LOGIN MAIL

• PRESS ROOM4 THE PUBLIC
• STUDENTSCANDIDATES
• CONTACT USNEED A CPA?
• HELPADVERTISE
• SEARCH
  
• 901 Dulaney Valley Road | Suite 710 | Towson MD 21204 | 800.782.2036

• January / February
• March / April
  • The internal value of peer review
  • Stories from the reform front
  • Planning for age and / or incapacity, part 2: Creating solutions
  • State Tax Committee meets with state Office of Unemployment, Department of Assessments and Taxation
  • Unrelated business income tax
  • Groundbreaking MACPA program provides new CPAs with 'Orientation to the Profession'
  • CPAs make sure all's well for Maryland well owners
  • Financial planning: Signs that your client needs help
  • The payoff from voice over IP
  • Scores of MACPA members turn out in 2003 for largest CPA Day to date
• May / June
• July / August
• September / October
• November / December

Scores of MACPA members turn out in 2003 for largest CPA Day to date

By Bill Sheridan
MACPA E-Communications Manager

ANNAPOLIS, Jan. 30, 2003 — The largest CPA Day crowd to date braved some harsh winter weather on Jan. 29 to take the profession's legislative messages to Maryland's lawmakers.

More than 100 MACPA members and nearly that many state legislators participated in the event, which coincided with Gov. Robert Ehrlich's first State of the State Address. Highlights included a visit from Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and a blue-ribbon panel discussion about the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Maryland's CPAs.

As always, though, the focus of CPA Day was the issues. Before visiting their legislators, MACPA members in attendance were briefed on three issues and their potential impact on Maryland CPAs and businesses:

• The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and its "cascade effect": While supporting, in principle, most of the reforms contained in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the MACPA is concerned about the potential harm those reforms could do if they cascade down to small, non-public companies and the CPAs who serve them. The message from CPAs to state legislators was clear: Don't use Sarbanes-Oxley as a blueprint for similar reforms that could severely harm Maryland's small businesses.
• Tort reform: After taking a breather last year, the state's trial lawyers are expected to renew their efforts to replace Maryland's contributory negligence doctrine with comparative fault, which would increase exposure to liability for CPAs and their clients. The MACPA is opposed to such reform, and its members told legislators so during CPA Day.
• Sales and use tax on services: Maryland's budget crisis could result in proposals to enact sales and use taxes on services — including (among others) tax preparation and management consulting. This would have a negative impact on CPAs and the clients they serve. CPAs urged state legislators to oppose such proposals.

This year's issues made the event one of the most important CPA Days in recent memory. But the day's importance was magnified by the fact that many state legislators are new to the job and unfamiliar with CPAs' views. That gave a touch of education to the profession's lobbying efforts in Annapolis.

"It's important that we let our legislators know what the people back home want them to do — what's important to us and to the people and organizations we represent," said Clay Garland, CPA, of the Garrett County Community Action Committee in Oakland. "It's just a tremendous opportunity. I've been coming here for several years now, and it seems to get bigger and better every year."

Others saw the timing of the event as vitally important to Maryland's CPAs.

"This is probably the most important time for CPAs to let legislators know what we stand for, that we are highly ethical people with a good moral compass," said Barry Benjamin, a managing partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Baltimore. "Some folks made mistakes, and it's likely that some folks will make mistakes going forward. We're not infallible, we're just people. But as a profession we are committed to doing the right thing, and we are doing the right thing. That's who we are."

It's also who they'll be. For the first time, CPA candidates were invited to participate in CPA Day, offering legislators an important look at the bright future of the profession. And the opportunity to speak to their legislators was not lost on the candidates.

"It's a great opportunity to be here," said Jim Wilson, who represented Villa Julie College with fellow CPA candidate Eren Erman. "It's important that we let (lawmakers) know we care about the legislation they pass today, because it will affect us tomorrow."