ASAE Honors Three Sentinel Award Winners

June 18, 2020

For their support of the association community, ASAE presented Sentinel Awards this week to Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Rob Wittman (R-VA), as well as Andrew Grossman, chief tax counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee.

Last December, Spanberger and Wittman introduced the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act, a bipartisan bill to allow “529” education savings accounts to be used for workforce training, professional certification and other credentialing program costs. ASAE has endorsed the bill as an important pathway to employment and career growth for American workers. Currently, 529 accounts can only be used to pay for tuition at colleges and universities, vocational schools and other post-secondary institutions. Spanberger and Wittman joined ASAE this week for American Associations Week to discuss their legislation and how it would impact workforce development and economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grossman, who addressed AAW participants earlier today, played a pivotal role in congressional action late last year to repeal a section of the 2017 tax law that required associations and other tax-exempt organizations to pay unrelated business income tax (UBIT) on employee benefits such as parking and transportation. In his duties with the House Ways and Means Committee, Grossman understood the compliance challenges and administrative burdens that the employee fringe benefits tax created for nonprofit groups and helped guide the repeal effort.

“ASAE is proud to present Congresswoman Spanberger, Congressman Wittman and Andrew Grossman, Chief Tax Counsel for the Committee on Ways and Means, with Sentinel Awards for their steadfast support of the association community,” said ASAE President and CEO Susan Robertson, CAE. “The work done by these three individuals will not only have a positive impact on the economy, it will further enable associations to fully pursue their missions in public service.”

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