles, and other hardware. The term does not include the preparation of shop drawings or other directions from a manufacturer for the installation or operation of lighting fixtures.

Please visit Jim on Light to see what actions you can take to reach out to the state government to get changes made to make it clear that theatrical, TV and film designers are not affected.

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