Perfect Timing

Coming into the 2026 session, our Society’s highest priority was to get the Pathways to CPA Act passed without any substantial changes. Secondarily, we hoped to get the bill passed as quickly as possible to give college seniors maximum notice related to their options for the upcoming school year.

 

There was also another, more personal motivator: Lexy Kessler was going to be in Montgomery on January 22nd and 23rd. If you aren’t aware, Mrs. Kessler is the current Chair of the AICPA. She serves in that volunteer position from her home office in the Washington D.C./Maryland area.

 

Kessler had served the AICPA in various roles leading up to her appointment as AICPA Chair. Among those “most rewarding” was to chair the AICPA’s National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG), formed in 2023 to address the CPA talent shortage. Our own Jeannine Birmingham served with Kessler on that Committee. During 2023 and 2024, NPAG worked methodically to understand the causes and effects of the shortage and develop a series of solutions. One such solution was to expand the pathways to CPA licensure to include a bachelor's degree and two years of accounting experience.

 

This past August, the Society’s Board of Directors was informed of the January dates Mrs. Kessler would be coming to Montgomery. Knowing we would be advocating for pathway changes here in Alabama, Jeannine and I discussed how cool it would be for the former Chair of NPAG/current Chair of the AICPA to be present when our Act was passed. Comparing her itinerary with the Legislative Session calendar, our bill would have to be passed in six session days. (The minimum number of session days it takes to pass any legislation is five days.) It was a long-shot.

 

So we got to work.

 

First, we had to make sure the bill was written perfectly. D. Boyd Busby and his team spent considerable time drafting, reviewing and editing the bill not just for the major aspects, but every single “clean-up” item necessary. One such item was adding “electronic mail” to the list of acceptable licensee notification methods. We engaged with Rep. Kerry Underwood to review every change proposed in the bill and address any concerns he had as our bill’s “champion”. Underwood then referred our draft bill to the Legislative Services Agency, a collection of attorneys tasked with drafting legislation for our representatives and senators. After a couple rounds of reviews, comments and edits, we had a bill that we all agreed was ready to be pre-filed.

 

At the same time, Jeannine prioritized educating our members on the work of NPAG and the need for expanding our pathways. Through firm visits, podcasts and other Society meetings, she did a wonderful job of making sure CPAs had the opportunity to learn, ask questions and provide feedback on the plan for this change. This proved to be a critical part of getting our Pathways to CPA Act passed.

 

Finally, we worked to make sure legislators knew of the importance of the bill’s passage. As an active CPA, we could not have had a better advocate than Underwood, who gathered the support of other influential legislators. We met with Sen. Dan Roberts, a steady friend to the Society, who agreed to serve as our bill’s champion in the Senate. All along the way, we met with House and Senate leadership in both parties to answer questions and advocate for the bill’s passage.

 

With great respect to the importance of this bill and our profession, the last thing Jeannine or I wanted was to leave anything to chance. We were pleased that the bill followed the plan. When the plan went off-script… well, we were even more pleased. That is exactly what happened when Underwood and I met with Sen. Lance Bell, Chair of the Senate’s FRED Committee. At the end of the meeting, Bell gave us his support pending one promise and condition: that he would be reaching out to his local CPAs to seek their approval. Once he had it, he would advance the bill through his committee. Thankfully, he received an overwhelmingly positive response, prompting him to move his committee meeting to the earliest possible time.

 

Nothing this significant gets accomplished without teamwork, and I hope this writing illustrates how important teamwork was to the passage of the Pathways to CPA Act. An idea that started in an AICPA committee led by Lexy Kessler, ended here in Alabama with a bill-signing picture including Governor Kay Ivey and Lexy Kessler. The process and timing could not have gone more perfectly.

Now for a couple quick updates:

 

1. The Alabama CPA Podcast had several updates last week. The visits with Kerry Underwood and Lexy Kessler were must-listens. This week, we plan to hear from Cam Pearce, accounting professor at THE Samford University.
2. HB294, introduced by Rep. Napoleon Bracy and others, seeks to protect certain professions impacted by the US Department of Labor’s changes to the list of professional degree programs. Those professions, including accounting, would be eligible for state workforce initiative programs.
3. The watchlist on our Advocacy web page is being constantly updated. Check in often.

CLICK HERE FOR THE WATCHLIST

There have been 535 bills filed so far. If we’ve missed something or you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at rpearson@alabama.cpa.