Politicians lend an ear to CPAs' concerns at Congressional dinner

WASHINGTON — CPAs are taking their message to Washington, and the politicians are listening.

Twenty-nine members and representatives with the Maryland Association of CPAs broke bread with their elected officials during a May 1 Congressional dinner that featured an agenda six months in the making.

Much of the evening's discussion centered on Congress' response to Enron's collapse. Since the energy giant filed for bankruptcy in December, nearly a dozen bills have been introduced that, if enacted, will significantly change the regulation and oversight of the CPA profession.

Though they differed in professional and political affiliation, the CPAs in attendance had one thing in common: their message.

"Our emphasis was on the fact that we don't want the legislators to run head-on into legislation that will hurt the smaller or mid-sized firms, just to meet the public's outcry over the Andersen-Enron situation," said David Uhlfelder, CPA, a retired partner with Grant Thornton LLP.

That message was especially relevant to MACPA members like Charles Postal. A partner at Santos, Postal & Co. in Rockville, Postal wanted his elected officials to know their actions might affect more than just the Big Five.

"With so many big companies involved, it's easy to lose sight of who this will really affect. A lot of times, when somebody swings a big hammer, it hurts a lot of small people," Postal said. "This issue affects not only me as an accountant, but also my clients as small businesspeople."

Congress tunes in

The message is getting through. Those in attendance say their elected officials were receptive to the message and understood the impact their actions might have on the CPA profession.

"They understand that something has to be done, that people have been hurt and a response is needed," Postal said. "But they also know it has to be a measured response."

"It was clear from their remarks that our messages were received," MACPA Executive Director Tom Hood added. "The members of Congress appeared open to the issues facing our Maryland firms and pledged their support."

The dialogue continued a few days later when Hood and Postal helped represent the profession in a meeting with Rep. Connie Morella, who represents Maryland's 8th Congressional District. The meeting — which included MACPA President John Wilson, MACPA Regulatory Affairs Director Carol Kirwan, and Norm Freidkin, a managing partner with Freidkin, Matrone & Horn of Rockville — allowed the CPAs to voice their concerns directly to one of their elected officials. It served as an education for Morella as well.

"She was very concerned about the effect this issue could have on small businesses," Postal said. "She said we definitely had opened her eyes about that aspect."

That's the kind of impact a politically active CPA can have. Take Larry Kamanitz. As head of the AICPA's Political Leadership Cabinet and a former MACPA president, he has developed working relationships with Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Rep. Ben Cardin and other members of Congress. Today, when they need to know how a particular piece of legislation might impact CPAs, the politicians might ask Kamanitz for his views.

"That kind of relationship takes many, many years to foster. It just doesn't happen overnight," Uhlfelder said. "The message to other (MACPA) members is that you have to try to establish those kinds of relationships. It takes time to nurture them, but the end result is that we have a much better opportunity to promote our position and that of our clients."

The Congressional dinner was sponsored by Clifton Gunderson; Stout, Causey & Horning; Rubino & McGeehin; RSM McGladrey; and KAWG&F.

Other Maryland CPAs who attended the dinner were Alicia Foster of Abrams, Foster, Nole & Williams; Scott Somerville of Andersen; Lisa Cines of Aronson & Company; Terry Hancock of Clifton Gunderson; Allen Thomas of Deloitte & Touche; Joseph Estabrook of Ellin & Tucker; Art Flach and Larry Kamanitz of Grant Thornton; Carter Heim of HeimLantz; Susan Sadowski of the Johns Hopkins University; Alvin Katz of KAWG&F; John Keenan and Cathy Landau-Painter of KPMG; Bill Riley of Reznick, Fedder & Silverman; John Wilson and Mitchell Gorochow of RSM McGladrey; Robert Gray of Rubino & McGeehin; Thomas Stout and Mike Young of Stout, Causey & Horning; Christine Stewart of the University of Maryland; and George Wilson of Weyrich, Cronin & Sorra.

Members of Congress in attendance included Sen. Barbara Mikulski and her chief of staff, Jenny Luray; Rep. Steny Hoyer and his chief of staff, Dwayne Thomas; Rep. Benjamin Cardin; and chief of staff Kimberly Ross on behalf of Rep. Elijah Cummings. Also attending was Dean Shahinian, Esq., of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

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