Board of Accountancy budget hearing spotlights $1 million scholarship to shore up CPA pipeline

The Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on General Government opened a public hearing Feb. 12, 2025, on House Bill 5001, the governor's budget for the Oregon Board of Accountancy, which includes a one-time $1,000,000 special payment proposed for accounting scholarships to help address falling CPA candidate numbers and to reduce the agency's projected 24-month ending balance.

The scholarship proposal is the centerpiece of the Board of Accountancy's policy package and is intended to lower financial barriers to CPA licensure. "The Board of Accountancy is in a healthy position going into the 2527 biennium," Kendra Beck of the Department of Administrative Services' Chief Financial Office said as she summarized the governor's recommendation. Beck told the committee the one-time payment is meant both to increase scholarship support and to partially spend down the board's ending balance.

Martin Petioni, executive director of the Board of Accountancy, and Haley Lyons, board chair, described workforce and licensing trends and how the board proposes to use limited agency resources. Lyons, a CPA and partner at a state accounting firm, told lawmakers, "What we always say in our board meetings is what's our...goal? It's the protection of the public." She framed the scholarship as one element of a broader strategy to attract and retain licensees in Oregon.

Committee members pressed staff on the scholarship design, timing and legal authority. Beck said the scholarship conversations are ongoing with higher-education partners and with the Oregon Society of CPAs Education Foundation, "which is intended to be the first recipient of this funding." She and Petioni emphasized that the proposed $1,000,000 is a one-time special payment in the 2025–27 budget request; it does not create a recurring appropriation. Petioni added that Senate Bill 796 (the policy bill discussed by members) would be needed to give the board explicit authority to spend funds for scholarships; the policy bill itself carries no separate appropriation.

Lawmakers and board staff discussed how scholarship awards would be structured. Petioni and Beck said current discussions favor need-based awards and that the board's intent is to structure aid to help students through the multi-year path to CPA licensure "if at all we can," though both cautioned they could not promise legally enforceable post-graduation work commitments. "I quite frankly do not feel comfortable saying publicly that we could actually enforce it," Beck said when asked whether recipients would be required to remain and work in Oregon after receiving support.

Members also questioned long-term budget impacts. Beck told the committee the board projects roughly 11 months of ending balance in the 2025–27 budget with the governor's proposal and that, unlike many agencies, the board does not seek the typical six months of reserve because its fee-based cash flow is uneven. Petioni explained the agency's revenue model: most income derives from statutorily set renewal fees for CPAs and registered firms, which can only be changed by the Legislature. He said the last legislatively enacted fee increase occurred in 2015; smaller fees are set by administrative rule. Petioni cautioned that the board has limited ability to increase revenue quickly because the primary fees are fixed in statute.

Committee members asked about other budget details raised in staff presentations. Petioni reviewed the agency's recovery from a large 2022 staffing turnover and said the board returned to full, permanent staffing Nov. 1, 2024. He said disciplinary fines provide a relatively small portion of revenue (historically on the order of roughly $150,000 in a biennium), and he described the board's renewal calendar (half of licensees renew in even years, producing renewal-season cash inflows in May–July that create an uneven cash-flow profile).

Lawmakers and staff also discussed complementary legislation and broader policy work. Petioni said Oregon is among multiple jurisdictions pursuing changes to CPA licensure pathways to address pipeline challenges; he cited coordination with other states and national groups in developing the language in Senate Bill 797, which would create alternative pathways to meet licensure knowledge standards. Petioni said at least 16 other jurisdictions are considering similar bills and that Ohio enacted a related change about a month earlier.

Committee members raised nonbudget questions, including whether advances in artificial intelligence will affect the profession; board members and staff said national conversations on AI are beginning but that the board has not yet taken formal action. Several lawmakers urged outreach and marketing to make accounting careers more attractive and to examine options such as loan-repayment or revolving funds to amplify the one-time investment's impact.

No formal action or vote was taken at the hearing. Committee members were told the policy bill referral and the board's budget may return to the subcommittee for work sessions; the panel also noted an upcoming Feb. 13 public hearing on SB 5540 (the Oregon Board of Tax Practitioners budget).