How the PAC has helped!

It impacts you as a member of the accounting profession, and it impacts the way your business - and all you clients - perform in the larger Rhode Island economy.

That’s why Advocacy is such an important part of our mission here at the R.I. Society of CPAs. We advocate for our profession, but we also advocate for all Rhode Islanders who want a robust, thriving economy.

A key part of our advocacy efforts is a strong, robust Political Action Committee, or “PAC”. A strong PAC allows us – as a profession – to support candidates who understand our profession, and who support our work, both as accountants, and as advocates for a strong Rhode Island economy.

We’ve enjoyed many successes over the years at the State House on behalf of the profession. But when it comes to building a strong economy here in our state – well, there is clearly work to be done.

Here’s what we’ve done on behalf of you and the accounting profession in recent sessions of the General Assembly:

• The Society has consistently defeated proposals to make accounting services subject to a state sales tax;
• We defeated numerous proposals to water down the Uniform Accountancy Act, measures that would have put all of us at a competitive disadvantage;
• Through our efforts, Rhode Island was one of the first states in the country to institute a new, modern law to govern reciprocity with other states;
• The Society was instrumental in defeating an ill-conceived proposal to eliminate the State Bureau of Audits, a key bulwark against fraud, and;
• We worked successfully to defeat an unnecessary bill calling for mandatory municipal audit rotation - a measure that would have increased costs to the taxpayers while undermining the quality of audit product itself.

Meanwhile, we’ve weighed in on a number of measures that would benefit all Rhode Islanders:

• RISCPA also joined forces with a number of prominent business organizations throughout the state as part of the R.I. Business Coalition. As part of this 22 member group, we’ve voiced our support for measures to reduce bureaucracy, make our tax code more competitive.
• We were successful with the reduction of the corporate income tax.
• We were successful in working to eliminate the “cliff” in the Rhode Island estate tax and elevate the exemption to $1.5 million.

Acting as a resource is another way we’ve been able to demonstrate the value of our Society. Government officials often seek counsel from our members who provide assistance regarding data and financial analysis, and to meaningfully serve on boards and commissions. As so appropriately reflected in our message to the community, “There’s never been a better time to get to know a CPA.”

We’re also working collaboratively with the AICPA and our sister states to help champion issues national in nature affecting the profession.