Alan Grayson: “I would like a few more dimes and nickles for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly program. The Tax Counseling for the…”

“I would like a few more dimes and nickles for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly program. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly program offers free tax help to individuals who are age 60 years old or older. I am not there yet, but I hope to be there one day. Cooperative grant agreements are entered into between the IRS and eligible organizations to provide tax assistance to elderly taxpayers. The funds provided by the IRS are used by organizations to reimburse volunteers for their out-of-pocket expenses, including transportation, meals, and other expenses incurred by them in providing tax counseling assistance at locations convenient to the taxpayers. This is very important because what we are saying here is that this money leverages volunteer help. There are tens of thousands of volunteers all around the country, including in my district in Orlando, that rely upon this funding to be able to provide the services that are needed by our elderly citizens. One of the good things about my proposal here, Mr. Chairman, is that we are not taking this $2.8 million from any other account. Rather, there is a $2.13 billion account for taxpayer services, and this simply adds the carveout from that total for Tax Counseling for the Elderly. Let's think about this.…”