Lizeth GeorgeYesterday, 21 House Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal expressing their concern over the IRS Reporting Issue being proposed by Treasury. Florida Representatives Al Lawson (FL-5) and Stephanie Murphy (FL-7) were joined by Georgia Representatives Sanford Bishop (GA-2) and Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-7) in signing the letter. This is in addition to Florida Representative Charlie Crist (FL-13) who publicly came out in opposition to the proposal last week.
“While the intent of this proposal is to ensure all taxpayers meet their obligations—a goal we
strongly share—the data that would be turned over to the IRS is overly broad and raises
significant privacy concerns,” the letter stated, echoing the concerns of credit union advocates.
House Democrats can not afford to lose more than three votes on the reconciliation package and this letter shows that there is a large group within their caucus opposed to this particular item and could spell doom for the package if it is included. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D) has also been a vocal critic of the IRS proposal.
While there are reports Democrats are likely to remove this provision from the final reconciliation bill, until the language is released, the issue continues to be problematic. However, it is clear that credit unions’ grassroots efforts are making a difference. LSCU credit unions have generated more than 130,000 contacts to members of Congress. All but one of our Republican House members signed a letter in opposition to the IRS reporting proposal and now four of our Democratic House members have joined a letter. All of this comes on the heels of a great Virtual Hike the Hill last week and shows that the power of grassroots advocacy is real and we cannot thank you enough for your efforts.
While we are hopeful the provision will be removed, we are asking credit unions to continue to push their grassroots efforts until the end.
