May 16, 2003
1:00pm-2:00pm ET

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
Acting Chair Elizabeth Brodbine-Ghoniem opened the meeting.

Roll Call - taken by TAP Program Analyst Inez E. De Jesus
Quorum= 6
Total Members Present=6

Designated Federal Official Judi Nicholas confirmed at the beginning of the meeting that since quorum had not been reached yet, meeting could proceed but no decision-making could be done.

Panel Members Present

• Elizabeth Brodbine-Ghoniem, Winchester, MA-Acting Chair
• Linda Bader, Chesterfield, MO
• Yvonne Gallegos-Bodle, Oxnard, CA
• Judi Nicholas, Seattle, WA, Designated Federal Official
• Sharon Stetz, Salt Lake City, UT
• Bruce Twomley, Juneau, AK

Members Not Present

• Abigail Alicea, Nashua, NH
• Mary Balmer, Chapel Hill, NC (Excused)
• Nancy L. Ferree, FL
• Delford Jones, Griffith, IN
• Sharon Lassar, Miami, FL (Excused-Travel to Area 3 Committee Meeting)
• Kenneth Logan, Blue Springs, MO (Excused)
• Joseph Meissner, Cleveland, OH

TAP Staff and IRS Staff Present

• Toni Cross, MLI Program Owner
• Inez E. De Jesus, Program Analyst/Recorder
• Nikki Oyefeso, MLI Program Owner

Guests

• Sue Sottile, Director of Strategic Planning (SPEC)-Stakeholder Partnerships, Education & Communication

Review and Approval of Minutes (April 25-26, 2003)
Several panel members addressed amendments they would like to see reflected in the minutes.

Bruce Twomley requested that Attorney Chad Schatzle's recommendation regarding the fact that not all limited English-speaking individuals are literate in their first language, information therefore must be provided in a clear and simple manner that an interpreter can provide an understandable translation. (Action Item: Analyst will update previous minutes)

Acting Chair Elizabeth Brodbine-Ghoneim requested that a comment made by Attorney Chad S. Schatzle regarding "access to customer's accounts" needed clarification as to who and under what circumstances. (Page 2, under Public Participation Input, paragraph 5) (Action Item: Analyst will update previous minutes)

Analyst requested that other panel members send their proposed amendments to her and she will update current draft and issue revised version to all.

The review and approval of these minutes were tabled till next meeting.

Update on Questionnaire Status
Program Owner Nikki Oyefeso apologized for not submitting information earlier but in order to avoid duplications, she felt it would be in the best interest of all that the committee used the same "survey template" being used by MLI National Office. Questionnaire will go out today before close-of-business and feedback to Nikki should be shared with all.

The updated "action plan" was sent out by Oyefeso today prior to this teleconference meeting, and not all members on the call had the time to review the updated information. Oyefeso gave a brief overview of the action plan for the benefit of those that had not seen it.

Panel members expressed that they wanted to review the templates.

Consideration will be given to panel members without assignments, e.g. Abigail Alicea, Mary Balmer, and Bruce Twomley.

Brodbine-Ghoniem & Oyefeso both agreed that committee is behind schedule and they do not want to lose the momemtum. (No official forms until June 13th)

Brodbine-Ghoniem & Oyefeso both agreed that from now on, when sending comments by email to Program Owner Oyefeso, all committee members should be copied as well.

Update from Members on any Actions to Date Based on Face-to-Face Meeting
Committee was waiting for "Design Data Gathering Instrument" promised during last meeting.

Committee Member Bader shared that she recently learned of loan applications for LITC (Low Income Tax Clinic) through the ESL (English as a Second Language) Program. Bader also expressed that she would like to continue to proceed with the project to share information regarding the grant process to ESL teachers.

Acting Chair Brodbine-Ghoniem also shared that she also had recently learned that Bentley College's LITC in collaboration with ESL had developed a course on what it means to be a taxpayer. She will forward the contact information to Linda Bader.

Public Participation/Input
None

Closing Remarks
Committee Member Twomley requested that on the updated "Action Plan" the Lead Person should be reflected and clarify that this lead person in some cases is the synthesizer of the information, e.g. Welfare to Work program and ESL.

Program Owner Nikki Oyefeso will be sending the "Asian Directories" to TAP Program Analyst De Jesus for distribution to the panel members. (TAP Staff: Action Item)

Program Owner Nikki Oyefeso will be sending slides on how people learn English as well as a 50-page report.

Committee Member Twomley expressed that he will not be able to attend the next two scheduled meetings. Acting Chair requested from Program Analyst De Jesus to send an email out to the committee inquiring if anyone else had a conflict with the dates, and if so, request alternate dates; it is important to have quorum especially during the decision making process. (TAP Staff: Action Item)

Program Owner Oyefeso extended an invitation to the committee to the upcoming 2003 Nationwide Tax Forums. There will be a focus group serving tax practitioners. Designated Federal Official Judi Nicholas shared that there will be 2 panel members at each of the forums. Due to budget constraints, the goal is to have members attend local tax forums at no cost. Sharon Stetz shared that she will be at the Las Vegas Tax Forum in September 2003 representing Area 6 committee; and, Linda Bader shared that she will be at the St. Louis Tax Forum in August 2003. The MLI Project Office will have seminars at all 6 forums. Action item: Designated Federal Official will be discussing this with other TAP Program Managers and will liaison with Nikki Oyefeso in sending out information on Tax Forums to all.

Meeting Adjourned-by Acting Chair Brodbine-Ghoniem.

Next Meeting:
Friday, June 13, 2003, teleconference meeting, 1:00 pm ET

June 13, 2003