Multilingual Initiative (MLI) Committee Meeting Minutes

April 12, 2005

Acting Designated Federal Official (DFO)

• Sallie Chavez, TAP Program Analyst

MLI Program Owner(s)

• Toni M. Cross
• Sharese Stevens
• Raymond G. Mills
• Marilyn Correa

Members Present

• Jerald Fireman, Edmonds, WA
• Dorothy Havey, Lincolnville, ME
• José Irizarry, San Juan, PR
• Steve Kreisler, Potomac, MD
• Mary Ann Lawler, Dearborn, MI
• Paul McElroy, Winston-Salem, NC
• Joseph Meissner, Cleveland, OH
• Clifford McKenzie, Del City, OK
• Theodore Perros, Washington, DC
• Lovella Richardson, Knoxville,TN
• Iris Sosa, Fontana, CA
• Robert Stokes, Kemp, TX
• Bruce Twomley, Chair, Juneau, AK

Panel Members Absent

• Helen Curol, Lakes Charles, LA
• Delford Jones, Griffith, IN
• David Terrazas, Vice-Chair, Santa Cruz, CA

Staff Present

• Martha J. Curry, TAP Senior Program Analyst
• Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Analyst & Note Taker

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
Analyst Inez E. De Jesus shared that Program Analyst Sallie Chavez will be the acting Designated Federal Official during this call, and that TAP Director Bernie Coston had planned on participating on this call, but due to a last minute notification of an executive meeting, he has designated Senior Program Analyst Martha Curry to represent him.

Chair Bruce Twomley opened the meeting by welcoming everyone, and expressed his appreciation towards Sallie Chavez, Martha Curry, and Marilyn Correa’s participation on this call. Twomley then inquired if there were any comments on the agenda and there were no objections.

Roll Call (Quorum=8)
Quorum was met; 13 members present.

Joint Committee Report
None

Review/Approve Meeting Minutes- March 8, 2005
These minutes were approved unanimously by consensus.

Confirm Completed Action Items Since March 8, 2005
DFO Chavez provided the committee with the following status report on the “action items” from the previous meeting:

1. On Page 2,
   • Review of the 3 MLI Project Teams Charters and Assignments are on the agenda for today’s call.
   • List of Members Individual Skills was completed on by the TAP Staff on April 4, 2005.
   • Toni Cross reported during today’s call that the LITC Surveys are on schedule and by the end of May 2005 they should be able to provide this panel with a final status report.
2. On Page 3,
   • Regarding the “bilingual brochures” Mills reported during today’s call that “We are going to move forward, same as last year, there may be some minor changes depending on tax law changes; status on any new products, there is no final decision yet.”
   • There will be from now on a “Report Out Session” on the agenda where each MLI Team will have an opportunity to share information with the entire panel.
3. On Page 4,
   • Panel members signature on the Master TAP MLI Committee Team Charter has still not been completed by Analyst De Jesus. Action item for Inez: obtain approval from each member once they meet with their sub-committees and have no objections to charters.
   • Mills shared that “yes” he has received responses from all by March 11, 2005 as stated in the previous meeting minutes.
   • Mills confirmed also that all the team packets were sent out to all the panel members.
   • Inez sent out on March 10, 2005, information to all on how to set up conference calls using the AT&T Teleconference Services.
4. On Page 5,
   • Email to the staff with their preferences for meeting dates by no later than March 11, 2005 was done timely

Reach Consensus on Charters & Team Assignments & Reports from Each Team:

• #1-Needs Assessment Team
  Sharese Stevens reported that this team met on April 1, 2005 via teleconference and their charter was ratified. The focus of the call was to obtain consensus on how the Needs Assessment will be conducted. They identified demographic populated Asian Limited English Proficient areas in the states of the Team Members. They reviewed the proposed strategy and there were no objections. They also looked at demographic data, and agreed on targeted areas. Their next meeting is scheduled for April 29, 2005. Their team leader will be Lovella Richardson.

  Stevens asked if Team #1 had received the package she sent in the mail to them and the response was; “Yes”.

• #2- Education Team
  Ray Mills reported that this team met on April 1, 2005 via teleconference and their charter was ratified; all but one team member was present on the call. This team reviewed information from Sally Sandy’s ESL, Adult Education Short Course on IRS Compliance. Ms. Sandy was the first individual in the United States to receive a grant in order to create this format. The group is currently reviewing this information. No team leader has been selected yet; Nancy Ferree was coordinating the efforts in obtaining a team leader. The next meeting will be scheduled upon Ferree’s return.

• #3- Low Income Tax Clinic(s) (LITC’s) Communications Team
  Toni Cross reported that this team has not met yet; they do have plans to meet on April 26, 2005 at 1:30 PM Eastern Time. Cross stated that if any of the team members were not able to participate during this time, to please let her know. The proposed strategy has been sent out to all for their review. Information on the LITC’s has been sent out; they plan on identifying areas. Cross will be working with the LITC Program Manager. She asked if the members were familiar with any of the LITC’s in their areas.

  Joe Meissner shared information from the LITC conferences he has attended.

Confirm Team Leaders
Lovella Richardson will be the Team Leader for Team #1.

No selections have been made yet for the other 2 teams. (Action/follow-up item)

Next Steps for the 3 MLI Teams
Chair Twomley stated that the next steps will be shaped by what takes place at the upcoming face-to-face meeting in June in D.C. Cross stated that this will be a working meeting; each team should think about what they will be bringing and hope to accomplish; what are the deliverables?

Face-to-Face Meeting Confirmation
Inez shared that with the coordination of Ray Mills and Nancy Ferree, arrangements have been made to hold the face-to-face meeting at:

One Washington Circle Hotel, Located at One Washington Circle, NW, in the Foggy Bottom section of Washington, DC.

The dates of the meeting: Friday, June 24, 2005 and half a day on Saturday, June 25, 2005. (travel days will be June 23rd and June 25th for most members with the exception of some from the West Coast)

Inez promised to send out an email immediately following this call with all the details and with an attachment of the “TAP Reservation Request Form”. TAP Secretary Jenny Reyes will be coordinating all the airline reservations and Inez will be coordinating the hotel reservations.

Inez advised all NOT to send credit card information via email. Inez will be contacting each member individually. So far, she was only aware of Theodore Perros not being able to attend. She reminded others to please let her know if they will NOT be attending.

*Change May 10, 2005 Meeting Date
Inez shared that since the TAP Staff has recently been informed that there will be a staff meeting in Chicago on this same date, therefore there is a need to change this meeting date. The 2 dates that were being considered were May 3rd and the 17th, and it is too late now to submit the required Federal Register Notice in a timely matter for May 3rd. After discussion, the panel agreed to change the meeting to May 17 at Noon time, Eastern Time, instead of the usual 2:30 PM ET, in order to accommodate some panel members. Action item for Inez: officially change the meeting date to May 17th, and ensure that the Federal Register is submitted timely, and inform everyone concerned of this change.

Public Input
None

Closing Assessment
During the call, Ray Mills shared that this will be his last meeting with the panel since he accepted a job with Homeland Security which he begins on Monday, April 18, 2005.

MLI Strategy Office, Policy Analyst, Marilyn Correa will be stepping in as MLI Education Team #2’s representative, and Policy Analyst Sharese Stevens will be assisting as well until Ray’s position is filled under special request. Mills also reported that he will be sharing information with Marilyn Correa within the next couple of days. Toni Cross expressed her gratitude towards Ray and all the work he has done with the TAP/MLI group and he will be greatly missed.

The panel unanimously also expressed kudos to Ray and wished him all the best in his future endeavors.

Senior Program Analyst Martha Curry reported on behalf of the TAP Director that we are in the midst of the Recruiting Period for new panel members. So far, 228 final applications have been received and there are 263 applications in draft form. There is representation from all but 5 states. There are 47-48 slots to fill.

Chair Twomley thanked Martha for this information.

Jerry Fireman raised an issue regarding the recent news received from TAP Director Bernie Coston, referencing cuts to customer service at IRS, and he wondered how this may affect the Multilingual Initiative project. After brief discussion, Twomley thanked Fireman for bringing this topic up and requested that the MLI Strategy Office keep the committee informed if there will be any risk in the future of these cuts affecting MLI and TAP.

Twomley thanked Mills again for all of his efforts, and the meeting was adjourned.

*The next teleconference meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at Noon time Eastern Time (1 hour)

These meeting minutes were approved as modified on May 17, 2005 by the TAP MLI Issue Committee.