2,191 new bills: no slowing the legislature.

• Author: Fox, Jason
• Position: Capitol Beat - CalCPA powers on legislative bills

The Legislature is well into the 2015-16 legislative session, and activity is not slowing down. In 2016, a combined 2,191 new bills have been introduced in the Senate and Assembly. CalCPA has a prioritized list of 258 bilk the government relations team is following that could potentially be of interest to CalCPA members, the CPA profession and small-business community in California.

Financial Literacy Month

Assembly member Matt Dababneh introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 162 early last month, which declared April 2016 as Financial Aid and Literacy Month with the theme of "Prosperity through Education." ACR 162 also encourages legislators, employers, schools, services groups and other nonprofit entities to provide all Californians with the opportunity to improve their financial literacy education and skills.

CalCPA thanks the assembly member for bringing forward this resolution for the second consecutive year, and is proud to work closely with the author and other supporters of this resolution. CalCPA has supported and collaborated on similar resolutions for several years, and will continue to be on the forefront of this important issue to raise awareness about the continuing need for increased financial literacy throughout California.

You can see CalCPA's financial literacy resources at www.calcpa.org/public-resources/financial-literacy.

Sales Tax on Services Reintroduced

Sen. Robert Hertzberg introduced sales tax on sendees for the second time this legislative session. SB 1445, introduced earlier this year, is the reincarnation of SB 8, which failed to get through the legislative process in 2015--thanks in large part to CalCPA members' efforts to voice concerns of the CPA profession and small-business community.

CalCPA has been proactive on this front again this year, which started with a successful CalCPA Day at the Capitol in January. More than 220 CPAs represented the profession in person in Sacramento, and one of the main issues discussed was the application of sales tax on services, how the tax unfairly created a competitive disadvantage for California professions and how it can hurt the small-business community.

Several legislators remembered CalCPA's message and members from last year, when CalCPA members discussed the concerns with this issue before SB 8 was reintroduced as SB 1445. SB 1445 is in the Senate Committee on Governance & Finance, and CalCPA will continue to work with the Legislature as this bill moves...