Today In Washington – April 11, 2018

Today In Washington
April 11, 2018
Source: Jennifer White – Director, Government Relations

Bill Package Introduced to Redesign IRS – Yesterday, Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and Ranking Member John Lewis (D-GA), introduced a bipartisan package of bills to redesign the IRS.

The bills included text to:
• Modernize and improve the Internal Revenue Service
• Improve cybersecurity and taxpayer identity protection, and modernize the information technology of the Internal Revenue Service
• Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Permanence Act of 2017
• Require notice from the Secretary of the Treasury in the case of any closure of a Taxpayer Assistance Center
• Allow officers and employees of the Department of the Treasury to provide to taxpayers information regarding low-income taxpayer clinics (H.R. 5438)
• Restrict the immediate sale of seized property by Secretary of the Treasury to perishable goods
• Require the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program for the issuance of identity protection personal identification numbers (H.R. 5437)
• Pprovide for a single point of contact at the Internal Revenue Service for the taxpayers who are victims of tax-related identity theft (H.R. 5439)
• Require electronic filing of the annual returns of exempt organizations and provide for making such returns available for public inspection
View the bill text here. View the House Ways and Means Committee bill summary here.

Senate Appropriations Shakeup – Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has been named Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) has been named Chair of the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG).

The Appropriations Subcommittees begin hearings on the FY19 Budget this week.

For the full list of subcommittee hearings, click here.

Hearings:
• TODAY, 4/11 @ 10 AM: House Ways and Means Committee: Markup of Bills to Better Serve and Protect Taxpayers, 1100 Longworth.
• TODAY, 4/11 @ 10 AM: House Committee on Financial Services: The 2018 Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Mick Mulvaney testifying, 2128 Rayburn.
• TODAY, 4/11 @ 10:30 AM: Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies: Hearing to Review the FY2019 USDA Budget Request, Dirksen 138.
• Today, 4/11 @ 10:30 AM: Senate Budget Committee, Hearing on CBO Budget and Economic Outlook, Dirksen 608.
• TODAY, 4/11 @ 11 AM: House Committee on Small Business: The State of Trade for America’s Small Businesses, 2360 Rayburn.
• Thursday, 4/12 @ 10 AM: Senate Finance Committee: The 2018 Tax Filing Season and Future IRS Challenges, 215 Dirksen.
• Thursday, 4/12 @ 11 AM: House Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations: Community Support: Entrepreneurial Development and Beyond, 2360 Rayburn.
• Thursday, 4/12 @ 2 PM: House Committee on Way and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources: Jobs and Opportunity: Local Perspectives on the Jobs Gap, 1100 Longworth.

Reminder: The House Small Business Caucus is holding a reception in honor of National Small Business Week on Thursday, April 26, at 5:30 p.m. in the House Visitor Center, Room 201 (A and B). All are welcome to attend!