Maryland CPAs answer legislative call

MACPA members turn out in record numbers for ‘critical’ CPA Day in Annapolis

Allen DeLeon, right, and Larry
Kamanitz review the MACPA's position
papers with a legislative aide during
CPA Day.

The MACPA called, and its members answered.

With memories of a tax-raising special session still fresh in their minds, CPAs turned out in record numbers on Jan. 23 for the 2008 edition of CPA Day in Annapolis, the annual event in which MACPA members take the profession’s message directly to their lawmakers.

More than 100 CPAs were on hand for the event, which was billed as crucial to the CPA profession’s 2008 legislative efforts in Maryland.

“It’s absolutely critical. This agenda is one of the biggest we’ve ever had,” said MACPA Executive Director Tom Hood. “We told our members that we needed them down here (in Annapolis) to show the legislature that we care, to show them we are watching and are ready to tell them what we think and offer them the advice of CPAs.”

The size of this year’s agenda was dictated in part by the General Assembly’s special session in late 2007, when lawmakers enacted more than $1.4 billion in new taxes in an effort to raise revenue and fix the state’s deficit.

The issues on the MACPA’s 2008 radar screen are:

Mobility: The effort to provide practice privileges to CPAs who work in multiple states is gaining momentum nationwide. MACPA members overwhelmingly support the idea of introducing mobility-related legislation in Maryland. Read our position paper.
Sales tax on services: Though the notion of taxing CPA services was defeated during the special session last fall, it’s possible the General Assembly could revisit the idea this spring. The MACPA will work to defeat such legislation. Read our position paper.
Licensing for tax preparers: Legislators are mulling the idea of creating a new license for tax preparers, and CPAs are concerned that doing so could confuse the public and blur the lines between licensed CPAs and licensed tax preparers. Read our position paper.
Tort reform: In many past years, trial lawyers have introduced bills designed to replace Maryland's current system of determining a defendant's liability with a "comparative negligence" system that makes recovery against a defendant easier — even when the person bringing the lawsuit substantially contributed to his own injuries. The MACPA believes the increased cost of conducting business and the decreased productivity associated with the comparative negligence standard would, in the long run, lead to a loss of jobs, increased liability and a deterioration of the economic climate in Maryland. Read our position paper.
Corporate reporting requirements: The corporate reporting requirements enacted in the fall are among the most extensive in the nation and are considered so onerous that the MACPA may join forces with business groups to find legislative ways in which to soften the blow these requirements would have on state businesses. Read our position paper.
Listen to a summary of our legislative agenda here.

The issues apparently struck a chord with the state’s CPAs. Nearly 40 percent of those who attended CPA Day were first-time attendees who wanted to make sure their voices were heard.

“I’ve become aware of my need to stay on top of what’s going on in the legislature, that things don’t just happen and that I can actually participate in the process,” said Joselin Martin, financial manager for Hayles & Howe in Baltimore. “I wanted to come in and see my legislators face to face for the first time and tell them how everything they do here impacts my business.”

Hayles and Howe, a manufacturer that specializes in ornamental plasterwork, is exactly the type of small business that Maryland leaders say they want more of in the state, and Martin says lawmakers need to realize how certain legislation may affect the company and others like it.

“To a large extent, we made that connection,” said Martin, adding that she feels “more informed” after attending the event. “I feel I’ve opened a door of communication with my legislators. I can go back to my office and say, ‘Here’s what’s going on.’ We can be proactive instead of reactive and really have an impact on legislation that affects us.”

For others, it was enough just to be exposed to the legislative process and learn how it works.

“I do a lot of lobbying for my industry, so I meet with legislators on a national level on occasion,” said Larry Signorelli, chief financial officer with The Vane Brothers Company, a Baltimore-based maritime services company. “But I’ve really just started doing this, so I wanted to learn more about how the process works, about state and local legislators and how they handle themselves.”

“I was impressed with how receptive the senators and delegates were,” added Amy Smith, a new CPA who attended her first CPA Day. “They were very pleasant and receptive to what we had to say. I was nervous when we got here; I wasn’t really sure what we should say to them. But the MACPA prepared us well and gave us a lot of material and advice.”

Smith was one of six CPAs from HeimLantz Business and Tax Services who were on hand for their first CPA Day. “The issues are very important and we needed the numbers here to help protect the profession, so this was something we felt we needed to do,” said HeimLantz Managing Partner Carter Heim.

Whatever the reason they came, the CPAs on hand made a definite impact with legislators. State Sen. Thomas Middleton, D-Charles County, said as much in a surprise visit with CPAs prior to the event.

“The amazing thing to me was how many strong relationships our members have with their legislators,” said Hood. “It’s little wonder that, as we like to say, America counts on CPAs.”

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