April 2, 2009
By Markeshia Ricks
The House Boards and Commissions Committee voted 10-4 Wednesday to approve a bill that would regulate the individual tax preparer industry.
But both sides of the issue seem unsure of what could happen once the bill is in the hands of the full House.
State Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, a vocal opponent of the bill who vowed last week to kill the measure, attempted to make changes to the legislation using one mass amendment, but his colleagues on the committee objected.
State Rep. Greg Wren, R-Montgomery, was one of the committee members who objected toRogers’ amendment. He said he liked most changes thatRogerswould have made, but they should have been brought one by one.
Wren said he can not support the bill in its current form because he thinks it is flawed and needs more work, but if many of the changes Rogers proposed are adopted, along with a few of his own, he would support it.
Some ofRogers’ changes would have included allowing individual tax preparers who have prepared taxes for five years instead of seven to be grandfathered from certain provisions in the bill, and it would have appointed three individual tax preparers to the oversight board. Under the current version an individual tax preparer would be required to have prepared taxes for at least seven years – a compromise down from 15 years.
J.C. Snowden II, president of the National Independent Tax Preparers Association, said the make-up of the oversight board remains a sticking point for his members because under the current version of the bill individuals who are exempt from the law would serve on the board. NITPA members are also convinced that Impact Alabama, the organization that has pushed the legislation, could benefit if the legislation is passed. Impact Alabama President Stephen Black denies that his organization brought the bill for any possible gain. He said it was ironic that Rogers would be so adamantly opposed to the bill when his constituents are disproportionately affected by individual tax preparers who prey on low-income people.
“His friendships with lobbyists shouldn’t trump his responsibility to the people of his district,” Black said. “He should be a leader for his district especially in these difficult economic times.”
Rogers said if his amendment had been adopted he would have supported the bill, but because it wasn’t he remains against it.
He said in his opinion the legislation is not a real consumer protection bill because it doesn’t address issues such as predatory lending.
“This bill has no chance of making it out of the House,” he said. “This bill is dead on arrival.”
Coleman said there is support for the bill and that’s why it made it out of committee. “I think there is a little more work to be done … but it should be successful,” she said.
