A Florida congressman took the lead in Congress to cut funds to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) while putting up safeguards for better customer service and ending the targeting of political opponents.
From his perch as chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., guided the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill through the full Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. The committee passed the bill, which funds the U.S. Treasury and Judiciary Departments, the IRS, the Small Business Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies, on a 30-20 vote.
Crenshaw crafted together a $20.2 billion appropriations bill, $1.3 billion below where it was last year and $4.8 billion below what President Barack Obama asked for.The bill cuts IRS funding to $10.1 billion, $2.8 billion less than what Obama proposed and almost $840 million less than last year.
“Every day, Americans are making tough decisions about their own budgets and rightfully expect federal agencies to do the same,” Crenshaw said on Wednesday after the bill passed the committee. “While it reflects a very tight budget, this bill makes investments to support economic growth and job creation through our small businesses, and to protect our citizens by strengthening the enforcement of laws and the administration of justice
“In addition, the bill reduces funding for non-essential areas, and holds the Obama administration and the Internal Revenue Service more accountable to American taxpayers,” Crenshaw added “The bill provides the IRS with $10.1 billion, which is $838 million below the current level and $2.8 billion below the request. At this funding level, the IRS is funded below their fiscal year 2004 level. But the bill requires the IRS to make customer service a priority and funds the Taxpayer Service account by more than $75 million above fiscal year 2015. With this funding increase, the committee expects the IRS to stop making excuses and to start answering the phone and mail from American taxpayers.”
Crenshaw pointed to the IRS targeting conservative and tea party groups and noted his bill would ensure major reforms to the federal agency.
“It’s been two years and three commissioners since we learned about the IRS’s inappropriate scrutiny of certain groups, and the IRS continues to make embarrassing management mistakes at the expense of customer service,” Crenshaw said. “To remedy this, the committee includes extensive language to prohibit the IRS from inappropriately singling out certain tax-exempt groups based on their ideological beliefs or for exercising their First Amendment rights, wasting taxpayer dollars on inappropriate conferences and videos, and providing bonuses to staff without evaluating their conduct or tax compliance. In addition, the bill prohibits funds to revise regulations used to determine the tax-exempt status of organizations under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, or to implement the individual mandate.”
Crenshaw also noted the appropriations bill reined in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of Financial Research and ripped into “inaccurate claims that the bill ... is trying to hide provisions related to net neutrality.”
“I made my displeasure with the rule known at our FCC budget hearing in March, so it should come as no surprise that the bill, which was released in full and as early as possible under committee rules, would address this important matter,” Crenshaw said. “The bill merely puts in place a legislative stay until the legality of the net neutrality rule can be determined by the courts. Given the magnitude and controversy of this issue, removing the legal ambiguity around it is needed to create a clear path forward. This bill also seeks to increase transparency at the Federal Communications Commission by requiring rules be made available to the public for 21 days before the commission votes on them; this is the same number of days that rules are circulated to commissioners prior to a vote.”
The Obama administration struck back this week to defend more funding going to the IRS. Writing U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, on Tuesday, Shaun Donovan, the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), insisted the bill provided “inadequate” funding across the board and made the case for more money going to the IRS.
“In real terms, the subcommittee funding level is less than the IRS's FY 1991 budget 25 years ago, when there were 38 million fewer individual taxpayers and a far less complicated tax code," Donovan wrote.
Donovan warned of “diminished enforcement capabilities" and “locking in unacceptable levels of taxpayer services" due to not getting the requested funds. Warning of cyberattacks, Donovan insisted the lower funds would hurt efforts to protect taxpayers’ data.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report on Wednesday which insisted cutting funding to the IRS provided worse customer service
“There is a significant correlation between the IRS’s reduced collection budget and the reduction in efficiency and effectiveness of its collection operation,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. “The availability of key collection employees directly affects taxpayer service and the IRS’s ability to take appropriate enforcement action on delinquent taxpayers.
“Taxpayers may become frustrated and remain noncompliant if they are unable to reach a contact representative to resolve their tax issues,” George added.
Rogers praised the bill which emerged out of the committee on Wednesday.
“This bill covers a wide swath of programs that enable our federal government to do its job,” Rogers insisted. “From preserving an open and fair judicial system, to investing in small businesses that help our economy grow, this bill does a great deal of good work, and I am proud to support it today. The legislation also finds ways to rein in wasteful spending, targeting underperforming agencies for cuts that are both functional and commensurate with their actions.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
