Ad Hoc Committee

Meeting Minutes
Committee’s Teleconference Meeting
October 12, 2006

Designated Federal Official (DFO)
Sallie Chavez, TAP Program Acting Manager, Plantation, FL

Members Present
George Bates, Great Falls, MT, Vice Chair
Margaret Ferguson, Vista, CA
Gim Hom, Acton, MA
Donald Miller, Loudon, TN, Acting Chair
Willy Nordwind, Scottsdale, AZ

Members Absent
Rashidah Abdulhaqq, Cleveland, OH
Emilio Cecchi, North Bethesda, MD
Larry Combs, Yuba City, CA
JoAnn Davis, Scott Depot, WV
Dorothy Havey, Lincolnville, ME
Patrice Marker, Davie, FL, Chair
Ralph Rivera, Garland, TX

IRS Program Owners
Toni Cross, Chief, MLI Strategy Office
Marilyn Correa, MLI Strategy Office, Senior Policy Analyst
Maria Cheeks, MLI Senior Policy Analyst
Carrie Schaffer, MLI Policy Analyst
Nikki Oyefeso, MLI Strategy Office

Staff Present
Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Program Analyst
Isai Pallango, Intern and Note Taker

Welcome & Announcements
Acting Chair Don Miller opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. Reference was made that Ferree, Combs, Marker and Rivera are not present since they are attending the Joint Committee’s face to face meeting in Dallas.

Acting Chair Miller shared information on the project that Patrice Marker worked on with other panel members whereby input from the taxpayer’s perspective on five key issues currently affecting taxpayers was provided to the IRS Oversight Board.

Also, Miller reminded everyone that Chair Patrice Marker had sent out a draft of the committee’s Annual Self-Assessment and was expecting input from all by this weekend.  This led to a brief discussion on how most members felt that there needs to be more communication back and forth between the IRS and TAP.  Nikki Oyefeso from the MLI Strategy Office pledged that they will be more pro-active next year. Most members also felt that the Ad Hoc Committee’s workload was too light at several points in time.

Roll Call
Five members present; Quorum of 7 was not met.

Review and Approve Minutes for August 10, 2006 and September 14, 2006
Since quorum was not met, acting chair Donald Miller and present members approved both sets of minutes, and requested that Analyst De Jesus send out an email to those absent requesting that they submit their approvals via email; absent members are to reply by no later than October 20, 2006.

Status of Elevated Issues Since Last Meeting:
Issue 3303-MLI LEP Needs and Assessment
Program Analyst Inez De Jesus shared that this issue was elevated on September 27, 2006. The committees’ feedback was sent to Toni Cross MLI Strategy office and we are awaiting feedback from the IRS. The program owner, Maria Cheeks, indicated the recommendations made by this committee would be included in the MLI Strategic Plan.

Issue 3923-Financial Literacy Toolkit
Program Analyst Inez De Jesus shared that this issue was elevated on September 27, 2006. This issue was sent to Bridget Mallon, attorney advisor, whom attended the face to face meeting in June of 2006 and we are waiting for feedback.

The committee requested that a response is expected from both IRS Program Owners in response to the feedback provided by the TAP Ad Hoc committee.

IRS Program Owner’s Expectations for 2007
Marilyn Correa, MLI Strategy Office, Senior Policy Analyst stated that Maria Cheeks will replace her in the future. Maria Cheeks was excited to become involved with panel members and will continue with the Spanish DVD project with the hope of completion no later than December 2006.

Program Analyst Inez De Jesus related message from Forms and Pubs Program Owners to the panel that they will have information available during the upcoming TAP Annual Meeting in DC.

Forms and Publications Sub-committee Report
Since Emilio Cecchi was not present, this will be added to next month’s agenda.

Outreach Event-Financial Literacy & Education Commission Open Meeting on September 19, 2006- Since Emilio Cecchi was not present, this will be added to next month’s agenda.

Member Comments
No comments.

Public Input
No public present.

Closing Assessment/ Q & A
Since there was no quorum, the members present agreed that the previous minutes will be approved via email as previously mentioned and that there is no need to send out the meeting survey.

Meeting was adjourned.

Next Teleconference Meeting November 9, 2006 at 2:00 PM ET

Certification:  These minutes were approved by the TAP Ad Hoc Committee by consensus on November 20, 2006.