Luckily, MACPA could draw on its new blog Legislative Insider -- along with listserves, e-mail and town hall meetings -- to communicate the fast-moving updates over the three-week General Assembly session. Web 2.0 allowed MACPA to transmit the status of  bills, results of committee hearings, and talking points to members and allies like the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, practically in real time.

The result? A quiet blitzkrieg of well over 300 letters and e-mails to legislators voicing the concerns of Maryland CPAs.  This effort helped to:

• Remove a sales tax on CPA services (consulting, management consulting, and tax preparation)  from a broader proposal
• Defeat efforts to raise filing fees for business entities from $300 to $1,000
• Defeat Combined Reporting for Corporations (due to extremely broad language) 
• Add a provision for the new Maryland Business Tax Reform Commission to include CPAs as tax experts for appointment

"This is the most engaged we have ever seen our members," said Tom Hood, CPA and president of MACPA. "We had already laid much of the groundwork, through a strategy that included increased PAC contributions, substantial research by our State Tax Committee on the background and potential impact of tax policies, and collaborative efforts with the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and Maryland Bankers Association. So when it came time to meet with the governor and legislative leaders, we were primed and pumped."

Hood added that the Legislative Insider, broadcast multiple times daily, inspired members. It allowed me to communicate the rapid changes happenening in real time without trying to work things through internal processes and web design. Several times I was blogging from outside the legislative hearing rooms. They could see the momentum building and wanted to be part of the process.

MACPA complemented its virtual campaign with a series of town hall meetings (carrying four credits of CPE) across the state, which provided added depth and dialogue.

You can see the MACPA Legislative Insider blog at http://www.cpalegislativeinsider.com