Government Affairs: Hold on Tight! Big Changes in the Accounting Profession for 2025

By Kenneth Besserman, TXCPA Director of Government Affairs and Special Counsel

The 2025 Texas legislative session is just around the corner. January 14, 2025, will be the start the 89th Session of Texas Legislature. Representatives and Senators will come together to debate some of the biggest issues that Texas has faced in decades.

From continued proposals to further lower property taxes, to the ever-increasing need to find and secure water sources in a fast-growing state, to much-needed infrastructure projects, to the long-simmering debate over school choice, the 89th session will be the center of attraction in Austin and beyond for the next five months.

The 2025 Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate will remain in Republican control after the 2024 election. The biggest issue facing the House on opening day will be the election of a Speaker of the House. Speaker Dade Phelan – Speaker since 2021 – is in for a contested election, with at least six declared candidates for Speaker.

The accounting profession is facing some significant licensing issues in 2025 that will have repercussions in Texas and beyond. As the CPA pipeline and the need for talent continues to be a priority for the profession, states, state societies and state boards of accountancy are beginning to develop legislation to address the pipeline issue.

Texas is at the forefront of these discussions and these legislative proposals. As AICPA and NASBA propose exposure drafts on alternative pathways to licensure and mobility, states have seen the need to act in their best interests and timelines, which may not fully synchronize with the timelines of other organizations.

In Texas, Senator Charles Perry, CPA-South Plains, has filed Senate Bill 262 and Rep. Angie Chen Button has filed House Bill 1757, which will create an additional pathway to CPA licensure. This new pathway will require the completion of a baccalaureate degree (with the required accounting concentration), passage of the CPA Exam and two years of work experience to be defined by Board rule. Click here to learn more about the legislation that was filed.

More flexibility in licensing pathways has been one of the hallmarks of the National Pipeline Advisory Group and others that are fostering solutions to the issues related to the CPA pipeline.

While educational pathways are discussed, the issue of mobility and out-of-state practice privileges become more important than ever. All agree that current licensees should continue to have mobility even as the national fabric of mobility and licensing may change.

TXCPA will be supporting and advocating for legislation in 2025 that will continue and provide for ease and uniformity of mobility. On December 2, Senator Perry filed Senate Bill 522 that addresses CPA practice mobility and out-of-state practice privileges. Click here to learn more about the legislation that was filed.

TXCPA and the TXCPA Political Action Committee have had many good conversations with legislators during this past year, and we look forward to talking to legislators about our specific legislation in the months to come. TXCPA and its Key Persons and advocates will be spending a lot of time at the Capitol in 2025. Please see our 2025 Legislative Agenda below. Reach out to Kenneth Besserman and the TXCPA team if you want to become involved.

About the Author: Kenneth Besserman is TXCPA's Director of Government Affairs and Special Counsel. Contact him at kbesserman@tx.cpa.

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