Multilingual Issue Committee Meeting Minutes

September 17, 2004
1:00-2:00 PM ET

Roll Call & Confirmation of Quorum (3)
TAP Program Analyst Inez E. De Jesus took the roll call, and quorum was met. Quorum=3, and there were 6 committee members present and the Designated Federal Official. (100% attendance)

Designated Federal Official (DFO)

• Nancy L. Ferree

Panel Members Present

• Linda Bader, Chesterfield, MO
• Elizabeth Brodbine Ghoniem, Winchester, MA, Vice-Chair
• Delford Jones, Griffith, IN
• Sharon Lassar, Miami, FL
• Joseph Meissner, Cleveland, OH
• Bruce Twomley, Juneau, AK, Chair

MLI Program Owner(s)

• Raymond G. Mills

TAP Staff

• Inez E. De Jesus (Program Analyst and Scribe)

Public Participant(s)

• None

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
Chair Twomley opened the meeting by welcoming everyone.

Review/Approve Meeting Minutes of August 20, 2004
The minutes were approved with no objections.

Review All Action Items from Previous Meeting
DFO Ferree reviewed the following action items with the committee:

• On Page 2, Action item for the entire panel: Letter of Support to Immigration, regarding alerting immigrants before they reach the United States of what is expected of them: Status: Since there is currently a working relationship with USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) this action item will be an on-going activity of this committee. (Issue # 3179)
• On Page 2, Coston, Ferree, Twomley, Goldberg, to get together to define next steps based on contractual agreement between Low Income Tax Clinics (LITCs) and TAP. Status “change” since last meeting: “Since the TAP MLI has already established an on-going partnering relationship with LITC’s, this matter will be an on-going activity for this committee.” (Issue # 2988) Chair Twomley stressed that this needs to be kept on the radar screen.
• On Page 2 & 5, A second follow-up response to the National Women’s Law Center will be prepared by MLI Program Owner Mills; Status: Mills made a commitment to send an interim response out by no later than September 24, 2004. Mills explained that he has not responded since recently the “prioritization of the translation of key documents” is being readdressed as a result of a TIGTA report. (1040 Impact Assessment) He wants to be sure that the information he shares with the National Women’s Law Center is the most current and up to date. (Action Item)
• On Page 2, Mills will be responding to the panel on the Kiosk questions: Status: Mills shared that he is waiting to meet with William Love, Policy Analyst, who has been out of the office; Mills hopes to meet with Mr. Love by the end of September 2004, or by first week of October 2004. Mills promised to share the meeting minutes with the panel. - (Action Item) (Delford inquired if “I Speak” options will be incorporated into the kiosks.)
• On Page 2, Mills is to draft LITC Annual Survey. Status: Mills shared that he has been in communication with LITC Director Randy Swartz and Alan Goldberg, Manager in charge of ESL Program; he hopes to have a meeting soon with them in order to build on what was discussed during the MLI face-to-face meeting, as well as to prepare for the TAP Annual Conference meeting in D.C. Mills also mentioned that the IRS Website in Spanish is a main basis for the survey as well. The goal is to improve the opportunities to work with LITC’s. DFO requested that the panel and staff be kept informed of future meeting(s) with Swartz & Goldberg. Mills said he would. A teleconference meeting between, Swartz, Goldberg, Mills, Ferree, De Jesus, Twomley, and Meissner should occur by no later than October 8, 2004. (Action item)
• On Page 2, ESL Partnering opportunities with stakeholders, follow-up with Sally Sandy once she gets funding. Status: To be removed as an action item. Nonetheless, the committee has an ongoing interest in monitoring Mrs. Sandy’s progress and ensuring IRS supports her and does not lose any benefit to be derived from Mrs. Sandy’s initiative. The committee will need to consider how to continue its monitoring. DFO Ferree clarified that whether Mrs. Sandy gets funding or not has no bearing on this committee’s efforts with ESL. Mills shared that he will be meeting with Mrs. Sandy on Monday, September 20, 2004, since she will be in D.C. on other business. He also informed everyone that Mrs. Sandy did receive funding. DFO Ferree reminded Mills that Mrs. Sandy is not a volunteer TAP member. Mills promised to keep the Panel informed after he meets with Mrs. Sandy of any”need to know” information. (For the record, Mills did not contact Mrs. Sandy; therefore, this meeting did not take place.) Also, Linda Bader shared that she had recently met with Mrs. Sandy and had turned over to her the “Money Smart” information. Bader also mentioned the 2 papers she had prepared some time ago, the second one needs to be shared with Ray Mills. Action item: DFO Ferree will be forwarding this data to Mills.
• On Page 2, Response to Elevated Recommendation received on August 30, 2004 and shared with the entire committee and DFO. Status: Mills inquired if there were any comments, and DFO Ferree requested Clarification on the response to Recommendation Item #5 which reads as follows: “ The IRS and English as Second Language (ESL) educators should collaborate on the development and promotion of a tax education curriculum that can be implemented in adult ESL programs across the nation.”
  
  Response: “I understand that your committee has taken on the responsibility of implementing this recommendation. This recommendation is of particular interest because it would promote tax education to a specific LEP segment of the population. As newcomers to the United States, ESL students would be prime candidates for such a course. Please keep us posted on your progress with this effort.”
  
  Mills stated that what is actually currently being done with Sally Sandy is using her program as a test pilot to learn what are the best practices. (Linda Bader feels this statement is incorrect since to her knowledge, currently, there is no testing of a pilot program using Mrs. Sandy’s contribution to this committee.)
  
  It was agreed that “the IRS has the responsibility of implementing this recommendation” NOT the TAP MLI Issue Committee.** All agreed that a “Draft Response” to the Program Owner is needed for clarification and at the same time pinpoint what the panel is currently actually doing. (Development of the curriculum; clarification of the implementation, the fact that the IRS is working with the Department of Education and Citizenship as a prerequisite for funding) Action item: entire committee and staff effort: Chair Twomley will create first draft and share with everyone, requesting input, timeline to have the first draft out is September 24, 2004.
  
  **On September 24, 2004, Program Owner Toni Cross expressed via email, her disagreement with the statement that the IRS has the responsibility to implement this recommendation. Cross’ request that this matter be added to the next TAP MLI Meeting Agenda will be implemented. “Action Item” for DFO Ferree & Analyst De Jesus
  
  *Also, on the ESL subject, Mills mentioned that it would be a good idea to share the ESL Tax Curriculum template with LITC’s at their sites in the future, and that setting up this curriculum is a long process, it can take about 2 years. In the interim, perhaps the MLI Bilingual Brochures may be used. He planned on sharing these with Sally Sandy. One must keep in mind that there are 3 levels of students, “beginners, intermediate, and advanced”.
• On Page 2-3, Global Hue Report was shared with the panel as per individual requests. (Inez mailed copies to Meissner & Ghoniem-Brodbine so far)
• On Page 3, Invitation from the Program Owner to the panel, to attend the next Executive MLI Initiative Council Meeting in November 2004 Status: Mills informed the panel that the next meeting will be in January 2005, not November as previously planned, and that it will be held in Atlanta. As per the request of DFO Ferree, MLI Program Owner is to extend an invitation to TAP MLI panel member in writing once the actual date is set. (Action item)
• On Page 3, MLI Bi-lingual Brochures were sent out to the panel on August 20, 2004 by email and hardcopies were mailed also on same date. Status: Chair Twomley inquired if the panel would have an opportunity to comment on these documents and Mills responded that the panel’s comments will be welcomed; Action item: panel members are to send their comments prior to October 1, 2004, directly to Mills, before finalization of the brochures occur. Chair suggested that everyone be copied when comments are sent to Mills. (Mills shared his telephone number with the panel and his email address is already known to the panel).Twomley shared that he wanted to provide some input regarding Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) information which appears to be lacking in the MLI Bilingual Brochures, and Meissner shared that he feels there should be some information regarding “Retirement/Contributions” for low income families.
• On Page 4, Mills will be coordinating a follow-up teleconference meeting with USCIS and the MLI Issue Committee, Status: Pending- this was not discussed during the September 17, 2004 teleconference meeting; (Action item)
• On Page 4, Inez sent out on August 20, 2004, copies of the TAP Annual Self-Assessment Form to the entire committee- RSVP- September 10, 2004. Status: Inez has received 2 so far and has forwarded these to the Chair. (Bader & Brodbine-Ghoniem)- During today’s call it was confirmed that these were the only two submitted so far. Updated Process: Chair Twomley requested that the remaining panel members that have not responded yet, including himself, to please submit their comments by no later than September 24, 2004, using the same guidelines outlined earlier. Action item: DFO Ferree promised to send a copy to Delford Jones by U.S. mail and will be including a self-addressed stamped envelope for his convenience.

Response Received Re: Elevated Recommendations (Issue # 2987)
As previously noted under the “Review all Action Items from Previous Meeting” (Page #3 of these minutes), this committee will be responding back to Mary E. Davis specifically to Recommendation #5. Chair Twomley will be sending out first draft for the panel’s review by September 24, 2004.

Discussion-response to National Womens Law Center
As previously noted under the “Review all Action Items from Previous Meeting” (Page #2 of these minutes), Mills will be sending an interim response to this organization by no later than September 24, 2004.

Guidance from the Program Owner(s)- “Next Steps”
Mills indicated that he is in the midst of coordinating with LITC National Director and the ESL Manager and getting ready for the TAP Annual Meeting in D.C., November 4-6, 2004.

DFO Ferree stated that this committee looks up to the MLI Program Owners for guidance. Ferree also mentioned that September 30, 2004 will be the end of the term for some of the members and in November there will be a new membership established.

Since Linda Bader will be leaving, Mills made an inquiry about who is going to take over what Linda has done so far with the ESL component. Chair Twomley stated that if the MLI Issue Committee continues, who is going to be on the committee will be decided in November 2004. DFO also said that members leave but the issues continue.

LITC Surveys Timeline
DFO Ferree requested that a MLI panel member be invited to attend the LITC National Conference in Philadelphia scheduled for the week of December 6-10, 2004. (Sharon Stetz attended last year’s conference.) Mills will ensure that an invitation in writing be sent to TAP/MLI from the Program Owner/LITC office. This invitation should be extended by November 6, 2004, hopefully during the TAP Annual Meeting. (Action item)

Mills stated that the focus is on improving opportunities to work with LITC’s is an ESL mandate.

For the record, Joseph Meissner attended last year’s LITC National Conference and has indicated that he would be available to attend the upcoming conference.

Next Steps with External Partners (USCIS)
Not discussed during today’s call. (Action item: to be carried over to the new panel)

News from the Staff
DFO Ferree shared that tentative selections for new panel members have been made and we are awaiting approval by the Department of the Treasury.

Ferree also shared that for those members who are leaving, a letter and or certificate of appreciation is forthcoming from the National Office.

During the Joint Committee meeting in Denver recently, there was talk of an informal alumni association to be formed.

DFO Ferree and Analyst De Jesus, both expressed their appreciation for the efforts of Linda Bader and Sharon Lassar and both were told that they will be greatly missed.

Public Participation/Input
None

Closing Assessment:

• There will be “no” October 2004 TAP Meetings
• Orientation for New Members, November 3, 2004, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET in D.C.
• Annual Meeting: November 4-6, 2004 in D.C.

Delford Jones will be sending an article he thinks is of interest to this panel and the staff will share it with everyone.

Chair Twomley expressed that he was very grateful to Linda Bader and Sharon Lassar for their initiative. Linda Bader showed tremendous initiative in developing the ESL component in the absence of direction from the program owner. Similarly, Sharon Lassar made a valuable contribution through her independent inquiries and her resulting critical analysis of translation of IRS forms. Twomley applauded both of these ladies.

Twomley shared that during the recent Joint Committee’s face-to-face meeting in Denver, chairs agreed by consensus that each committee chair will be elected once a year, and the next election of chairs will occur right after the annual meeting. They also decided that no individual can serve more than two years in this capacity.

Meeting was adjourned by Chair Twomley.

These minutes were approved by the TAP/MLI Issue Committee by consensus on September 30, 2004.