Betsy Huber, State Master

From the Master's Desk

 

Signs of Spring are beginning to appear, especially in Washington DC where I spent three days last week at a Penn State Trustees meeting. We had some excellent speakers and a special briefing by the FBI Counterintelligence Division. We learned that modern technology gives our adversaries more of an advantage now in stealing research and national security secrets. The FBI is concentrating on understanding what U.S. companies and universities have that others want to steal and use, so that they can be stopped and their technology used against them to prevent theft. The top countries of concern are China, Russia and Iran.

China copied our entire space shuttle program, even down to the placement of the “no smoking” signs around the hangars. Billions of dollars of our money funds advanced research, which can be stolen in seconds by skilled computer experts in other countries. It was a very interesting briefing, though quite scary!

Another speaker was the president of the Council on Competitiveness who talked about the transformation of the world by the digital revolution, the rapid advance and consumer power of emerging economies, and the pace of scientific discovery. She told us that the Barbie doll is totally made in China, including the doll itself, clothing and all the packaging. Barbie sells for about $20, of which only 35 cents stays in China! The remainder goes to U.S. companies for the concept and marketing. How can any U.S. company compete and make a doll for less than 35 cents? We are truly in a global economy whether we realize it or not.

Remember the Penn State Agricultural Trustee election on May 15 and be sure your Pomona is represented at the county caucus organized by your Cooperative Extension office. The State Grange is endorsing Walt Peechatka of PennAg Industries Assoc., and myself, for re-election to the Board of Trustees this year. It is VERY important that the Grange be represented at the caucuses and at the election.

Grange Day May 5
Please send your reservations in right away for the annual Grange Day Legislative Luncheon on May 5, beginning at 11:15 am at the Radisson Penn Harris, Camp Hill. Our very special guest speaker this year will be Attorney General Tom Corbett, who will update us on the work of his office including ACRE law enforcement and internet crime. He is an excellent speaker you won’t want to miss. We will also hear from a representative of the Health Department on current issues in the area of health care. We have received responses from many Legislators, so please come meet with your State Representative and Senator for lunch on May 5. The day will start off with a summary of pending legislation and hot issues in Harrisburg, hopefully by our lobbyist George Wolff. George fell and broke his ankle a few weeks ago and is recuperating at home, but we hope he will be able to attend Grange Day to speak to us.

Internal Revenue Service Requirements
IMPORTANT!
Some time during the past year your Grange secretary or Master received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service entitled, “2008 Annual Electronic Notice Filing Requirement.” Many of you called the State Grange Office asking about this letter, and I promised you I would investigate and send out a letter explaining the situation. This letter has been sent to all Subordinate and Pomona secretaries.

It has been difficult to get an answer to the question of what will be required of our Subordinate and Pomona Granges for this new filing requirement. Every phone call to the IRS was answered by a different person who had a different response to our questions. However, this is the situation to this point.

The State Grange will continue to file with the IRS on behalf of all Subordinate and Pomona Granges in Pennsylvania. This involves registering your Employer Identification Number, Grange name, and the name and address of a contact person (usually the secretary). We have always filed this information annually on paper; now we will be required to enter it on the computer each year on an “e-postcard.”

If your Grange takes in more than $25,000 in a year, you must continue to file your own individual 990 Tax form as you have in the past.

So you will not need to take any action, other than to make sure that the State Grange office has the correct name and address for your Grange secretary. Check the label on the envelope in which you received this letter, and if it is not correct please contact the State Office right away to correct the information.

Plan for a busy Spring and Summer
Now is the time to plan your Grange events for the spring and summer season, to let your community know you are alive and well and ready to help other groups and individuals with their projects, or start your own great ideas. Check out the National Grange website, www.nationalgrange.org  and click on “Building the Grange Across America” success stories for lots of good ideas.

Apologies
Our apologies to three members of Big Knob Grange, Beaver County, who attended the National Grange Convention in Reno but were left out of the list of attendees in the February Advocate. Carl Blank, Eileen McGown, and George Mengel did visit the Convention in Reno in November. Sorry!