Oversight Report Proposes Solutions to Get Politics out of the IRS, Ensure Targeting Never Happens Again
Hearing tomorrow at 9:30 will examine possible reforms
Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.), released a Committee staff report titled, “Making Sure Targeting Never Happens: Getting Politics Out of the IRS and Other Solutions” in advance of tomorrow’s Full Committee hearing on reforms to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to prevent IRS targeting of American taxpayers for their political beliefs. The report proposes a number of reforms to the IRS that would protect Americans from targeting by the agency going forward.
Chairman Issa issued the following statement on the release of the report:
“As the Committee continues its comprehensive investigation into IRS targeting of Americans for their political beliefs, both immediate and long-term reforms are needed to prevent such targeting from ever happening again. We must make structural changes to improve internal oversight and get politics out of the IRS. The current imbalance of IRS power over taxpayers must cede to a system that recognizes and protects the rights of taxpayers.”
The report includes 15 proposals to address politicization of the IRS, including:
· Replacing the IRS Commissioner with a multi-member, bipartisan commission
· Removing the IRS as a regulator of political speech for social-welfare groups
· Allowing taxpayers, and not the IRS, to control access to their confidential taxpayer information
· Creating a private right of action for victims of willful and injurious leaks by IRS officials of confidential taxpayer information
· Establishing transparent and objective criteria for scrutiny of applicants
· Establishing clear and transparent rules for information-collecting purposes
· Prohibiting political and policy communications between the IRS and Executive Office of the President
· Removing the IRS from implementation of the Affordable Care Act
You can read the report released today here.
The Committee also announced witnesses for tomorrow’s hearing titled, “IRS Abuses: Ensuring that Targeting Never Happens Again.”
Hearing Details:
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
“IRS Abuses: Ensuring that Targeting Never Happens Again”
Full Committee, Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA)
9:30 a.m. in Rayburn 2154
Witnesses:
Mr. David Keating
President
Center for Competitive Politics
Ms. Cleta Mitchell
Partner
Foley & Lardner LLP
Mr. James Sherk
Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics
The Heritage Foundation
The Honorable Hans A. von Spakovsky
Manager, Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow
Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
The Heritage Foundation