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Political Action Committee Looks Ahead to Busy Year
Keeping an Eye on the Issues and a Presence in Albany

By Simon Eskow

New members of the New York State Society of CPAs’ CPA Political Action Committee are looking forward to working with state officials and helping to pass legislation.

After recent successes at the state level for passing legislation, specifically in fiscal accountability of public schools, the PAC officials are eager to take up the cause on other issues, fostering relationships with legislators.

“The legislature in Albany is currently recessed until sometime in October or November, so we do not expect anything to happen in the upcoming months,” said Anthony Maltese, who was elected to the PAC presidency in July. “Accordingly, the focus of the PAC in the upcoming months is to continue to establish relationships with as many legislators as possible to let them know who we are, what our concerns are and that we can be a resource to them on matters that affect business, taxes and finances.”

Gov. George Pataki signed into law legislation that is intended to tighten financial controls on school districts across the state, a proposition that the Society supported and helped push for passage in the Assembly and Senate. While both houses passed more-general accounting-reform legislation prior to the recess, they came short of agreeing on a bill to send to the governor.

“We will continue to urge that the bills that did not pass in the prior session, such as Senate bill S-4642 (and A8358 in the house) be reintroduced and moved forward,” Maltese said. “We will continue to persuade the Assembly sponsors to modify the language in A8358 to coincide with the Senate bill which the NYSSCPA agrees with.”

Maltese and PAC members Barbara Dwyer and Nancy Kirby bring a long history of collective experience to the PAC. (Kirby and Dwyer were both unavailable for comment for this story.)

Maltese, a CPA in practice for 26 years, has served as NYSSCPA vice president, a member of the board of directors, chair of the Domestic Relations Committee and the Business Valuation Committee, and member of numerous committees. He is currently serving as the Staten Island Chapter’s representative to the PAC.

Kirby, a member of the Society since 1978, was re-appointed to the PAC, of which she has been a member since 2001. She is a current and past member of the NYSSCPA board of directors, a past member of the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee, and a past president of the Finger Lakes Chapter. She has also served on numerous chapter committees.

Dwyer, a Society member since 1986, has also been a member of the PAC since 2001. At the state level she has been a member of the board of directors, and in the Adirondack chapter she has served in numerous leadership positions, including as secretary and as a member of the chapter’s board of directors and executive board.