IA Welcomes Big Beautiful Bill Boost for MR Training

In the US, the Insights Association has welcomed the inclusion in President Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' of a provision which it says will empower the insights industry's workforce with more flexible and affordable approaches to training.

The Big Beautiful Bill Act passed the House on May 22nd and the Senate last week, and includes a section called the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act, whose terms permit certain expenses associated with obtaining or maintaining postsecondary credentials (such as licenses, certifications, or certificates) to be treated as qualified higher education expenses for purposes of 529 tax savings accounts. A 529 plan is a state-sponsored education savings vehicle that is exempt from federal taxes if funds are used to pay for qualified education expenses. These previously included college, graduate or professional degrees, including all the Masters or postgraduate programs in insights and analytics.

The c.$450bn reportedly invested in 529 accounts across the country will now be usable by current or future insights professionals pursuing postsecondary training and certification, such as that provided by the Burke Institute, Cambiar, MRII, Research Rockstar (including the Insights Professional Certificate or IPC), and RIVA.

The Association's CEO Melanie Courtright comments: 'We needed this kind of reform not only for upskilling the existing insights workforce, but also for opening up new opportunities to aspiring insights professionals who may pursue unorthodox pathways to training outside the standard four-year college degree. The power of the insights industry comes from our people.'

The IA notes that the budget reconciliation law passed with only Republican votes, but the provisions it backed had broad support from both Democrats and Republicans.

Web site: www.insightsassociation.org .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.