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AICPA CEO Melancon: CPA licensing under threat

American Institute of CPAs president and CEO Barry Melancon talked about the need for CPAs to learn new skills as hiring of accounting graduates has slowed and the CPA licensing model has come under threat in some states… It’s not just targeted to CPAs, but it’s targeted to all licensing. Now that doesn’t mean it’s manifested itself in every state, but it’s manifested itself with attempts in probably about 35 states over the last four years.

Read the full article here: https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/aicpa-ceo-melancon-cpa-licensing-under-threat

LTE: Lawmakers must protect Ohio’s engineer’s license

Lawmakers must protect Ohio’s engineer’s license

By: David Martini

The Columbus Dispatch

As lawmakers in Columbus consider revising state workforce laws in 2020, they would do well to remember that professional licensing for advanced professions like engineers is rigorous for a reason. While unnecessary barriers to entry exist for some occupations in Ohio, policymakers should beware of broad, en bloc proposals like the one published by the Buckeye Institute last month that conflate “certification” with “professional licensing” for highly-complex, technical fields like engineering. Failure to make this distinction could have the unintended consequence of weakening Ohio’s professional engineers’ license.

Ohio engineers agree that some state agencies’ certification requirements for engineers could stand to be loosened or eliminated.

But as a licensed professional engineer for more than two decades and the president of the National Society of Professional Engineers representing 26,000 engineers, including more than 1,000 in Ohio, I am concerned that if Ohio’s professional engineer’s license is weakened, the public’s health, welfare, and safety would be placed in jeopardy. The public wants the professionals who design and build our airports, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure to continue to be required to meet rigorous standards of education, examination, and experience.

In public policy debates, distinctions matter. Thus, lawmakers should focus their efforts on problematic certification laws for engineers and protect the professional engineer’s license.

David Martini is a licensed Professional Engineer and President of the National Society of Professional Engineers.

See more: https://www.dispatch.com/opinion/20200116/letter-lawmakers-must-protect-ohio-engineers-license

Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Caution on Licensing

I am concerned that the desire to lower barriers for some occupations may inadvertently also lower standards for professions that carry high public impact. As a certified public accountant for 42 years and as the immediate past chair of the Arkansas Society of CPAs, I have learned that Arkansans depend on CPAs as trusted financial advisers to individuals, families, businesses and public institutions. The state and the nation rely on CPAs’ expertise to protect the integrity of our financial system. – Mike Carroll, CPA

Read the full LTE here: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/dec/09/letters-20191209/?opinion

Op-ed: Professional licensing is rigorous for a reason

While we understand Gov. DeSantis’ desire to lower barriers for Floridians entering occupations by eliminating unnecessary requirements, we ask Florida leaders to be mindful of potential unintended consequences for professions — and the professionals in them — that oversee systems vital to Floridians’ safety, health, and financial interests.

Engineers, surveyors, architects, landscape architects, and certified public accountants (CPAs) are professions that are responsible for everything from the physical integrity of buildings to the fiscal integrity of financial systems.

They design and build homes, roads, bridges, and stormwater systems; they ensure the probity of our state and national economies as well as large and small businesses. For such jobs, broad-brush proposals intended to relax licensing requirements can weaken the standards that allow us to live securely and freely and rely on trustworthy guidance when our lives require it — when, for instance, we decide to build a house or start a business.

To that end, any conversation around licensing reform would be well-served to acknowledge that for some professions, rigorous licensing is not only desirable, but appropriate and necessary.

Read the full op-ed on FloridaPolitics.com here: https://floridapolitics.com/archives/317366-john-johnson-skip-braziel-professional-licensing-is-rigorous-for-a-reason

Rigorous professional licensing protects Iowans

Iowans need professional engineers to be licensed at the highest level because we are responsible for designing facilities and systems such as roads, bridges, buildings, autonomous vehicles, and biotechnology. Because of this tremendous responsibility, an engineer’s license is rigorous for good reason. Iowans would be put at needless risk if the state professional engineers’ license is eliminated or weakened. – David Martini, President, National Society of Professional Engineers

Read the full LTE here: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/rigorous-professional-licensing-protects-iowans-20191113

ASCE, NCEES, NSPE Launch New Coalition to Protect Professional Licensing

ASCE, NCEES and NSPE will collaborate with other ARPL members to inform lawmakers of the need to maintain standards for highly complex, technical professions like engineering that have a clear impact on public health, safety and welfare. The coalition was formed to ensure the voices and concerns of the advanced professions are heard by lawmakers amid the growing debate around licensing. “When civil engineers design and build critical infrastructure projects like roads, airports, bridges and dams, the public must have confidence in their safety and structural integrity,” said ASCE President Robin A. Kemper, P.E. “The best way to ensure the public’s confidence is to continue to require civil engineers to demonstrate rigorous education, examination and experience as part of their licensing. Recent state-by-state attempts to weaken professional licensing requirements pose a real danger to the public’s health, safety and welfare.”

Read the full article here: https://csengineermag.com/asce-ncees-nspe-launch-new-coalition-to-protect-professional-licensing/

AIA and NCARB Help Launch Coalition on Complex Professions and Licensing Standards

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) are among several organizations who have helped found the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing (ARPL)—a new coalition of technical professions focused on educating policymakers and the public about the importance of rigorous professional licensing standards. “NCARB and AIA may approach the licensing debate from different perspectives but we fundamentally agree that rigorous standards must be maintained in order to protect the public we both serve,” said NCARB CEO Michael J. Armstrong. “Complex professions are at risk of being swept up in broad calls to reduce licensing requirements for occupations and vocations. It is important for us to work with other technical professions to ensure public safety isn’t compromised by broad brush deregulatory efforts.”

Read the full article here: https://www.architectmagazine.com/practice/aia-and-ncarb-help-launch-coalition-on-complex-professions-and-licensing-standards_o

AICPA and NASBA work on evolving the CPA licensing model

The AICPA and NASBA introduced on Monday the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing, a coalition of advanced professions — including accountants, architects and engineers — that’s focusing on educating policymakers and the public about the importance of rigorous professional licensing standards. “Weakening professional licensing standards on a state-by-state basis will destroy the confidence in qualifications and completely disrupt existing mobility models for advanced professions like ours,” said AICPA president and CEO Barry Melancon in a statement. “Employers will be less inclined to accept out-of-state licenses if some states have rigorous requirements and others have weak requirements. The result: It will become more difficult for CPAs to move and maintain their careers across states.”

Read the full article here: https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/aicpa-and-nasba-work-on-evolving-the-cpa-licensing-model