California Legislature: Who Cares?

By Tim Baker

Who cares about Sacramento? I only implement the law that comes out of Sacramento. I can’t do anything to change the law. Besides, even if I did get involved it would take away more billing time that I can afford to give.

Does this sound like you? If it does, continue reading and I’ll give you something to think about. CalCPA has started its 2012-13 fiscal year and at the annual members meeting in Napa, new CalCPA Chair Johanna Sweaney Salt made it clear that California Legislative action was one of the top priorities on her agenda.

Here are the facts:

1. In the past two years, CalCPA and the group of legislators that support us have been able to change the education requirement for becoming a CPA in California. This rule had been changed in almost every other state except California. We were among that last few states to adopt it. Had the law remained unchanged, the California CPA license would have a lower education requirement than other states, making competition more challenging.
2. CalCPA is working on interstate commerce. As the law stands, California CPAs are not allowed to significantly practice in other states without registering in those states. If California would allow CPAs from other states to practice here, then those states would allow us to practice in their state. As it stands, interstate commerce is a difficult process.
3. As you all know, California is running out of money. One idea that continues to appear in Sacramento is a sales tax services. CalCPA has been successfully preventing this idea from passing, but it is still in the minds of the legislators and will take continued action to keep sales tax out of the CPA business.

You are needed to encourage Sacramento to pass laws that will help your business. Without your help, your business will have more difficulty making money. At the very least, you can support CPA-PAC.

Your donation goes a long way. In addition, you can join us in Sacramento to have a more hands-on experience with the California Legislature. Yes, it does take time, but it makes you a more valuable asset to your firm. Consider joining us in Sacramento in January for the CPA Day at the Capitol, where you’ll see the benefits of your involvement.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 at 2:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.