August 2025 Volume 7

WASHINGTON UPDATE

Education and Workforce Development: Investing in the Next Generation Our FIA members tell us that a strong and reliable workforce pipeline remains a top priority. H.R. 1 provides both employers and employees a number of tools to help them invest in careers and a skills-based ecosystem. To support the next generation of skilled tradesmen and women, individuals can now use 529 plans qualified industry credentialing, giving families added flexibility in saving for skills-based education. The law also makes permanent, Section 127 Employer Education Assistance, which allows employers to provide tax-free student loan repayment assistance of up to $5,250 annually. This is in addition to the expansion of Pell Grants to cover short term programs. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 focused more on lowering tax rates, while this law emphasizes investment in domestic production activities that can provide a strategic blueprint for industry-led growth. The Forging Industry Association fought hard for this tax package because it delivers where it counts: reinvestment, growth, and generational continuity. Our members have long correctly recognized that other countries subsidize their manufacturers to give them an upper hand over U.S. industry. This law creates a policy environment where American manufacturers can compete on fairer terms, reinvest faster, and plan longer-term.

Omar S. Nashashibi is the Founder of Inside Beltway, a nonpartisan lobbying and strategic consulting firm in Washington, D.C. Having worked in the nation’s capital for over twenty-five years, Mr. Nashashibi provides strategic consulting services to companies while also lobbying the White House and Congress on behalf of manufacturing, associations, defense firms, nonprofits, and other sectors. He works with policymakers on trade, taxes, environmental and workplace regulations, supply chains, job training and identifying grants and funding to support projects. Having started his career

in Washington D.C. in 1996, Mr. Nashashibi worked for the Office of Management and Budget, a branch of the White House, a large multi-state law firm, and founded a previous lobbying firm in 2005. He graduated from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he studied Political Science and International Affairs. He is based in Washington, D.C., representing the Forging Industry Association. He can be reached at omar@ insidebeltway.com.

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FIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2025 7