CPA Now Blog

As we begin 2018, it’s worth looking back on PICPA’s advocacy efforts in 2017. We made many strides in shaping public policy in Pennsylvania in 2017, and we are looking forward to building upon our success.

June has been busy for Pennsylvania legislators. Major pension reform legislation was passed by 183 bipartisan members of the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Tom Wolf. In addition, Pennsylvania's 2017-2018 budget deadline looms, and negotiations are heating up.

Earlier this year, a diverse group of individuals and organizations, including the PICPA, created a new civil-justice-focused advocacy organization: The Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform.

The appropriations committees of the Pennsylvania House and Senate hold state budget hearings to provide lawmakers and the public with some sense of how taxpayer dollars will be spent. After three long weeks of hearings that concluded last week, what did we learn about Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017?

When U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D) came back to Pennsylvania during the February recess, he wanted to talk to CPAs about the accounting industry and the business climate. On Feb. 24 he sat down with seven PICPA members to talk tax reform, IRS funding, and more.

Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled his fiscal year 2017-2018 state budget proposal to a joint session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Wolf’s presentation was notable for its brevity, its conciliatory nature, and its themes of no taxes and cutting spending.

On Jan. 3, 2017, the 201st session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly got under way, beginning what we fully expect to be a challenging and contentious 2017-2018 legislative session.

With speculation being rampant over what policies a Republican-dominated Washington will bring, there is one issue close to the profession that has a good chance to move forward next year: tax reform.

Pennsylvania House Bill 245 was an extremely important piece of legislation as it protected taxpayers from being double-taxed. The bipartisan bill garnered “yes” support from more than 75 percent of the Senate and the House. But Gov. Tom Wolf unceremoniously vetoed the bill. How could this happen?

PICPA’s proposed changes to the Pennsylvania CPA Statute cleared its final hurdle and was unanimously approved by the state House.

The PICPA is working at both the federal and state levels to soften the blow of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) overtime rule that will take effect later this year. Find out where we are working for you.

Businesses nationwide are reviewing the new overtime-pay rule. In Pennsylvania, CPA firms and their clients are expressing concern. The rule may be well-intentioned, but it is likely to have unintended consequences. Many employers believe the rule will force them to cap workers’ hours, slow the hiring of full-time employees, and shift salaried workers to hourly schedules.

The so-called “Property Tax Independence Act,” or Senate Bill 76, is once again vying for the attention of Pennsylvania lawmakers. To be clear, SB 76 would not eliminate all school property taxes as advocates claim.

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed major changes to the white-collar exemptions to federal overtime pay requirements. The proposal, if allowed to go into effect, could have significant ramifications to PICPA members, their firms, and the clients they represent.

In front of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Gov. Tom Wolf announced his budget proposal for fiscal year 2016-2017. In strong, and sometimes scolding, terms, Wolf called on lawmakers to both fix Pennsylvania’s structural budget deficit and invest more in schools. It did not sit well with the opposition.

For the third time, the PICPA Fiscal Responsibility Task Force is gearing up to put the spotlight on the top fiscal issues facing Pennsylvania as we enter a new legislative session and bring in a new administration. Also for the third time, the task force’s report will examine the public pension situation in Pennsylvania.

State lawmakers reconvene in Harrisburg today, Monday, Sept. 15, for the abbreviated fall legislative session. Senators are scheduled to be in session for 10 days, while their colleagues in the House have 11 days on their calendar.

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue’s (DOR) decision to unilaterally deny taxpayers’ legitimate unreimbursed business expense (UE) deductions has set off a firestorm of criticism.

It’s officially budget season, so let the legislative and political tussles begin. Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled his proposed fiscal year 2014-2015 spending plan to a joint session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly last Tuesday, Feb. 4.

When in doubt, blame it on the creative accountants! That seems to be the mantra among many in politics, the media, and elsewhere, particularly when it comes to tax policy and tax planning strategies. I don’t know why the phrase “creative accountants” bothers me – I live with the “lobbyist” tag, after all – but it does, and I’m not even a card-carrying member of the esteemed CPA profession.