Union: Thousands of IRS jobs on the budget line

One employee union says the proposed budget cuts could result in more than 8,000 job cuts at the agency.

By Jolie Lee
Federal News Radio

A House Appropriations subcommittee passed a fiscal 2012 spending bill on Wednesday that cuts the IRS budget by $606 million.

One employee union says the proposed budget cuts could result in more than 8,000 job cuts at IRS.

“IRS staffing already is down significantly,” said Colleen Kelley, the NTEU leader, in a statement. “It simply makes no sense to slash the budget of the agency that generates 93 percent of the government’s revenue at a time when reducing the deficit is a national priority.”

The 2012 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill appropriated $12.2 billion to Treasury, $929 million below last year’s level. This bill provides funding for Treasury, the Executive Office of the President, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, the Small Business Administration, the General Services Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said the bill is below the pre-stimulus funding levels of 2008. “[I]mportant provisions are included to prevent government overreach in a variety of areas,” Rogers said in a statement.

An IRS spokesman said the agency did not comment on pending legislation.

The cuts in the House bill are more than three times the nearly $190 million in reductions that IRS requested for the fiscal 2012 budget.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that the fiscal 2012 budget request cuts costs through “efficiencies in our technology operations.”

“While these targets are substantial, I am confident that we will meet them and more, by finding cost-savings in our operations wherever we can,” Shulman said.

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