CEDIA Scores Legislative Win for Workforce Development

One of the key pillars of CEDIA’s recent Smart Home on Capitol Hill Day was garnering congressional support for expanding the reach of 529 savings plans. Today, the custom integration industry’s leading trade association announced a major step forward in those efforts. In a media advisory, CEDIA shared that the bipartisan “Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act” was included in the federal tax bill (H.R. 1). 

That piece of legislation now heads to the opposite chamber for review before U.S. Senators ultimately vote on it.

If passed, the bill would allow for 529 plans to be used for post-secondary training, licenses, and certifications—all professional pathways that would directly support and influence the future of the custom integration industry, which is starved for freshly trained talent. Currently, according to the IRS website, 529s are limited to “any college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Education.” Funds saved can be used for other expenses, but as written, there’s a 10 percent additional income tax on earnings not used for college expenses, or they’re taxed as ordinary income if they’re not used for a qualified expense.

CEDIA has made the expansion of qualified expenses a major priority for the past two years during their visits to Washington, DC, and while the news today is a major win, the association made it clear that there is still work to be done.

“We’re urging members to contact their U.S. Senators and advocate for inclusion of the ‘Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act’ language in the final tax bill,” the association said in an emailed statement.The association said that hundreds of members have already sent in letters to their local representatives, advocating for this initiative. Integrators interested in playing a part can find resources, including a pre-populated letter that can fill in all necessary details and fire it off to their U.S. Senator, right now in the CEDIA Action Center. The letter will be available until June 27th.