CPA Day at the Capitol: A Student’s Perspective

By Wesley Martin

Being invited to take part in CPA Day at the Capitol as a student was truly humbling. Many thanks to Dr. Sharon Lightner, Marleen Thudium, the CalCPA San Diego Chapter and the wonderful CalCPA members who allowed me, and other students, to stand beside them in Sacramento.

What an amazing experience! To be able to roll up our sleeves and participate in our democratic process was an enlightening and unique experience in its own right, and to advocate such an important cause as 150 hours was remarkable.

I found that the reasons to support the movement grew increasingly poignant during each legislative visit. The looming enforcement of substantial equivalency doctrines by other states is a threat to the continued economic sustenance of California CPAs. Reciprocity must continue. I do not argue the merits or faults of the 150-hour requirement; I find it to be inconsequential to the matter. The only issue of any importance is that our CPAs will soon be behind the eight ball, and it is up to us to ensure that our legislators do not let that happen.

Thank you again to CalCPA for allowing students the opportunity to provide input in this process. I assure you that we’ll do our part to make certain the movement receive strong student support!

Wesley Martin is president-elect of the Beta Alpha Psi–Beta Eta Chapter at San Diego State University.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Chapter News. 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.