The prospects of Pennsylvania Senate Bill 719 -- legislation that updates Pennsylvania’s CPA Law to allow for an additional licensure pathway -- and PICPA’s Day on the Hill advocacy event converged this year to create an atmosphere of energy and purpose. And PICPA members' outreach efforts carried the day!
Have you heard of Pennsylvania Senate Bill 719 (SB 719)? What about PICPA’s Day on the Hill? They were intertwined this year, and I believe Day on the Hill this past June was instrumental in the passage of SB 719, legislation that updates Pennsylvania’s CPA Law to allow for an additional the licensure pathway (a bachelor’s degree combined with two years of relevant work experience) and enhances CPA mobility to better support an interstate practice model.
Over the years, I have only missed one or two Day on the Hill events, and I’m so happy I did not miss this very important one. When the date for the 2025 Day on the Hill was announced (as it had been on a hiatus after COVID), I was thrilled and signed up right away. I truly was excited to see old friends in the PICPA and make new ones, chat about my work, the profession, and the business environment in general (especially taxes). I do not think I would use the term “thrilled” when it comes to walking through the state capitol to find my senator and representative so I could talk about the issues for which the PICPA was advocating.
To begin with, I have absolutely no sense of direction. I have not yet been to the capitol and not gotten lost – even after being there dozens of times. I take solace in that it isn’t just me! When asking a fellow CPA to come with me to Day on the Hill, she specifically mentioned how the layout of the capitol was a concern. It can be tough to point legislators in the right direction on specific issues when you’re having trouble navigating the literal maze of a legislature. This year, though, I was proactive as our mission on SB 719 was too important: I diligently studied the map of the capitol ahead of time, and I took the additional precaution of reaching out to my representative’s administrative assistant for detailed directions on how to get from security to his office. My senator’s office was pretty easy to find, mercifully.
I had the pleasure of visiting both of my legislators’ offices with another member (James Tomak) who was more polished in his discussion points than I was. I’m not always “quick on my feet,” so when I get asked questions I am never sure if I’m going to be able to confidently present the position I’m taking when I’m speaking to non-CPA, especially a legislator. That’s the great thing about Day on the Hill: the PICPA prepares us tremendously to speak on the issues that matter most to CPAs. I completely understood the reasons for, and the fixes to, the big issue that we were advancing: changes to the CPA Law to allow another (equally rigorous) pathway to achieving the CPA license in Pennsylvania. We had three issues to discuss, but the CPA Law was where James and I focused our time when we met with our senator’s chief of staff and our representative. (We actually caught up with our representative later at his local office because he was on the floor the day we were visiting, but we did stop by the office and left our information for him to review).
Not only did all of us in attendance (nearly 100 of us!) advocate for this bill at the state capitol, but I also went back to my firm and asked all the owners to write their representatives to advocate for it. I don’t live near my office, so this work had the added benefit of picking up a few more representatives outside of my own. We ended up connecting with about four separate representatives.
And do you know what? It worked! Senate Bill 719 unanimously passed in both the Pennsylvania Senate (June 11) and the Pennsylvania House (June 26), and was signed into law as Act 27 by Gov. Josh Shapiro on June 30. The alternate pathway and the other changes to the CPA Law are now effective immediately. Never in my long association with the PICPA have I seen a bill move so quickly and so successfully. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to think that I and my fellow CPAs (Day on the Hill attendees and those acting independently) played a part in that. We simply don’t have enough CPAs, and we all hope this act will help solve the pipeline problem that we have here in Pennsylvania. I know that at my own firm, although we’ve been exceptionally fortunate with the caliber of our new hires, there are still holes in the staffing that we must fill. I believe these changes to the CPA Law will assist in that greatly.
Please consider joining us next year. I can almost guarantee that you will be glad you did. You will learn a lot, meet wonderful fellow CPAs, and help make Pennsylvania an even better place to live and work. It was just an excellent event all around.
Kathy Bell, CPA, MST, is currently associated with Hamilton & Musser PC CPAs in Mechanicsburg, Pa. She has three decades of experience in both public practice and private industry, and her main areas of interest are pass-through entities and complex individual tax returns. Bell is a member of the CPA-PAC board and can be reached at kathybell2cpa@gmail.com.
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Statements of fact and opinion are the authors’ responsibility alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the PICPA's officers or members. The information contained herein does not constitute accounting, legal, or professional advice. For actionable advice, you must engage or consult with a qualified professional.
