Bruce L. Braley: “Today the House considers legislation related to the burdens placed on everyday taxpayers--the Taxpayer Assistance &…”

“Today the House considers legislation related to the burdens placed on everyday taxpayers--the Taxpayer Assistance & Simplification Act. This bill includes a number of good provisions, of which I am supportive. However, the bill also includes a provision which would cost Eastern Iowa hundreds of jobs. While there are various, well-thought-out taxpayer protections in this bill, they do not outweigh the negative impact this bill would have on jobs in the First District. For this reason, I intend to oppose H.R. 5719. Currently, the Internal Revenue Service is allowed to contract with outside agencies for assistance in collecting overdue taxes. After a rigorous competitive bidding process for these contracts, an Eastern Iowa company was fortunate enough to receive one of the contracts, and has been hard at work ever since. Unfortunately, the bill on the floor today includes a provision that would threaten these Waterloo and West Des Moines jobs. This provision would disallow any future contracts, which could directly result in the loss of hundreds of Iowa jobs. As the Representative of Iowa's First District, I cannot support the elimination of these jobs.”