June 26, 2003
1:00pm-2:00pm EDT

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
Chair Sharon Lassar opened meeting timely followed by the roll call. The order of the agenda was changed to accommodate the guest speaker.

Roll Call
Taken by TAP Program Analyst Inez E. De Jesus
Quorum= 6
Total Members Present=7

Panel Members Present

• Linda Bader, Chesterfield, MO
• Mary Balmer, Chapel Hill, NC
• Yvonne Gallegos-Bodle
• Nancy L. Ferree, FL, Designated Federal Official
• Sharon Lassar, FL, Chair
• Joseph Meissner, Cleveland, OH
• Sharon Stetz, Salt Lake City, UT

Members Not Present

• Abigail Alicea, Nashua, NH (Excused)
• Elizabeth Brodbine-Ghoniem, Winchester, MA (Vice-Chair) (Excused)
• Delford Jones, IN
• Kenneth Logan, Blue Springs, MO (Excused)
• Bruce Twomley, Juneau, AK (Excused)

MLI Program Owner

• Nikki Oyefeso

TAP Staff Present

• Inez E. De Jesus, Program Analyst/Recorder

Guest

• Randy Swartz, Director LITC (Low Income Taxpayer Clinic)

Review and Approval of Minutes (June 13, 2003)
Minutes were approved by consensus.

Information on grant to educate LEP (Limited English Proficient) taxpayers
Director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Program, Randy Swartz addressed the panel on this issue.

The following is a summation of Mr. Swartz's presentation to the committee:

• English as a second language (ESL) is part of the LITC Program. The LITC Program is a grant program for qualified non-profit organizations (or law school or business school affiliations) that may establish clinics to assist taxpayers who are in "controversy" with the IRS and/or to assist taxpayers for whom English is a second language. Emphasis was made that LITC cannot do tax preparation on behalf of the client, unless it is part of the "controversy". LITC's are not VITA sites. (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance).
• Organization(s) must provide low cost or no cost representation to individuals involved in tax disputes and the grants are worth up to $100,000 for 2004 year.
• The application period for the 2004 LITC grant program is from May 1st to July 1, 2003. You must apply on a yearly basis.
• The application package (Publication 3319) is available on-line or may be ordered from the IRS Forms Distribution Center. (DFO Ferree will be placing an order for the MLI Committee members who are interested).
• The funding for ESL is to provide outreach and education to those in the community that the clinics serve.
• National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson is very supportive of this program; she initially served in the original Richmond, VA, LITC site.
• Vermont, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico do not have LITC's. Recently 2 applications were received from Vermont. Panel member Gallegos-Bodle inquired if there were any LITC's in California, and the response was "Yes, there are many". (DFO Ferree will be sharing this information with all panel members after this call.)
• Each year Congress approves additional monies towards this program. This year 7 million dollars and next year it will be 9 million dollars.

Chair Lassar requested to see an example of a "winning application", and the Director of LITC responded that this would not be possible since it would not be fair to other applicants. This is a very competitive program and this is a very sensitive issue. It was mentioned that under the Freedom of Information Act, this information might be obtained. Mr. Swartz emphasized that the best source would be to follow the instructions on Publication/Application #3319.

Lassar also asked whether the LITC are required to share materials, products or procedures they develop and could the requirement to share be a condition of receiving funding. Swartz responded that grantees are invited to share best practices with LITC Program Office.

Panel member Linda Bader requested that local ESL programs conducted by Adult Education & Literacy programs be linked with LITC's in order to develop a curriculum to assist ESL individuals on their tax responsibilities and tax issues. Mr. Swartz informed the committee that organizations must be a 501 c (non-profit organization) to be eligible for a grant under the LITC program. He suggested that the Department of Education and the IRS work together to develop this issue further.

Mr. Swartz suggested that ESL's programs be encouraged by panel members to apply individually for a LITC grant.

Upon request, Mr. Swartz shared his telephone number with the committee, and the committee expressed their gratitude for his time and the information shared.

Members were advised to visit their local LITC's when they receive the list with the locations nearest to them.

Action Items- DFO Ferree
DFO Ferree, following the conference call, will send electronic version: "IRS Accepting Grant Applications for Low Income Taxpayer Clinics" to the committee. Also, the link with the locations of the nationwide LITC list will be shared with the committee following the conference call. For the record: Publication # 4134 (Rev. 02-2003)

Update on survey for practitioner forums
Program Owner Nikki Oyefeso informed the panel that she recently learned that the survey has been sent to the printers already, and she apologized to the committee since they did not have the opportunity to provide feedback as they had wished.

Update on definition of "vital document"
Chair Lassar requested from Program Owner the IRS's interpretation of Executive Order 13166, "IRS GLS Memorandum on Executive Order 13166 and Vital Documents- Improving Access to Service for Persons with Limited English Proficiency"; so far the TAP Staff has been unable to obtain this information. In essence, Ms. Lassar is seeking a "working definition" of vital documents and which ones are vital for translation.

Ms. Oyefeso promised to send this information to the committee, but in the interim responded by reading the following:

Definition of a "Vital Document"- "contains information that is critical for accessing the services, rights and/or benefits", or "is required by law."

The translation factors are:

1. Nature, importance and objective of the program,
2. Frequency of request by the taxpayer,
3. Frequency with which the document is needed,
4. Assistance or other means of meeting the taxpayer needs already in place, and
5. Cost versus resources available for meeting the taxpayer needs.

Status report from each committee member

a)Action plan progress-
In respect to time constraints, Chair Lassar will share with the committee by email her recent experience(s) with the "Hispanic Unity" group in Broward County.

Panel member Gallegos-Bodle briefly shared her recent experience with IRS office SPEC (Stakeholder Partnership, Education, and Communication) personnel in Los Angeles.

Panel member Sharon Stetz shared her recent positive experience when she was invited by the Salt Lake City Taxpayer Advocate to attend an all day program in conjunction with the Congressional Liaison Aides.

Panel member Joe Meissner also shared his recent contacts with:
a) The old welfare system in Ohio, now known as TANS, Temporary System to Needy Families. He inquired how do they handle the topic of taxes and how does this agency handle dealing with people who have difficulty with the English language.
b) The Hispanic community was also approached and asked the same questions.

Panel Member Meissner will have further information to share at the next teleconference meeting.

b)Planned attendance at Practitioner Forum focus groups
The Chair would like a MLI committee member be available to attend the focus groups that will be conducted at certain Practitionar Tax Forums. As previously discussed the focus groups are scheduled as follows:

• July 8 & 9, 2003 at Atlantic City, NJ
• July 22 & 23, 2003, Orlando, FL
• August 5 & 6, 2003, Atlanta, GA
• September 2 & 3, 2003 at San Antonio, TX
• September 16 & 17, 2003 at Las Vegas, NV

Panel member Sharon Stetz is scheduled to attend the Las Vegas Practitioner Forum and will be at the booth all day; she will attempt to get someone to staff the booth so that she can attend the focus group.

Panel member Yvonne Gallegos-Bodle expressed an interest in participating.

Panel member Linda Bader shared that she will be attending the forum in St. Louis on August 19th & 20th; there is no focus group scheduled at this site.

Chair Sharon Lassar has a conflict with her calendar on whether she will be attending the Orlando or Atlantic City forum.

DFO Ferree and Program Owner Oyefeso discussed the funding issue if a MLI Committee member were to attend the focus group(that is not already scheduled) who will pick up the tab? Action item: DFO Ferree will inquire from National Office and get back to everyone by email.

Action item for all members: Chair requested that the committee keep her informed of the activities they have been engaged in, and to do so in writing.

Public Participation/Input
None

Closing/ Assessment
DFO Ferree shared with the committee that there is a conflict with the date of the next scheduled teleconference meeting on August 15, 2003 since the staff, both she and Program Analyst De Jesus will be in travel status, returning from this year's Symposium in Atlanta. She proposed and it was accepted by consensus to re-schedule as follows: next MLI's Teleconference Meeting will be held on Friday, August 22, 2003, at 1:00 PM EDT (1 hour duration), same dial in number and same participant's code.

The Chair adjourned the meeting timely.

*Amended minutes (in bold): September 10, 2003, as per National Director, LITC
Approved by Chair & DFO September 10, 2003

Copies to all MLI Committee Members & Program Owners on September 10, 2003
& Posted to TAP Website & TAP Speak