News Release

America’s State Tax Officials

 Federation of Tax Administrators
 202-624-5890
Multistate Tax Commission 
202-624-8699 

444 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2011

CONTACT: Verenda Smith
202-624-8443

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Russ Brubaker of the Washington State Department of Revenue
Awarded the Wade Anderson Medal

Washington, D.C. – Russ Brubaker, the National Tax Policy Advisor for the Washington State Department of Revenue, has been awarded the Wade Anderson Memorial Medal for Leadership in Interstate Tax Cooperation.

The medal is awarded jointly by the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) and the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) and will be presented at the FTA Annual Meeting on June 13 in Omaha, Neb.

In addition to his regular duties, Brubaker is a member of the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board’s executive committee. He crafted the agency’s strategic plan to pass the Streamlining legislation in 2007.

He also worked closely with trade associations, retailers, local governments and legislators in the implementation phase, particularly when 40,000 businesses had to update their sales systems after the state changed to destination-based sourcing.

Brubaker also took the lead in crafting a communication and action plan for rebuffing a Congressional attempt to preempt business activity taxes and has over his 25 years of state service reached out to staff, lawmakers and national tax policy leaders alike in his quest “to advocate for taxes that are fair and simple to understand and administer.”

About the award. The medal honors Wade Anderson, who spent 30 years in a variety of positions with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and also served several more years as a tax attorney in the private sector. He was a founding member of the Border States Caucus of tax agencies in states along the U.S.-Mexico border and served as member of the boards of the Federation of Tax Administrators and the Multistate Tax Commission. In 1992 he was the winner of the FTA Award for Outstanding Service and Leadership. The Wade Anderson Memorial Medal was established after his death in 2003 to commemorate his tireless and creative efforts to promote interstate cooperation among tax agencies and between tax administrators and taxpayers. The award is given annually to an individual who best exemplifies his commitment to interstate cooperation to promote fairness, simplicity and consistency in state tax administration.

Medal winners are chosen by representatives of the FTA Board of Trustees and the MTC Executive Committee, selected from nominations submitted by state tax agency employees. The award presentation alternate between the MTC annual meeting and the FTA annual meeting.

About the organizations. The Federation of Tax Administrators is an association of the state tax agencies in the 50 states, District of Columbia and New York City with principal programs in information exchange, training and intergovernmental coordination. The Multistate Tax Commission is an intergovernmental state tax agency established by the states that have adopted the Multistate Tax Compact that works with states and taxpayers to administer, equitably and efficiently, tax laws that apply to multistate and multinational enterprises.

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