Multilingual Initiative (MLI) Committee Meeting Minutes

May 17, 2005

Program Owner(s)

• Sharese Stevens, MLI Senior Policy Analyst
• Marilyn Correa, MLI Policy Analyst

Designated Federal Official (DFO)

• Nancy L. Ferree, TAP Program Manager, Plantation, FL

Committee Members Present

• Helen Curol, Lakes Charles, LA
• Jerald Fireman, Edmonds, WA
• José Irizarry, San Juan, PR
• Delford Jones, Griffith, IN
• Mary Ann Lawler, Dearborn, MI
• Theodore Perros, Washington, DC
• Robert Stokes, Kemp, TX
• Bruce Twomley, Juneau, AK, Chair

Committee Members Absent

• Dorothy Havey, Lincolnville, ME
• Steve Kreisler, Potomac, MD
• Paul McElroy, Winston-Salem, NC
• Clifford McKenzie, Del City, OK
• Joseph Meissner, Cleveland, OH
• Lovella Richardson, Knoxville,TN
• Iris Sosa, Fontana, CA

TAP Staff

• Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Program Analyst, Note Taker

Welcome
Chair Bruce Twomley opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. He shared that the committee’s Self-Assessment Report needs to be submitted by September 2005 to the Joint Committee; therefore, the committee needs to document their on-going activities so that they are captured on the report.

Since MLI Vice-Chair David Terrazas resigned on April 22, 2005, the Vice-Chair Position needs to be filled; the committee agreed to table this till the next meeting.

Roll Call
Quorum of 8 was met.

Review Agenda
The committee accepted the agenda.

Approval of April 12, 2005 Meeting Minutes
Chair Twomley noted that on Page 3 of these minutes, at the end of first paragraph, “the team leader for Team #1 should be Lovella Richardson, and not Helen Curol as noted”. Committee agreed by consensus, that once this change is made, these minutes are “approved as modified”.

Review Assignments
The following action items from the previous meeting were discussed as follows:

• On May 4, 2005, Analyst Inez E. De Jesus updated the Master TAP MLI Committee Team Charter with all the members’ approvals and distributed to all on same date via email.
• Jenny Reyes, TAP Secretary, has made the airline reservations for the upcoming face-to-face meeting in DC, and Inez has coordinated the hotel reservations and has sent confirmation information to all.
• The May 10th teleconference call was cancelled as previously discussed and re-scheduled for today.

Agenda Items
Program Owner’s Reports: Sharese Stevens shared that Team 1 and Team 3 has met since the last meeting, but Team 2 has not.

Stevens has been reading and reviewing the historical documents on the ESL (English as a Second Language) Program with Toni Cross. Chair Twomley impressed on Ms. Stevens that he would be available to address any questions she may have on ESL created by Ms. Sally Sandy.

Team 2 will be having a teleconference meeting prior to the committee’s face-to-face meeting.

Chair Twomley expressed his appreciation to the Program Owners for their commitment to this program.

Confirm Team Leaders:
Team #1: Lovella Richardson
Team #2: None at this time
Team #3: Steve Kreisler

Reports from the Teams:

• Team #1, MLI Needs Assessment: On behalf of Lovella Richardson, Sharese Stevens shared that information has been given to this team on the Limited English Proficient (LEP) Asian Demographics; the profiles on Asians in their communities. The goal is to focus at the face-to-face meeting on what areas are of importance to these taxpayers. This team plans on developing a survey document that may be used in the near future.

• Team #2, Education: Correa and Ferree noted that there was no information to be reported during this call; they are still looking at strategy for this team and Chair Twomley stated that he is available to provide feedback.

• Team #3, LITC Communications: Since Kreisler was not available to provide feedback, Sharese Stevens reported that this team recently met via teleconference and had a very productive meeting. The Strategy Plan was distributed for review by the team and they were in agreement with the proposed strategy.

Review Draft Agenda for Face-to-Face Meeting
There were no objections to the draft agenda.

Activities assigned by the Program Owner(s)
None at this time.

Office Report
DFO Ferree reminded everyone that this issue committee should focus their attention to “activities assigned by the program owners” and not the traditional Outreach which is conducted in the area committees. General information from the Joint Committee will be shared via the area committees. This committee’s attention should be involved with multilingual initiatives as directed by the MLI Program Owners.

Action/Assignment Review

Decision: Committee agreed that the “Election for Vice-Chair Position” will be held during the face-to-face meeting.

Action: Election for Vice-Chair Position will be added to the June 24/25, 2005 agenda by the TAP Staff.

Public Input
None

Closing/Assessment

• As previously agreed, the Meeting Satisfaction Survey will be sent by email to all immediately after this call.
• Before closing, Perros shared his concerns regarding the Federal Tax Reform Panel’s Report to the Secretary of the Treasury by July 31, 2005. Also, Robert Stokes briefly shared his visit to the Dallas Independent School District’s ESL Department. Chair Twomley adjourned the meeting after thanking the Program Owners for their investment with the 3 teams and he stated that he was looking forward to the face-to-face meeting.
• The next meeting will be the face-to-face in Washington, DC on June 24th, and June 25, 2005 at One Washington Circle Hotel.

*These minutes were approved by the TAP MLI Issue Committee on June 24, 2005 by consensus.