Despite surprising negative attention from a couple of national conservative media outlets, a state licensing bill advocated by the Northeast Spa and Pool Association has made significant headway toward passage.
The bill, A-224, was introduced into the New Jersey General Assembly in 2015 and would mandate licenses for those professionals who build or service pools and spas.
The bill is part of NESPA’s push for licensing specific to the pool/spa industry in each state it serves — New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. So far, Connecticut and parts of New York have adopted licensing laws.
In perhaps an industry first, the New Jersey bill caught the eye of right-leaning national media companies. Forbes ran a contributed opinion piece on the bill, while the political outlet National Review has produced two commentaries so far. These articles and posts began appearing late last year, with writers characterizing mandatory licensing as government overreach and suggesting that the pool/spa industry merely seeks to remove competition and increase revenue. Additionally, they questioned the connection between licenses and pool safety.
This led to other blogs and websites taking up the cause. To bolster their cases, some of the more recent articles cited a quote in Pool and Spa News, in which NESPA Executive Director Lawrence Caniglia stated that licensed contractors could charge higher rates if the bill passed. He said the comment was taken out of context. He was explaining that NESPA aspires to raise professionalism to the level of plumbers and electricians, for whom most agree licensing is appropriate, he said, and as a natural outgrowth, companies would charge more to recover their investments.
He even agrees with opponents to the bill that some licensing efforts are unnecessary. “There are certain licenses that are not protecting the public welfare,” Caniglia said “… [But] we’re talking about sophisticated plumbing, electrical and hydraulic vessels that are in people’s backyards with chemicals in them, and that need to have qualified people working on them.”
In stating that licensing does not make pools safer, the commentaries quoted statistics suggesting child drownings are as likely to occur in pools built and serviced by licensed companies. However, Caniglia argued, the performance of barriers does rely in part on how they are installed and maintained. And drowning is not the only concern, he said, but chemical and electrical injuries must be considered.
The National Review articles coincided with important legislative votes. A May piece came out within a day of a the Senate Commerce Committee vote and stated that, if the bill passed, homeowners have to gain a license to drain their own pools, since the licensing guidelines would cover this task. “There is nothing in the bill that says a homeowner can’t do their own repairs, their own service,” Caniglia said. “They can do whatever they want, because it’s their property.”
The bill would not require homeowners to hire a pool contractor. “If they hire a pool contractor, [the contractor] has to be licensed,” Caniglia said. “That’s the extent of the law.”
Despite the media coverage, the bill passed through the Commerce Committee with all but one vote. “Every other senator on the committee did vote yes, even the other Republicans, which was really a great vote of confidence for us,” Caniglia said.
It now goes before the full Senate, which is two-thirds Democrat, and would need the signature of Republican governor Chris Christie before his tenure and the legislative session end next January.
