House Oversight Committee Markup Wrap-Up

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today held a legislative mark-up on eight bills, including the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2015 introduced this week by Chairman Jason Chaffetz (UT-03). The bills all passed out of Committee by voice vote.

“The fact that our federal workforce owes more than one billion dollars in back taxes is a very serious problem. As tax day approaches, and Americans across the country work to fulfill their civic responsibility to pay their taxes on time, federal workers should not be exempt. Steps must be taken to ensure that those who are delinquent satisfy their tax obligations. If they refuse to do so, they should be held accountable,” said Chairman Chaffetz.

In the last ten years, the amount of past-due taxes owed by the federal government has nearly doubled. (IRS report)

The following bills passed by voice vote:

1. H.R. 653, the FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act of 2015 (Rep. Issa) -Amends the Freedom of Information Act to increase transparency and agency compliance with statutory requirements.  Three amendments were adopted:    1) Rep. Meadows      2) Chairman Chaffetz
2. H.R. 901, the Eliminating Pornography from Agencies Act (Rep. Meadows) – Requires that the Office of Management and Budget issue guidelines that prohibit the access of a pornographic or explicit web site from a Federal computer.
3. H.R. 1069, the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2015 (Rep. Duncan –TN) – Requires Presidential library fundraising organizations to disclose information regarding donors who contribute more than $200 each quarter for posting by the National Archives.
4. H.R. 1562, the Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2015 (Rep. Chaffetz) – Prohibits the award of contracts or grants to corporations or individuals that have seriously delinquent federal tax debt.
5. H.R. 1563, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2015 (Rep. Chaffetz) – Makes individuals with seriously delinquent tax debts ineligible for federal employment.
6. H.R. 1557, the Federal Employee Antidiscrimination Act of 2015 (Rep. Cummings) – Designed to strengthen the policies governing federal agencies’ management of the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) process.
7. H.R. 651, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 820 Elmwood Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, as the “Sister Ann Keefe Post Office” (Rep. Cicilline)
8. HR 1531, the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act of 2015 (Rep. Connolly), Makes seasonal employees at certain land management agencies eligible to compete for permanent positions under internal merit promotion procedures.  Covered agencies include the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Reclamation.