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RING, MAHONY & ARNER, Jacksonville, Fla., July 23, 1965.

Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,

U.S. Representative,

House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

DEAR SIR: It is my understanding that H.R. 7624 has been referred to the House Committee on the District of Columbia, of which you have the distinction of serving as its chairman. This proposed legislation relates to improving the education standards and experience requirements in the District of Columbia of applicants for certification as CPA's. Unfortunately, the present requirements were adopted 42 years ago, resulting in educational and experience requirements now being extremely low in comparison with a substantial majority of the States. The existing law does not even contain firm requirement of a high school diploma. The requirements of applicants for certification for the District of Columbia is of concern to CPA's in all of the States for the following reasons:

Where the standards for certification are low, a serious problem is created for businessmen and the public in general, since they must cope with the problem of determining which CPA's have been certified under low certification standards, and which ones have met satisfactory qualification requirements.

With the increasing complexity of the problems that the business community and the general public has been looking to CPA's for assistance, it is imperative that the accountancy profession improve the qualifications for admittance of members to its ranks. This is, in fact, a grave obligation any profession has to the public.

The present low qualification requirements imposes a real problem to other States, and to District of Columbia CPA's; since, it is difficult for these CPA's to obtain reciprocity from many other States when they change their residence out of the District of Columbia.

Almost 15 years ago the State of Florida enacted educational requirements that are even higher than those now contained in H. R. 7624. As president of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, I assure you that Florida CPA's are most interested in the favorable consideration of this proposed legislation.

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DEAR SIR: It has come to my attention that the District of Columbia Institute of Certified Public Accountants is making an intensive effort to obtain the enactment of up-to-date legislation to regulate the practice of certified public accounts in the District of Columbia. It is further my understanding that the present legislation in the District of Columbia contains extremely low educational and experience requirements for candidates for certification.

As immediate past president of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, I am extremely interested in helping the certified public accountants of any State to better their standards whenever I can. Florida has high standards for certification, and we are constantly searching for ways to improve them. One of our major problems in the State is the desire of certified public accountants from other States to obtain reciprocal certificates here, and it is difficult when the standards of other States are lower than ours.

It is important to the profession that the standards of all States be just as high as possible. It is also important to the public in general since businessmen must find it most difficult to determine which certified public accountants are competent and which are not in States where standards for certification are low.

I would urge you to support the pending legislation (H. R. 7624) and help the certified public accountants in the District of Columbia increase their standards and thereby benefit tremendously the public interest and at the same time help to make ours an even better profession.

Your cooperation in this matter will be appreciated very much.

Very truly yours,

R. F. STONEROCK, CPA.

THE ILLINOIS SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS,
Chicago, June 9, 1965.

Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,

Chairman, House Committee on the District of Columbia,
House of Representatives,

Washington, D.C.

DEAR REPRESENTATIVE MCMILLAN: We have learned from our friends in the District of Columbia Institute of Certified Public Accountants that H. R. 7624 has been referred to the House Committee on the District of Columbia. This bill would regulate the professional practice of CPA's in the District, and proposes to raise the standards for education and experience to be required of applicants seeking to sit for the CPA examination in the District. The existing statute on this subject in the District was adopted 42 years ago and its standards are now substantially lower than those prescribed in a great majority of the States. As an example, we thought you would be interested in the educational requirements for the CPA certificate now in effect in the State of Illinois and to that end I am enclosing a folder which sets forth an outline of these requirements. You will note that presently a candidate for the CPA certificate must have 90 semester hours at a college or university acceptable to the University of Illinois and as of January 1, 1967, these will increase to 120 semester hours.

As a matter of fact the educational trend in the accounting profession throughout the country has been toward a college degree for some years. In the light of this trend it appears to be somewhat incongruous that the District of Columbia would be satisfied with greatly inferior standards.

You may also be interested to know that a man or woman now taking the CPA examination in the District and meeting only the minimum educational standards there, cannot secure an Illinois CPA certificate by reciprocity (as CPA's from many other States can do) despite the fact that the CPA examination is uniform in all States, territories, and the District. This same situation prevails in many States like Illinois where our legislature has decreed that reciprocal Illinois certificates can be granted only to those CPA's who have satisfied our standards. The Illinois Society of Certified Public Accountants believes that the public interest everywhere is best served by requiring the highest educational and experience standards of those seeking admission to the profession and who in their work as CPA's will be dealing with a wide range of financial affairs of the business communities throughout the country. On this basis we strongly believe that the District should upgrade its educational requirements and, therefore, we respectfully urge your support of H. R. 7624 to accomplish this important objective. Sincerely,

ROBERT S. MACCLURE, President.

Mr. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,

INDIANA ASSOCIATION OF

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS, INC.,
Indianapolis, Ind., June 16, 1965.

Chairman, House Committee on the District of Columbia,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. MCMILLAN: We have learned from our associates in Washington that H. R. 7624, pertaining to the regulation of the practice of accountancy in the District, has been referred to your committee. I understand this bill would raise the standards for education and experience for future CPA's.

A recent report from our national association, American Institute of CPA's stated that Tennessee became the third State to enact the college degree requirement this year, making a total of 24 States which require, or will require at a future date, a college education, or the equivalent, for CPA candidates.

We in Indiana have strong convictions that because of the complexities of the present-day business world and our economic system it is in the public interest to require that persons holding themselves out to the public as experts should possess at least a college degree. We plan to introduce in the next session of the Indiana Legislature a bill to raise our educational requirements for CPA appli

cants.

Mr. Chairman, we urge you to support these objectives.

Very truly yours,

LAURENCE F. HASKETT, President.

MARYLAND ASSOCIATION OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS, INC.,
Baltimore, Md., June 30, 1965.

Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,

Chairman, House Committee on the District of Columbia,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: We understand from the District of Columbia Institute of Certified Public Accountants that there has been referred to the House Committee on the District of Columbia, of which you are chairman, H.R. 7624—a bill that would regulate the professional practice of certified public accountants in the District of Columbia. The bill, among other things, would raise the standards for education and experience to be required of applicants for certification as certified public accountants.

The existing statute in the District was adopted 42 years ago, and its standards are lower than those prescribed in a majority of the States. Presently, there is not a firm requirement for a high school diploma; the Board of Accountancy may accept "sufficient commercial experience in accounting" as a substitute for high school graduation.

The majority of candidates for certification in the District of Columbia have attained higher education and more experience than the existing law requires but the lower standards of the existing law sometimes create problems for District CPA's when they seek reciprocity in other States, and make the District of Columbia a haven for applicants for certification who do not even intend to practice in the District. In some cases such applicants cannot satisfy the requirements of their own States.

In Maryland a new CPA law has been passed in recent years requiring higher educational standards. We in the Maryland association believe that it is very much in the public interest to raise the educational and experience standards of the profession of certified public accounting, and we support the effort of the District of Columbia Institute to bring the District legislation up to the standards that the great majority of States have already attained or are in the process of so doing. We therefore urge you to give favorable consideration to this legislation. Cordially yours,

CHARLES H. HOFFMAN, President.

MINNESOTA SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS,

Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,

Minneapolis, Minn., June 4, 1965.

Chairman, House Committee on the District of Columbia,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I have been informed that Subcommittee No. 2 of the House Committee on the District of Columbia has before it H. R. 7624, a bill that would regulate the professional practice of certified public accountants in the District of Columbia. Inasmuch as this bill would raise the standards of education and experience to be required of applicants for certification as CPA's, we CPA's in Minnesota are naturally interested in this bill. The existing statute in the District of Columbia is obsolete in that its standards are now lower than those prescribed in a substantial majority of the other States.

The members of the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants believe that it is very much in the public interest to raise the educational and experience standards of the profession throughout the United States and we therefore support the effort of the District of Columbia Institute to bring the District legislation up to the standards that the great majority of States have already reached and are in the process of reaching.

We trust that you and your committee will see fit to support the bill and to procure its early enactment.

Cordially yours,

WALTER J. KOFSKI,

President, Minnesota Society of

Certified Public Accountants.

Mr. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,

PORTSMOUTH, N.H., June 21, 1965.

Chairman, House Committee on the District of Columbia,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: As you know, H.R. 7624, a bill to regulate the professional practice of certified public accountants in the District of Columbia, has been introduced in the House of Representatives and referred to your committee. The bill would raise the standards for education and experience to be required of applicants for certification as CPA's.

We are informed that the majority of candidates for certification in the District of Columbia have attained higher education and more experience than the existing law requires, but the lower standards of the existing law sometimes create problems for District CPA's when they seek reciprocity in other States, and make the District of Columbia a haven for applicants for certification who do not even intend to practice in the District. In some cases such applicants cannot satisfy the requirements of their own State.

We in the New Hampshire Society believe that it is very much in the public interest to raise the educational and experience standards of the profession of certified public accounting, and we support the efforts of the District of Columbia Institute to bring the District legislation up to the standards that the great majority of States have already reached or are in the process of reaching. We hope, Mr. Chairman, that you will see fit to support the bill and to arrange for early hearings.

Cordially yours,

Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,
House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.

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DEAR CONGRESSMAN MCMILLAN: We have learned from our friends in the District of Columbia Institute of Certified Public Accountants that there has been referred to the House Committee on the District of Columbia, of which you are a member, H.R. 7624, a bill that would regulate the professional practice of certified public accountants in the District of Columbia. The bill would raise the standards for education and experience to be required of applicants for certification as CPA's. The existing statute on this subject in the District was adopted 42 years ago and its standards are now lower than those prescribed in a substantial majority of the States.

For example, the present statute in the District does not even contain a firm requirement of a high school diploma, the Board of Accountancy may accept "sufficient commercial experience in accounting" as a substitute for high school graduation. While 24 States now require a college degree before examination for the CPA certificate, the institute bill is a step in the right direction.

In practice, the majority of candidates for certification in the District of Columbia have attained higher education and more experience than the existing law requires, but the lower standards of the existing law sometimes create problems for District CPA's when they seek reciprocity in other States, and make the District of Columbia a haven for applicants for certification who do not even intend to practice in the District. In some cases such applicants cannot satisfy the requirements of their own State.

We in the New York State society believe that it is very much in the public interest to raise the educational and experience standards of the profession of certified public accounting, and we support the effort of the District of Columbia institute to bring the District legislation up toward the standards that a majority of States have already reached or are in the process of reaching.

We hope, Congressman McMillan, that you will see fit to support the bill and to assist in arranging for early hearings. We also hope that you may be willing to join Congressman Fraser, of Minnesota, as a cosponsor of the bill. The District of Columbia institute is attempting to arrange for sponsorship of the companion

bills, H.R. 7624 and S. 1853, in both Houses by members of both political parties. Your personal sponsorship would be especially appreciated.

Cordially yours,

WILLIAM P. STOWE, President.

Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,

NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION
OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS,
Chapel Hill, N.C., July 13, 1965.

Chairman, House Committee on the District of Columbia,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: We have learned from our friends in the District of Columbia Institute of Certified Public Accountants that there has been referred to the House Committee on the District of Columbia of which you are chairman, H.R. 7624, a bill that would regulate the professional practice of certified public accountants in the District of Columbia. The bill would raise the standards for education and experience to be required of applicants for certification as CPA's. The existing statute on this subject in the District was adopted 42 years ago and its standards are now lower than those prescribed in a substantial majority of the States.

For example, the present statute in the District does not even contain a firm requirement of a high school diploma; the Board of Accountancy may accept "sufficient commercial experience in accounting" as a substitute for high school graduation.

In practice, the majority of candidates for certification in the District of Columbia have attained higher education and more experience than the existing law requires, but the lower standards of the existing law sometimes create problems for District CPA's when they seek reciprocity in other States, and make the District of Columbia a haven for applicants for certification who do not even intend to practice in the District. In some cases such applicants cannot satisfy the requirements of their own State.

We in the North Carolina association believe that it is very much in the public interest to raise the educational and experience standards of the profession of certified public accounting, and we support the effort of the District of Columbia institute to bring the District legislation up to the standards that the great majority of States have already reached or are in the process of reaching.

We hope, Mr. Chairman, that you will see fit to support the bill and to arrange for early hearings.

Cordially yours,

Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN,

ROBERT LLOYD, President.

THE OHIO SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS, Columbus, Ohio, June 8, 1965.

Chairman, House Committee on the District of Columbia,

House of Representatives,

Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. MCMILLAN: We have been informed that a bill (H.R. 7624) to regulate the professional practice of certified public accountants in the District of Columbia has been referred to your committee. The District of Columbia Institute of Certified Public Accountants is supporting this legislation which would raise the standards for education and experience required of applicants for the CPA certificate. The present statute on this subject is more than 40 years old, and the standards now required of applicants are much lower than those required in most other jurisdictions.

We, in the Ohio society, believe that it is in the public interest to raise educational and experience requirements in the District of Columbia to adequately meet the demands of investors, credit grantors, business management, and governmental agencies and to keep pace with the major States which have already provided for higher standards as a protection for the public.

We hope that you will support this bill and arrange for early hearings.

Sincerely,

JOHN S. SCHOTT, President.

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