NASBA Names John Johnson as Vice President, Legislative and Governmental Affairs

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The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) President and CEO Daniel J. Dustin, CPA, has selected John W. Johnson to serve as vice president, legislative and governmental affairs. Johnson assumed the role on August 1, 2024, and has served as director of the department for the last 12 years.

In 2012, NASBA hired Johnson to establish a governmental affairs program to expand the organization’s mission of enhancing the effectiveness of the 55 U.S. Boards of Accountancy. During his tenure, he implemented a sophisticated bill-tracking system, which annually identifies and monitors more than 500 bills nationally. The system has allowed NASBA to nimbly engage with jurisdictions in real-time to shape legislative priorities and push back on anti-regulatory and anti-licensure movements that threaten public protection and the integrity of the accounting profession.

Most recently, Johnson spearhead, along with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the establishment of the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing (ARPL), a consortium of highly skilled professions that seek to protect the public by advocating for the regulatory community. Through multiple empirical studies and thought leadership, ARPL has made critical differences in educating and guiding lawmakers as to the necessity of professional oversight in a time that has seen a significant uptick in antiregulatory sentiment.

“Ensuring Boards of Accountancy have the tools to protect and act on behalf of the public interest is a longstanding commitment of NASBA,” says Dustin. “With deregulation and consolidation as the primary threat to public protection, the work we do in this arena, and how well we do it, has become that much more urgent. John is the ideal leader to propel NASBA‘s legislative goals and educate lawmakers about the unintended consequences of diluting or dismantling boards, which play such a vital role in protecting their constituents and our financial systems.”

Johnson, who hails from Florida, is a longtime and highly respected leader in the fields of government, public policy and accounting. Prior to NASBA, he served as head of the department of governmental affairs at the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) where he oversaw a diverse portfolio, including monitoring and lobbying for all key legislation affecting Florida’s accounting profession, as well as fundraising for and directing its CPA Political Action Program. Johnson began his career as an auditor for the division of pari-mutuel wagering for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) where he was quickly promoted to tax audit supervisor and then chief of operations. In this position, he managed more than 250 employees at 30 statewide offices. He soon became chief of audit and then deputy director. In 2002, Johnson became executive director for the Florida Board of Accountancy and served four years regulating Florida’s accounting profession, which is comprised of more than 25,000 licensees and 5,000 firms. Johnson is a graduate of Florida State University with degrees in accounting and political science.

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NASBA Names John Johnson as Vice President, Legislative and Governmental Affairs