counterparts 1105

CPA Success

CPA Success http://www.macpa.org/blog/category/13/legislative--regulatory/files/budget_and_tax_contacts.doc?i=98&watch=rss en-US

2016 blog@macpa.org (CPA Success)

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:45:12 GMT

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:45:12 GMT

BryceWebGroup.Blast

10

Special Session - Are they listening?

Yes, I think so? If there is one thing that is sticking out in this specials session is that the loudest voices are getting heard. Consider this - we heard from several delegates on the <a href="http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/com/07ways.html">House Ways &

Means Committee</a> that they were voting against the Professional services bill we mobilized against (HB 11). We also heard that Professional services (consulting & tax) escaped the

"short list" going to the Governor from the <a href="http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/05sen/html/com/01bud.html">Senate Budget &

Tax Committee</a>. At this point, computer services (which never came up before nor were in any pre-session lists are now on the table to raise $250 million). A Baltimore County democratic

<a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2007/11/brochin_plans_to_join_gop_fili.html">Senat or (Brochin)</a> is breaking ranks to oppose tax increases because of major constituent letters. There are more examples... The point is that we, as CPAs, need to make sure our voices are heard and you should encourage your clients to do the same - let your own representatives hear your thoughts on all of the propsoals. Here is a good recap of proposed changes to the Governor's package from Andy Green at the Sun on their <a href="http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/assembly/2007/11/tax_changes_coming.html">b log covering the general assembly</a>. Our friends at the <a href="http://www.mdchamber.org">Maryland Chamber of Commerce</a> have done a great job advocating for business and monitoring all of the activities in Annapolis. It is a major challenge keeping ion track of all the moving parts - there are over 70 pieces of legislation to monitor in a very compressed and afst-moving environment. See the <a href="http://www.mdchamber.com/blog/">Maryland Chamber Blog</a> for impacts of other bills on business. Here is a round-up of articles they are tagging <a href="http://del.icio.us/mdchamber/specialsession">here</a> Another good source is the Washington Post's coverage for yesterday here

- <a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2007/11/special_session_roundup_for_tu_1.html">Sp ecial Session Round-up for Tuesday</a> http://www.macpa.org/blog/1504/special-sessi-4 tom@macpa.org(Tom Hood)

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:24:41 GMT http://www.macpa.org/blog/1504/special-sessi-4

Special session, Day 8: More proposals, questions

It's Day 8 of the Maryland General Assembly's special session, and here's a look at some of the most recent coverage from across the state: <ul><li><a href="http://www.examiner.com/a-

1029186~New_taxes_proposed_on_dozens_of_state_services.html">New taxes proposed on dozens of state services</a> (The Examiner)</li> <li><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/balslots1105,0,737127.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout">Lawmakers question O'Malley aides on slots</a>

(The Sun)</li> <li><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301010.html">Senate seeks cuts beyond O'Malley plan</a> (The Washington Post)</li></ul> http://www.macpa.org/blog/1505/special-sessi-3 bill@macpa.org(Bill Sheridan)

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:11:48 GMT http://www.macpa.org/blog/1505/special-sessi-3

Leadership, self-regulation and your profession

One of the greatest things about the CPA profession is that we, as CPAs, can (and should) participate in our profession, even at the regulatory level. From standard-setting to regulatory and even legislative advocacy, it is our duty to continue to build the body of knowledge and regulatory framework that serves as the infrastructure of the CPA profession. This is the core purpose of all of the associations that serve the profession -- <a href="http://www.aicpa.org/">AICPA</a>, <a href="http://www.nasba.org/">NASBA</a>, state CPA societies and <a href="http://www.fasb.org/">FASB</a>. In fact, that was why we, <a href="http://www.macpa.org/">the MACPA</a>, were in attendance at the NASBA Annual Meeting in Hawaii last week. <a href="http://cpasuccess.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/04/dsc06087

_2.jpg"><img title="Dsc06087_2" height="112" alt="Dsc06087_2" src="http://www.macpa.org/blog/resources/assets/-563090680.jpg" width="150" border="0" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px" /></a>NASBA (the National Association of State

Boards of Accountancy) represents the state boards of accountancy and related jurisdictions (Guam,

Puerto Rico, etc). The chairman of NASBA for this past year is a good friend and past <a href="http://www.macpa.org/">MACPA</a> chairman, Wes Johnson. Wes will be remembered for his efforts in kick-starting the uniform mobility efforts that are now sweeping the nation. He announced major progress on this initiative (11 states enacted mobility since last year, with eight more currently in legislative sessions). This project also features historic cooperation among the profession (the AICPA and state CPA societies) and the regulatory community (NASBA and the state boards). The conference can be summed up as globalization - convergence (standards) - mobility and how do we, as a profession, maintain relevance and protect the public interest in a global marketplace? I will revisit these topics in future posts, but for now I want to focus on NASBA. 

What does NASBA have to do with you? The theme of the conference was celebrating the past and anticipating the future. I always find it useful to look back at the history of an organization and the initial spark of energy that came from its purpose. According to its history book, NASBA serves the state boards of accountancy and the state boards serve the public interest by enforcing licensing laws that have been enacted to protect the public from unqualified professionals. This is a noble purpose and one that is compatible with our own purpose at the MACPA. I think we all need to revisit our history from time to time, and this made me think about where we are as a profession.



 A profession is an occupation that involves the application of a specialized body of knowledge with a public interest and has a code of ethics. 

 Professions enjoy a high social status, regard and esteem conferred upon them by society. This high esteem arises primarily from the higher social function of their work, which is regarded as vital to society (serving the public interest) and having a special and valuable nature. 

 All professions involve technical, specialized and highly skilled work. Training for this work involves obtaining degrees and professional qualifications without which entry to the profession is barred. Training also requires regular updating of skills. Our profession was founded on the public interest of financial reporting and dates to the beginnings of our free-market economy in Maryland when Gov. John Smith signed the Accountancy Act into law on April 10, 1900.

It was reaffirmed during the stock market crash in 1929 and again with the Enron and Worldcom failures in 2001-02. We need to remind ourselves -- and especially students and CPA exam candidates -- of our purpose, of why the CPA license is so important today and will be even more important in the fast-moving global economy. It is so much more than a credential and will only gain in importance in the future. See our post about our recent <a href="http://www.macpa.org/Content/Content/23685.aspx">"swearing-in" ceremony</a> in which Maryland CPAs took a public oath as they received their licenses. Mark your calendars, because the next ceremony will be held on June 17, 2008 at the Baltimore Convention

Center. The other point is that many CPAs have led the profession by volunteering to serve on our state boards of accountancy,

NASBA, the AICPA and the MACPA. I was proud to be with several Marylanders who have continued to give back to our profession and have gone on to lead at the state board and NASBA levels. These tireless volunteers deserve recognition: <ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in

0in 0pt"><img title="Dsc06137" height="112" alt="Dsc06137" src="http://www.macpa.org/blog/resources/assets/-898180920.jpg" width="150" border="0" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px" />Wes

Johnson, who just finished his term as 2006-07 NASBA chairman.</div></li> <li><div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Don Howard,

NASBA Board of Directors and Board of Examiners of the CPA exam.</div></li> <li><div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jacob Cohen, chairman of the NASBA Ethics Committee.</div></li> <li><div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Les Mostow, NASBA Regulatory

Response Committee.</div></li> <li><div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in

0pt">Arnold Williams, chair of the <a href="http://www.dllr.state.md.us/license/cpa/cpaintro.html">Maryland State Board of Public

Accountancy</a>.</div></li></ul> Note that all are MACPA members. Wes, Don and

Jacob are past chairs of the MACPA as well! I also learned that Thomas Cardegna of Maryland was also a NASBA chairman from 1979-80. That means

Maryland claims two past chairs of NASBA in its 100 year history! We all owe some thanks to these volunteers who work to keep our profession strong and relevant. http://www.macpa.org/blog/2777/leadership-self

tom@macpa.org(Tom Hood)

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:49:19 GMT http://www.macpa.org/blog/2777/leadership-self

Special session: Day 5 hearings

<a href="http://cpasuccess.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/03/dsc06143

_2.jpg"><img title="Dsc06143_2" height="199" alt="Dsc06143_2" src="http://www.macpa.org/blog/resources/assets/1904072683.jpg" width="150" border="0" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px" /></a>Shouldn't we all be home watching college football? Instead, we are here in Annapolis watching the 188 members of the <a href="http://mlis.state.md.us/#bill">Maryland General Assembly</a> as they consider almost 70 pieces of legislation. It is a chilly November day here in our state capital -- perfect football weather. As I walked up the street to the House of Delegates building, I wondered how many people who were walking the streets of Annapolis knew what was going on just over the

"hill." Yet just inside the House Office Building, the <a href="http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/com/07ways.html">Ways and Means

Committee</a> was hearing most of the 55 bills introduced since the special session started a few days ago. All of these bills revolve around one topic -- increasing the state's revenue through taxation.

I know the state needs to solve our deficit problem, but I get the sense that many of our representatives are trying to use this special session to go beyond the $1.7 billion needed and get whatever they can get while they can. The issue I have is that this is not done in the normal legislative process. That means there is less time for hearings and almost no public input. In fact, the three bills we sent out yesterday were scheduled for hearings before the bills were available to read. That is scary! The hearing started at 10 a.m. Our main bill is <a href="http://mlis.state.md.us/2007s1/billfile/HB0011.htm">HB 11, "Sales Tax on

Services."</a> <a href="http://cpasuccess.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/03/dsc06148.

jpg"><img title="Dsc06148" height="112" alt="Dsc06148" src="http://www.macpa.org/blog/resources/assets/-1439970139.jpg" width="150" border="0" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px" /></a>So here I am outside the hearing room, waiting to testify. (That is our legislative representative, Nick Manis, talking in the photo at right.) Yet the hours of waiting are actually quite productive. I got to talk briefly with about a dozen delegates and several commented on how many letters they are receiving from CPAs. They also appreciate the testimony and advice contained in our letters. I also got to hear from my counterparts in the other associations advocating for their members -- Kathleen Murphy of the <a href="http://www.mdbankers.com/">Maryland Bankers</a> (Kathleen is also on our <a href="http://www.macpa.org/Content/20962.aspx">Board of Directors</a>), Kathy Snyder (a past

MACPA board member) and Karen Syrylo of the <a href="http://www.mdchamber.org/">Maryland

Chamber of Commerce</a>, Tom Saquella of the <a href="http://www.mdra.org/">Maryland Retailers

Association</a>. You should know that both the bankers and Chamber are working to defeat HB 11 with us. Actually, this is what legislative advocacy is all about -- lobbying. Did you know that the term "lobbying" was created during Abraham Lincoln's presidency when groups of special interests gathered in the lobby of the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., waiting for the president to walk through to his dinner meetings. This is the same today. I will be able to accomplish as much outsider the hearing room as when I finally get to testify. (It is now 1:30 p.m. and our bill is nowhere close.) <a onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank',

'width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=n o,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" href="http://cpasuccess.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/03/dsc06147.

jpg"><img title="Dsc06147" height="187" alt="Dsc06147" src="http://www.macpa.org/blog/resources/assets/-1927683204.jpg" width="250" border="0" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px" /></a> So here is the scoop: Our letters are making an impact. We have heard from several delegates who are definitely voting against HB 11. We have also heard in the Senate that they would not support taxing services. Combined reporting looks like it may not pass the Senate, and there was a lot of discussion about the filing fees bill. We also have a few more shots to stop any bad bills that might make it out of these hearings. Bills will be voted on sometime next week and then the full house will convene to vote on those that make it out of committee. The Senate is working a mirror image, although due to the smaller body (41 senators), there are much fewer random bills being heard. We need to keep the letters and phone calls hitting the

Ways and Means Committee until we get the "UNFAVORABLE REPORT" we are asking for. We will keep you posted and give you a report when the vote happens. We will also keep

you apprised of new developments. CPAs were heard loud and clear. Thanks to all of you who took the time to write -- you are making a difference!  http://www.macpa.org/blog/1506/special-sessi-2 tom@macpa.org(Tom Hood)

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 18:00:19 GMT http://www.macpa.org/blog/1506/special-sessi-2

Special session update: More bills, and CPAs are responding

It's Day 2 of the Maryland General Assembly's special session, and here's a look at some of the most recent coverage from across the state: <ul><li><a href="http://www.examiner.com/a-

1017112~Voters_say__No_new_taxes_.html">Voters say 'No new taxes'</a> (The

Examiner)</li> <li><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/balte.md.session30oct30,0,6317043.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout">O'Malley calls for 'correcting course</a>' (The Sun)</li> <li><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/balte.md.gop30oct30,0,412599.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout">Republicans protest O'Malley plan</a>

(The Sun)</li> <li><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007102902188.html">Unity is urged as Assembly convenes</a>

(The Washington Post)</li> <li><a href="http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_301215357.html">Md. lawmakers go to Annapolis for special session</a> (WJZ)</li> <li><a href="http://wbal.com/news/story.asp?articleid=64994">Let the special session begin</a> (WBAL)</li></ul> Get more coverage on <a href="http://www.mdchamber.org/specialsession/">the Maryland Chamber of Commerce's special session Web site</a>. http://www.macpa.org/blog/1507/special-sessi-1 tom@macpa.org(Tom Hood)

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:41:31 GMT http://www.macpa.org/blog/1507/special-sessi-1

counterparts 1105

Related documents

Products

Support

counterparts 1105

Related documents

Add this document to collection(s)

Add this document to saved

Suggest us how to improve StudyLib