House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans have reached an agreement to increase the state and local tax deduction to $40,000, suggesting a resolution to one of the final issues holding up President Donald Trump’s economic bill. 

“That is the agreement we came to,” Johnson told CNN Wednesday, in response to a question about raising the deduction cap to $40,000 from $10,000 for a decade.

“I think the SALT caucus, as they call themselves, it’s not everything they wanted, but I think they know what a huge improvement that is for their constituents and it gives them a lot to go home and talk about,” Johnson said.

The $40,000 SALT limit will phase out for annual incomes greater than $500,000, according to a person familiar with the matter. The income phaseout threshold would grow 1% a year over a decade, they said.

The cap is the same for both individual taxpayers and married couples filing jointly, the person added.

Several lawmakers — New York’s Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino and Elise Stefanik; New Jersey’s Tom Kean, and Young Kim of California — have threatened to reject any tax package that does not raise the SALT cap sufficiently.

It’s not clear that all those lawmakers have signed off on the deal.

Some SALT advocates have pushed for income limits as high as $750,000 and a 2% annual phaseout increase, according to another person familiar with the negotiations, who requested anonymity to discuss private talks.

Lawler told NPR in an interview Wednesday morning that lawmakers are still working through some “finer points,” but that he’s hopeful to reach a deal later in the day.

The current write-off is capped at $10,000, a limit imposed in Trump’s first-term tax cut bill. Previously, there was no limit on the SALT deduction and the deduction would again be uncapped if Trump’s first-term tax law is allowed to expire at the end of this year.

Johnson’s plan expands upon the $30,000 cap for individuals and couples included in the initial version of the tax bill released last week. That draft called for phasing down the deduction for those earning $400,000 or more. That plan was quickly rejected by several lawmakers from high-tax districts who called the plan insultingly low.

SALT has been among the thorniest issues for House leaders who are navigating the political realities of pushing an expensive tax bill through with their narrow and fractious majority. Trump has grown frustrated over the SALT demands and urged lawmakers on Tuesday to not let their parochial interests sink the bill.

Still, the agreement is also already causing a backlash from conservatives who are pushing for more spending cuts to offset the tax reductions in Trump’s economic package.

Representative Andy Harris, who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Newsmax he thinks Republicans are “actually further away from the deal, because that SALT cap increase, I think, upset a lot of conservatives again.” 

The House Rules Committee debated Trump’s bill for hours early Wednesday, beginning at 1 a.m. Washington time, in order to meet Johnson’s self-imposed Thursday deadline to pass the legislation out of the House. Republicans are expected to soon release a revised version of the legislation that will address SALT and other unresolved issues.

Republicans are also sparring over spending reductions in the bill, including weighing cuts to Medicaid health coverage and food assistance for low-income households.

House Republicans leaders are planning to accelerate new Medicaid work requirements to December 2026 from 2029 in a deal with ultra-conservatives to cut additional health spending.

IT auditors who know a lot about artificial intelligence can now show it through a new certification, as the ISACA — the organization behind credentials like CISA and CISM — now offers an AAIA or “Advanced in AI Audit” credential. The certification demonstrates that an IT audit professional can navigate the complexities of AI and has the skills to respond to risks, identify opportunities and ensure compliance while safeguarding organizational integrity. Overall, it validates expertise in conducting AI-focused audits, addressing AI integration challenges, and enhancing audit processes through AI-driven insights.

The credential requires knowledge of a wide range of AI-related audit skills, proven through an exam scheduled through ISACA. Only those with an active CISA from ISACA, CIA from the IIA, and CPA from the AICPA are eligible to pursue the AAIA, which covers the key domains of AI governance and risk, AI operations, AI auditing tools and techniques.

Chiefly, professionals must demonstrate “AI operations” skills that concern balancing sustainability, operational readiness and the risk profile with the benefits and innovation AI promises to support enterprise-wide adoption of this powerful technology. This includes AI-specific data management, AI solution lifecycle management, AI-specific change management, supervision of AI solutions (especially agents), testing techniques for AI solutions, AI-specific threats and vulnerabilities, and AI-specific incidence response management. 

The next largest area of focus is “AI governance and risk,” which is mainly concerned with advising stakeholders on implementing AI solutions through appropriate and effective policy, risk controls, data governance and ethical standards. This encompasses general knowledge of AI and its business impacts, AI governance and program management, AI risk management, data and data governance programs, and how AI fits into standards frameworks and professional ethics. 

After that is “AI auditing tools and techniques,” which focuses on optimizing audit outcomes for innovation and highlights the professional’s knowledge of audit techniques tailored to AI systems and the use of AI-enabled tools to streamline audit efficiency and provide faster, quality insights. This includes audit planning and design, testing and sampling methodologies, evidence collection techniques, data quality and analytics, outputs and reports, all specific to AI. 

There are a number of task-based secondary classifications, such as “utilize AI solutions to enhance audit processes, including planning, execution and reporting” and “evaluate algorithms and models to ensure AI solutions are aligned to business objectives, policies and procedures.”

“ISACA is proud to have served the global audit community for more than 55 years through our audit and assurance standards, frameworks and certifications, and we are continuing to help the community evolve and thrive with the certifications and training they need in this new era of audits involving AI,” said Shannon Donahue, ISACA chief content and publishing officer. “Through AAIA, auditors can demonstrate their expertise and trusted advisory skills in navigating AI-driven challenges while upholding the highest industry standards.”

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into the world economy, a number of standard-setting and certification bodies have responded to rising concerns about the impact the technology can have on business and the economy as a whole. The National Institute of Standards and Technology released its AI Risk Management framework at the beginning of 2023. The following year, the International Organization for Standardization released ISO 42001, which specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an AI management system within an organization. ISACA says this is the first advanced AI audit certification in the world, developed in response to rising concerns about the black box nature of many AI models which, in turn, has driven calls for more oversight by audit and assurance professionals over the technology’s internal structures. 

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