Board Votes to Form PAC

By Fong Chan

The NYSSCPA board of directors voted unanimously on February 4 to form a political action committee, or PAC, to make financial contributions to state elected officials and candidates for office.

"It is critical that the Society finally get to the table in the political arena," NYSSCPA President George Foundotos (Suffolk) said. "The way to do that is through access, and this means money. Money merely provides access to make our views known to legislators."

The board agreed to leave the funding of U.S. congressional members and candidates to the AICPA's PAC. The Society committee, to be known as the New York State Society CPAPAC, will be supported by independent contributions from members and other interested parties.

Under New York state election laws, there is a $5,000 per calendar year limit on corporate entity contributions to state candidates or committees. This cap, however, does not apply to political action committees.

In addition to offering the Society the freedom to contribute more than $5,000 per year, the PAC allows for a coordinated effort for contribution solicitations from members; gives members a greater sense of participation; fosters a positive identification between the NYSSCPA and the contribution to the candidate; and provides additional financial support for Society officers and members who are often asked on a personal basis to attend fundraising events.

"A PAC carries a lot of power because it is frequently viewed as representing a large constituency of various backgrounds," NYSSCPA Secretary Jo Ann Golden (Utica) said. "Even though our PAC may be all CPAs, it represents different people geographically, ethnically, etc.--all kinds of diversity."

The NYSSCPA had historically refrained from forming a PAC because the Society believed it was able to maintain its reputation with lawmakers without one, and feared that a PAC would compromise its credibility with elected officials. Instead, the Society held separate fundraisers for the two political parties relying on more sporadic financial contributions from individual NYSSCPA members. With its vote to form a PAC, the board recognized the Society needed a organized method for providing political contributions, particularly in this electronic age where more and more elected officials and candidates need to raise more funds to support costly media campaigns to disseminate their views.

"The CPA profession is undergoing many significant changes and it is more important now than ever before that our voice be heard," board member Louis Grassi (Nassau) said. "We need to work with the legislature on the necessary changes to ensure that the value of our license continues into the next millennium."

Until the board's action, the NYSSCPA was the only membership organization of its size in New York state that did not have a political action committee. Moreover, of the 21 largest state CPA societies, only New York and Georgia did not have a PAC.

The Society board approved a solicitation method similar to that used by the AICPA, where NYSSCPA members can check off an additional contribution on their dues invoices. The initial suggested contribution is $25. The board also agreed to establish a separate board of trustees to direct the PAC, with the group consisting of no more than 23 members from a cross section of the Society membership, and to appoint NYSSCPA
Executive Director Louis Grumet to serve as the PAC's executive director. In addition, the board directed Society staff to draft bylaws for the PAC consistent with its vote, to be approved by the full NYSSCPA board of directors in June at its next meeting.