Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the PICPA: Fall 2021 Update Zoom

Peter N. Calcara, CAE
Vice President, Government Relations
PICPA

Peter joined the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) in 1999. Prior to that he was the vice president of government and industry affairs for the Professional Insurance Agents Association of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. From 1986 to 1991, he was a legislative
assistant in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Peter is responsible for developing and implementing legislative strategy, lobbying state government, and overseeing PICPA’s political action committee and Key Person programs. Peter was instrumental in the passage of the 2011 Fair Share Act, landmark legislation that reforms how damages are recovered in civil lawsuits. More recently, Peter and his team spearheaded efforts to reform Pennsylvania’s archaic tax appeals process by reorganizing the Board of Finance and Revenue (Act 52 of 2013). Peter was also instrumental in repealing the Corporate Loans Tax (Act 71 of 2013) and in enacting a general experience requirement for CPA licensure in Pennsylvania (Act 15 of 2013).

In 2011, Peter earned his Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). The CAE program is designed to elevate professional standards, enhance individual performance, and designate association professionals who demonstrate the knowledge essential to the practice of association management. Peter is a 1986 graduate of York College of Pennsylvania. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Government Relations (PAGR) and is a member of the ASAE. Peter lives in Mechanicsburg, Pa., with his wife, Nancy, and their three daughters.

Jen is CEO of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), a professional association of more than 20,000 CPAs in Pennsylvania. Jen is only the sixth executive to serve in the role since the PICPA was founded in 1897. She is also the CEO of the Pennsylvania CPA Foundation, whose mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in accounting and to provide educational, motivational, and financial support to those working to attain the CPA credential.

C. Daniel Hassell was nominated by Governor Tom Wolf on April 24, 2017 as Secretary of Revenue and unanimously confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate on June 19, 2017. Hassell has more than three decades of experience as a senior tax policy analyst with the Department of Revenue and the Pennsylvania Senate. In December 2009, Governor Ed Rendell nominated Hassell as Secretary of Revenue, after which he was confirmed on April 14, 2010 and served in that capacity until January 2011.

Hassell has previously served as Deputy Secretary for Tax Policy for the Department of Revenue, where he coordinated department decisions on all aspects of tax policy. Hassell evaluated the impact of proposed tax legislation, regulations, policies, procedures and public statements, as well as researched and prepared tax revenue projections for the Office of the Budget and the Governor. He oversaw the bureaus of Research and Audits, the Board of Appeals and the Economic Development Office. Hassell has authored three tax policy articles published in State Tax Notes, a leading multi-state tax news source.

Hassell is an Erie native who graduated valedictorian of Strong Vincent High School in 1979. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Westminster College and a Master of Science in Public Management and Policy from Carnegie-Mellon University’s Heinz School of Urban and Public Affairs. Hassell also completed a program for senior executives in state and local government offered by Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Hassell has worked for the Department of Revenue since 1995, and previously worked for the department from 1981 to 1985. During the nine years between, Hassell served as budget specialist for the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee.

Hassell resides in Susquehanna Township, and he and wife Ellen are proud parents of three children, Rosie, Ben and Lydia.