May 2007 Board of Directors Minutes I. CALL TO ORDER MINUTES OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ENROLLED AGENTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS May 12, 2007 A. The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Enrolled Agents was called to order May 12, 2007 at 9:00 am at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza in Washington, DC. President Diana Thompson, EA presided in the chair and Secretary/Treasurer Jerry Joyce, EA was present. B. Pledge of Allegiance. C. The group paused for a moment of silent reflection. D. Roll Call E. Office Name Present/Absent President Diana Thompson, EA President-Elect David Hatt, EA Secretary/Treasurer Jerry Joyce, EA Immediate Past President Lois Manning, EA Director Dorothy Anderson, EA Director Elizabeth Buckingham, EA Director Lonnie Gary, EA Director Sherrill Gregory, EA Director Gina Jones, EA Director David Levine, EA Director Sandra Martin, EA Director John Rasmussen, EA Director Linda Ruckel, EA Director Keith Stanton, EA Director Karen Yeager, EA Executive Vice President Susan Zuber, CAE, Ex Officio
II. III. IV. F. The chair welcomed the guests and requested they introduce themselves. An attendance list is attached. CHAIR S REMARKS President Thompson noted that the agenda would need to be amended by deleting Section VII, 2. NAEA CPE Requirement due to the absence of the presenter. She noted that the discussion of registration of preparers would begin the meeting in order to accommodate Jeff Trinca s availability. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Motion 1. Approve the meeting agenda as amended. Passed. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS A. Treasurer s Report President Thompson began by thanking outgoing Secretary/David Hatt for his two years of service in the position. Secretary Hatt and Director of Finance Bill Grutzkuhn presented the March financials. Motion 2. The Treasurer s report for the period ending March 31, 2007 be accepted, subject to audit. Passed. Newly-installed Secretary/Treasurer Jerry Joyce and Bill Grutzkuhn presented the proposed 2007 08 budget for consideration. Motion 3. Approve the proposed budget for the year 2007 2008. Passed. B. Bylaws Committee Report and Recommendation President Thompson called on Faye Touchet, EA to present this report. Faye began by thanking her committee for their efforts over the past year. She then reported on the status of the bylaws revision project. She detailed the numerous steps taken to solicit and incorporate member feedback throughout the process. Multiple revisions were made to accommodate member concerns. The proposed revisions had been previously discussed and well-received by the majority of state affiliate leaders present at the previous day s Presidents Exchange. Motion 4. Approve a do pass to the membership (as described in the complete bylaws proposal distributed with the meeting materials). Passed. The meeting then adjourned to Committee of the Whole to discuss the manner in which the bylaws proposal will be presented to the membership. Following wideranging discussion, the regular meeting of the Board was called back to order. Motion 5.That the bylaws proposal be presented to the membership at the NAEA Annual Meeting in August 2007. Passed.
V. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA Motion 6.Approve the consent agenda. Passed. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. EVP Succession Plan President Diana Thompson, chair of the EVP Succession Plan Task Force, provided an update of the group s work. The plan was presented to the board and approved in principle at the November meeting. Work continued on developing a formal EVP Performance Review Process Outline, a formal EVP Compensation Policy, and an EVP Performance Evaluation Assessment Instrument. These pieces of the plan will be discussed in an executive session of the board on the following day. B. Special Enrollment Exam (SEE) Status President Thompson called on Senior Director, Government Relations Robert Kerr and Director of Membership Sam Matlick, CAE to provide an update on the new SEE being offered online. They discussed the number of test takers to date and reported on the feedback on the new exam. It was noted that the failure of IRS to include a check-box on the SEE application for sharing test-taker information with professional organizations prevented the acquisition of a complete SEE passers list for recruitment purposes. We will be working with IRS to correct that omission. Also discussed was the future development of SEE prep materials that can be provided to the state affiliates. C. Registration of Preparers Update VII. Senior Director, Government Relations Robert Kerr and NAEA Federal Legislative Counsel Jeff Trinca provided this report. They began by highlighting the previous day s Government Relations breakfast and orientation and noted that this is our Congress one with a ripe environment for passage of the registration of preparers legislation we are advocating. Several days prior to the board meeting, Senate Bill 1219 was introduced in the Senate Finance Committee. The bill contains our language calling for the registration of preparers. The two discussed provisions of the bill and entertained questions from the audience. NEW BUSINESS A. NAEA Research Service President Thompson called on Executive Vice President Susan Zuber, CAE to introduce this topic. Susan briefly introduced the topic and then called on Director of Membership Sam Matlick, CAE to provide a recap of the process undertaken to identify a potential partner for this new service. Sam then introduced representatives of The Tax Institute to provide a live demonstration of the
proposed research service. A lengthy question and answer period ensued. Audience reaction to the proposed service was extremely positive. Motion 7. To accept the research proposal presented by The Tax Institute subject to negotiation of a final contract by the Executive Committee. Passed. VIII. Mega Issue Discussion: The Tax Gap Causes and Solutions President Thompson called on Senior Director, Government Relations Robert Kerr to facilitate this discussion. Bob began by providing a brief overview of the tax gap issue and current discussions at IRS and in Congress regarding reducing it. He then distributed a list of IRS proposals for attacking and reducing the tax gap. The board and audience broke out into discussion groups with each group considering several of the proposals. The group then reconvened and shared their thoughts on the respective proposals. This feedback will be incorporated into future NAEA responses to IRS calls for input. I. GOOD OF THE ORDER Members of the audience provided remarks and the meeting returned to the business of the association.. Meeting was adjourned at 4:14 pm The following members and guests were present at the Meeting of the NAEA Board of Directors, May 12, 2007. Judy Akin, EA OK Deborah J. Cope, EA T Michael Dade NAEA Frank Degen, EA NY Sarah Downey NAEA Jo Ann M. Drago, EA CO Bill Grutzkuhn NAEA Beth Guillot, EA LA Roger Harris, EA GA Kathy L. Harrison-Suits, EA WA Tyler Haskell NAEA Gigi Jarvis NAEA Donald W. Jump, EA OH Helen "Casey" Juza, EA IN David Kaiser, EA NY, FL Robert Kerr NAEA Sherrie King, EA NC Ronald C. Kohn, EA MN Clarel A. Krpan, EA IL
Raymond J. La Luna, EA CT Irene Lawrence, EA CA Sherry Loop, EA VA Nancy Lyman, EA VT Jennifer MacMillan, EA CA Winston A. Macon, EA VA Sam Matlick, CAE NAEA Victoria A. McGinn, EA NY Margaret Mitchell NAEA Robert Nadel, EA NY Theresa Nakayama, EA HI Rich Rhodes, EA OH Nadine Smith, EA MI Alexander B. Thomson, EA VA Faye Touchet, EA LA Jeff Trinca Van Scoyoc & Assoc. Diana Velasco NAEA Susan B. Waters, CAE Sextant Consulting John G. Wood, EA AZ Respectfully submitted, Jerry Joyce Secretary/Treasurer