Last night at midnight, House Speaker, Michael Busch, proclaimed “sine die” as the 2015 legislative session ended for another year. Confetti and ballons come down as the 435th session drew to a close and Maryland CPAs declared victory and a successful legislative agenda that started on Janurary 29th with record attendance at CPA Day.
[plugin:quote]”No man’s life, liberty or happiness are safe when the legislature is in session.” -Mark Twain[/plugin]
Tom Hood and Mary Beth Halpern report on the 2015 Legislative Session on April 13th at midnight after sine die as Maryland CPAs declare victory with several successes from their 2015 legislative agenda.
We set this agenda with lots of feedback and member involvement incuding several round tables with managing partners of Maryland’s CPA firms (see Accounting Today article) and ultimately approval by our Board of Directors. Allen DeLeon of DeLeon & Stang is the chair of our Legislative Executive Committee which “works on the ground” to execute our legislative strategy.
Here is a recap of our 2015 activities:
Offense – passing proactive legislation
- Updated and Expanded Definition of Attest Services (HB 878 / SB 536)- passed unanimously in both chambers.
- Access to Justice with Appeal Bond Caps (SB 301 / HB 164) – passed large cap but small business limit was removed from final bill.
Defense – stopping bad bills
- Sales Tax on services (did not come up).
- Comparative Fault liability (did not come up).
- Combined Reporting (compliance burden) defeated in committee.
Other bills we weighed in on included bills to nullify non-complete and non-disclosure contracts which were defeated, effort to decouple and repeal prior Estate Tax reform was also defeated.
Special thanks to our two members (CPAs) in the legislature, Senator Brian Feldman (D-Montgomery County) and Senator Gail Bates (R-Howard County) who were a major help during the session.
And thanks to all of our members who volunteer their time in CPA Day, legislator outreach, and testifying in Annapolis to make our advocacy efforts so successful!
Save the date for CPA Day in Annapolis 2016 which will be on Janurary 21, 2016!
More on our legislative advocacy efforts:
- The 115th Anniversary of the CPA Profession in Maryland
- MACPA makes final push in last week of Maryland General Assembly
- Maryland managing partners weigh in on top legislative issues in Accounting Today
- Maryland approves 10-minute CPE, state CPA society prepares for future of learning
- New DLLR Secretary Kelly Schulz seeks honest conversation with CPAs
- MACPA testifies in Annapolis on supersedeas (appeal) bond bill
- Record crowd descends on Annapolis for CPA Day
- Game on! 2015 Maryland General Assembly under way