By U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

For many Americans, the IRS is like the Grinch who stole Christmas.

Nothing spoils the spirit of the season like a reminder that Tax Day is little more than three months away. Although no one relishes the idea of paying taxes, for many Americans the rub lies with the sheer complexity of the tax code and mismanagement by the federal agency that administers it.

As a longtime taxpayer watchdog, I hound the IRS to improve "service" at the Internal Revenue Service. I've secured legislative reforms to help ensure that all taxes owed are paid and more importantly, collected fairly. For example, my bipartisan IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 enacted 71 new taxpayer rights to rein in bad management and improve customer service for taxpayers, especially small businesses.  Prior to that, I supported reforms that created the Office of National Taxpayer Advocate to serve as an independent voice for taxpayers inside the IRS and to advise Congress on ways to improve administrative practices at the federal tax collection agency. Each year I review its two annual reports to determine if the IRS is measuring up to its obligations to properly administer the tax laws and serve taxpayers.

Let's not fool ourselves. No tax collecting entity is likely to win a popularity contest. On the other hand, the IRS is more likely to be crowned most unpopular. (Although the EPA may snag runner-up in that category.)

A string of missteps, including fiscal incompetence, mismanagement and political targeting has undermined the credibility of the IRS in the eyes of the taxpaying public. Singling out law-abiding taxpayers for their political affiliation is indefensible in the United States of America. That's why I'm continuing to scrutinize practices at the IRS and working to nip future assaults on taxpayer privacy and political affiliation. The IRS must keep its nose out of the political process and has no business trying to influence it or intimidate taxpayers. It's pretty brazen that the IRS would assign resources to track political affiliation and scrub non-profits for donor information when it has struggled for decades to update its antiquated computer architecture and adopt 21st century information technology.

Misplacing priorities has become a recurring theme at IRS headquarters. Consider that it hung up on more than 8 million taxpayers this year who called in for assistance with their tax returns. What's more, the agency seems more hung up on the union activities of its workforce and is spread thin because so many of its employees are sitting at home on paid administrative leave. Despite these misplaced priorities, the IRS prioritized $60 million in employee bonuses this year.

The good news is that Congress took steps in December to dial up better customer service and remove the lumps of coal left in taxpayers' stockings by gross mismanagement and unethical standards of stewardship at the IRS.

New taxpayer rights I co-authored with Sen. John Thune this summer were passed and sent to the president's desk, which he signed.

It writes a number of my Taxpayer Bill of Rights provisions into federal statute. Now when taxpayers go into a meeting with the IRS, the following 10 rights go with them: be informed; quality service; pay no more than the correct amount of tax; challenge the position of the IRS and be heard; appeal a decision of the IRS in an independent forum; finality; privacy; confidentiality; retain representation; and, a fair and just tax system.  Other pro-taxpayer provisions folded in end-of-year legislation include reforms that:

·         prohibit IRS employees from using personal email accounts for official business;

·         permit 501(c)(4) entities and other organizations to seek timely review in federal court if the IRS drags its feet on making a determination on a tax-exempt application;

·         clarify termination of employment at the IRS for taking official actions for political purposes; and,

·         ban the IRS from imposing the gift tax on donations to 501(c) organizations to prevent the agency from misusing the tax code as an intimidation tactic to screen for political affiliation.

The IRS has tremendous authority over the taxpaying public. As always, I work to make sure federal agencies remember they serve the people, not the other way around. I'll keep working to rein in abuses of government authority where I see it.

I also work to improve compliance tools to help recoup uncollected taxes. Let's face it. Our system of voluntary compliance hinges on the concept that all taxpayers pay their fair share. Tax cheats undermine the system and create a heavier burden on law-abiding taxpayers.  To help narrow the tax gap, root out tax fraud and deter evasion, I champion the IRS whistleblower program and supported the resurrection of the private debt collection program to make our tax collection system work as fairly and efficiently as possible.

When tax season opens after the New Year, these new taxpayer rights will be on the books. Taxpayers work hard enough to make ends meet at home and run their businesses without worrying about the IRS making unscrupulous decisions that only a Grinch would approve.

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Hy-Vee Aisles Online offers customers a convenient, easy way to shop online for groceries

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (Dec. 18, 2015) ? Earlier this year, Hy-Vee, Inc. launched Hy-Vee Aisles Online, a new service that allows busy customers to shop the way they want to shop ? from anywhere and at any time. And now, just in time for the holidays, Hy-Vee Aisles Online is available in all of the supermarket chain's 240 stores across its eight-state region.

Through the Hy-Vee Aisles Online website, customers can shop for their groceries, pay electronically and choose to pick up their order or have it delivered to their home. The rollout of the program began in select stores in the Des Moines metro in April and was gradually launched across other markets throughout the summer. It became fully launched in all 240 Hy-Vee stores earlier this fall.

Hy-Vee Aisles Online promises customers the same helpful, friendly service that they would receive in stores. It also retains other benefits of in-store shopping, such as weekly specials, coupons and Fuel Saver + Perks® discounts.

"Hy-Vee is committed to providing customers with the best value, the greatest convenience and the most choice in their shopping experience. Hy-Vee Aisles Online is tailored to fit our customers' needs and their families' busy schedules," said Jeremy Gosch, senior vice president of merchandising for Hy-Vee. "We still love seeing our customers in the store, but we believe this is a value-added service for customers during those times when they can't make it to the store or are pressed for time."

Customers can use their hy-vee.com account to select their preferred store before shopping that store's inventory. Customers also can create shopping lists and mark products as their favorites. When customers link their account to their Hy-Vee Fuel Saver + Perks card, their most recently purchased items will automatically be listed first, creating a seamless shopping experience.

Once customers place an order, an Aisles Online personal shopper hand-selects the products, which ensures the orders are fresh and accurate. The groceries are kept in climate-controlled totes until they are unloaded into the customer's vehicle or delivered to the customer's home. Store pickup and home delivery are both free with a $100 order; orders under $100 have a $2.95 fee for pickup and $4.95 fee for delivery.

"Our customers have been asking for an easy and convenient online shopping experience, and we're happy to be able to offer that to them. We're very proud of this new service and how it's been received," Gosch said.

Due to the holidays, customers should review the revised Aisles Online ordering schedule for Dec. 21, 2015, through Jan. 2, 2016, at www.hy-veeaislesonline.com.

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Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating 240 retail stores across eight Midwestern states with sales of $9.3 billion annually. Hy-Vee ranks among the top 25 supermarket chains and the top 50 private companies in the United States. Supermarket News, the authoritative voice of the food industry, has honored the company with a Whole Health Enterprise Award for its leadership in providing services and programs that promote a healthy lifestyle. For more information, visit www.hy-vee.com.

Legislation makes critical investments in renewable energy, education, health care, R&D, law enforcement, and early learning

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after the House passed legislation to fund the government for Fiscal Year 2016. This bipartisan, compromise legislation will create jobs and grow the economy, as well as keep the government open, avoiding another disastrous Republican shutdown.

"By passing this bill, Congress has ended the constant threat of a Republican government shutdown that the nation has been facing. But this vote was more than just a vote to keep the government open, it was a vote to be a responsible actor and put the needs of Iowans ahead of the special interests that are running Washington. This legislation is not perfect, and it is not the bill that I would have preferred. In the end, it proves there is a governing majority of Republicans and Democrats who are can work together and choose to get things done.

"This bill makes strong investments in many key areas that will grow the economy and create jobs here in Iowa and across the country in areas such as renewable energy, education, research and infrastructure. It also extends the PTC and ITC tax credits for wind and solar energy that are important to many Iowans in rural communities. I am pleased that Congress finally got its act together and worked in a commonsense manner to move our country forward."

Highlights of the legislation include :

·       Medical Research: Medical research at NIH has been underfunded for the last several years.  This bill provides $900 million more than the House GOP bill and $2 billion more than 2015 for this life-saving research.

·       Extension of the Wind and Solar Tax Credits (PTC/ITC): Extends the wind Production Tax Credit for five years (2015-2019), with the credit reduced by 20 percent in 2017, 40 percent in 2018, and 60 percent in 2019.  Also extends the solar Investment Tax Credit for five years (2017-2021), with the credit reduced by 20 percent in 2020 and 40 percent in 2021.  Extending the solar Investment Tax Credit is estimated to create 61,000 jobs in 2017 alone.  It is also estimated that the wind industry will grow to over 100,000 jobs over four years with the renewed wind tax credit.

·       Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy R&D: Provides an 8 percent increase over 2015 for R&D activities in the pursuit of new clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.

·       Overall Education: The bill restores the $2.5 billion cut in education that the GOP had proposed and also makes critical additional investments of $1.4 billion above 2015, in such areas as Title I that serves 24 million at-risk students.

·       Early Learning: Investing in Head Start produces results - and this bill invests nearly $400 million more than the House GOP bill and nearly $600 million more than 2015 in this vital initiative.  The bill also provides $250 million for Preschool Development Grants, assisting 18 states across the country.

·       Infrastructure: The popular TIGER grants are being used across the country to repair infrastructure and contribute to economic growth.  The House GOP bill had slashed TIGER grants by 80 percent, killing jobs, but this bill restores the funding to the 2015 level of $500 million.

·       Law Enforcement: The bill provides $187 million for COPS hiring grants, $7 million above the 2015 level and $187 million above the House GOP bill, which had eliminated the hiring grants.  The bill also provides $80 million for the Community Policing Initiative, including $22.5 million for body-worn cameras and $15 million for Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grants, an increase over the House bill.

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"This was an amazing opportunity.  I just hope I will be able to impact the world with what I learned from these amazing speakers." - Katherine P.
That's what one of the many Leadercast Quad Cities 2015 attendees had to say about this year's event. Knowledge is a powerful tool, and hundreds from this area came together to network, learn, and find new ways to improve their leadership skills - as well as their lives.
Now it is time to look ahead to 2016, beginning with our
four session Leadercast Lunch & Learn Recap Series.
This year's  Lunch and Learn Recap Series will be held noon to 1 p.m. on January 15, February 19, March 18, and April 15, at Tanglewood Hills Pavilion, 4250 Middle Rd., Bettendorf
During the Lunch & Learn Recap sessions, videos will be shown of the top four 2015 Leadercast speakers, as determined by attendee survey results. Everyone at the Lunch and Learn events will have a chance to discuss the valuable concepts being presented as they enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by the Tanglewood Pavilion.
Speakers for the Leadercast Lunch & Learn Recap series will be:  
January 15th - Andy Stanley
February 19th - Rorke Denver
March 18th - Seth Godin
April 15th - Rudy Giuliani
Cost of each Leadercast Lunch & Learn Recap session is $15 and includes lunch. Register for all four sessions in advance and pay only $45 - a savings of $15. 
Capacity for each session is 60 attendees and spots fill quickly.
To register or for more information, call Todd Ashby of Results Marketing at 563-322-2065 or email todd@resultsimc.com
Feel free to befriend Leadercast Quad Cities on Facebook at www.facebook.com/qcleadercast, follow us on Twitter at @leadercastqc or join our discussion group on LinkedIn - search Leadercast Quad Cities.

Video can be found here.

 

Omnibus Budget and Tax Package

House and Senate negotiators have released a bipartisan, bicameral omnibus budget and tax package for Congress to take up this week.

So far, I'm seeing a lot of good news in the tax side of the package.

A number of my initiatives were included.

There's the inclusion of a five-year extension of the wind energy production tax credit, leading to a phase-down of the credit.

Included are my provisions to enhance Section 529 college savings plans.

You might remember that the President proposed getting rid of that program altogether.

The package includes many of my provisions to protect taxpayer rights in light of IRS scandals and poor customer service.

There's a lot more that's important to the families and job creators of Iowa and the rest of the country.

But I'm concerned about what's missing on the budgetary side of the package.

For example, it doesn't include anything to end the controversial EPA regulation that would turn 97 percent of Iowa land into a highly regulated waterway.

And there's too much spending.

I'll see if the good outweighs the bad overall in what the Senate is faced with voting on.

Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee

EB-5 and the Omnibus

Thursday, December 17, 2015

 

Mr. President,

 

At 1:30 am Wednesday morning, an omnibus appropriations bill was filed to keep the government operating for the remainder of the fiscal year.  This bill, which will be voted on by the House on Friday, includes a straight and clean extension of a program called the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program. This program has been plagued by fraud and abuse.  But more importantly, it poses significant national security risks.  Allegations suggesting the EB-5 program may be facilitating terrorist travel, economic espionage, money laundering and investment fraud are too serious to ignore.  Yet, the omnibus bill fails to include much needed reforms.

 

The spending bill being considered by the House and Senate is a major disappointment.  I'm frustrated that, despite the alarm bells and whistleblowers warning us about the program, Republican and Democrat leadership in the House and Senate decided to simply extend the program without any changes.  This was a missed opportunity.

 

What makes this especially frustrating is that the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees agreed on a bill. We had consensus.  I appreciate the support of Senator Leahy, the Ranking Member of the committee.  I also commend Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Conyers, Congressmen Issa and Lofgren.  We worked in a bi-partisan fashion.  We agreed on every aspect, believing in our heart of hearts that we were doing the right thing.  We found common ground on national security reforms.  We made sure that rural and distressed urban areas benefited from the program.  We instituted compliance measures, background checks, and transparency provisions.

 

Through months of hard work, we put together a great deal. But despite this broad, bi-partisan support, and the work of the committees of jurisdiction, not a single one of our recommendations will be implemented. Instead of reforming the program, some members of leadership have chosen the status quo.

 

This failure to heed calls for reform proves that some would rather side with special interest groups, land developers and those with deep pockets.

 

It is widely acknowledged that the EB-5 program is riddled with flaws and corruption. Maybe it is only here on Capitol Hill?on this island surrounded by reality?that we can choose to plug our ears and refuse to listen to commonly accepted facts. The Government Accountability Office, the media, industry experts, members of congress, and federal agency officials, have concurred that the program is a serious problem with serious vulnerabilities.

 

Why did congressional leaders ignore the chairmen and ranking members who were spearheading EB-5 reform? Why did they ignore the GAO, the FBI, and the Secretary of Homeland Security?

 

Allow me to remind my colleagues why the EB-5 Regional Center program is in need of reform.

 

For several years, I've kept close tabs on the program, thanks in part to the reports of wrongdoing brought forward by whistleblowers. The fact is that other federal agencies, including the FBI, have raised national security concerns. Whistleblowers say that requests from politically influential people were being expedited.

 

Last June, Congress heard from a whistleblower who was harassed for speaking out against the program. This whistleblower said in a Senate committee hearing:

"EB-5 applicants from China, Russia, Pakistan and Malaysia had been approved in as little as 16 days and in less than a month in most. The files lacked the basic and necessary law enforcement queries... I could not identify how USCIS was holding each regional center accountable. I was also unable to verify how an applicant was tracked once he or she entered the country. In addition, a complete and detailed account of the funds that went into the EB-5 project was never completed or produced after several requests. During the course of my investigation it became very clear that the EB-5 program has serious security challenges."

 

There are also classified reports that detail the problems. Our committee has received numerous briefings and classified documents to show this side of the story.

 

Our own executive branch agencies have communicated to us their concerns about the program. Officials within the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FBI, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement expressed concerns about the program, and how prone it is to fraud.

 

An internal national security report stated the following:

 

"As in any instance where significant investment funds are raised...the regional center model is vulnerable to abuse. The capital raising activities inherent in the regional center model raise concerns about investor fraud and other conduct that may violate US securities laws. Third Party promoters engaged by regional centers to recruit potential investors overseas fall outside of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' regulatory authority and may make false claims or promises about investment opportunities. Unregistered broker-dealers may operate outside of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' statutory oversight to match prospective investors with project developers. Moreover, the statute and regulations do not expressly prohibit persons with criminal records from owning, managing, or recruiting for regional centers."

 

How many more intelligence reports are needed to understand the problems?  How many more headlines are needed before we have the will to deal with them?  How many more whistleblowers are going to be demoted for speaking the truth?

 

The Secretary of Homeland Security sent a letter to the Judiciary Committee and requested more authority to deny, terminate or revoke a regional center's designation.  They wanted more authority to root out the bad apples.  They have been requesting that since 2012.

 

Our bill would have done that.  But, the fact that our bipartisan bill was dismissed means bad actors and bad regional centers will continue to operate.

 

The EB-5 program also encourages a whole host of financial fraud and corruption. The program's abundant loopholes and lack of regulation have created a virtual playing field for unethical gamesmanship and con-artists.

 

Fortune magazine reported how one man cheated potential immigrants out of $147 million dollars for a make-believe building project he never intended to finish. The article explains how the trickster claimed the project would create over 8,000 jobs. In reality, some 290 foreigners were tricked out of their cash.

 

This is not the only example of how regional centers can be used to defraud people out of millions of dollars for non-existent projects. The Securities and Exchange Commission encountered another fake project in which two men in Kansas purported to build an ethanol plant in Kansas. The Commission stated in a litigation release that, "The plant was never built and the promised jobs never created, yet the [two men] continued to misrepresent to investors that the project was ongoing."

 

The report goes on to say that millions of dollars of investor money was used for other purposes?even going to another completely unrelated project in the Philippines.

 

Just last month, the National Law Review reported another case in which the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against the owner of a regional center who allegedly stole $8.5 million in EB-5 funds. The owner claimed that all the money provided from the foreign investors would be held in escrow until the approval of their green cards. Instead, the article reports that the owner of the regional center blew the money on two different personal homes, a luxury Mercedes, a BMW, and a private yacht. All the while, clueless investors were exploited by loopholes in the EB-5 program. For example, the article states that both the investors and the owner of the regional center were represented by the same attorney.

 

But for many potential EB-5 immigrants, a safe investment is not the main concern. Paying $500,000 is simply the 'price of admission' that they are able and willing to pay. For these wealthy elites, a profitable investment is just icing on the cake of buying a green card.

 

A lot of the debate in the past two months has been on Targeted Employment Area reforms. The Targeted Employment Areas created by Congress to steer foreign investments to rural and distressed areas have been greatly abused.  The designations have been gerrymandered to include the most lavish of developments in the richest neighborhoods.

 

The Hudson Yards Project has generated millions of dollars for a luxury apartment complex in mid-town Manhattan.

Not far away, another flagrant example of gerrymandering is the Battery Maritime Building right next to Wall Street in lower Manhattan. The New York Times described it by saying it, "snakes up through the Lower East Side, skirting the wealthy enclaves of Battery Park City and Tribeca, and then jumps across the East River to annex the Farragut Houses project in Brooklyn."

 

How many more media reports will it take to understand the extent of EB-5 gerrymandering?  Have the senators who helped table our reforms ever read those reports in the Wall Street Journal?   I can say with certainty that the status quo will not benefit Middle America.  It benefits New York City and other affluent areas at the expense of areas in Iowa, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Vermont.

 

Some may say that there wasn't enough debate or public input on EB-5 reforms. Well, let me walk you through just how much debate we've had on this issue.

 

The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the program in late 2011.  In every hearing since in which Secretary Johnson has testified, the issue of EB-5 has come up.  The Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, as well as other House committees, have had hearings on the program.

 

In 2013, the Senate debated an immigration bill that was over 1,000 pages long. In a few short months, we voted that bill out of this body. Part of that bill included EB-5 reforms, some of which are in the Judiciary Committees agreement.

 

Then, in 2014, the House Judiciary Committee voted out a bill that included some changes to the program.  The bill would have raised the investment level to $1.6 million.

 

This year, in June, Senator Leahy and I introduced S. 1501, The American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform Act.  It was a tough, serious bill to overhaul the program.

 

And since June, we have listened to members.  We have heard input from their constituents and the regional centers in their states.    We listened to shareholders.  We met with lawyers, lobbyists, and regional center operators.  We listened to groups that represented trade and labor union groups. We met with the agency at the Department of Homeland Security that runs the program.  We have worked with them and the Securities and Exchange Commission on language.  We consulted various congressional committees.

 

We took this input, and made changes to our bill. On November 7, we circulated a new draft with Chairman Goodlatte.   Ranking member Conyers joined our conversations as well, and has provided invaluable input.

 

So, again, we had a bipartisan and bicameral agreement with the four leaders of the committee of jurisdiction.  Leadership of both bodies said that committees would do their jobs and be relevant to the legislative process again.   And, we weren't the only ones who wanted action.

 

On November 6, Chairmen Corker and Johnson joined me in sending a letter to Leaders McConnell and Reid, urging them to include critical provisions that would better guard against fraud and abuse and give the department the ability to terminate questionable centers.

 

Senator Feinstein said she'd prefer to see the program end. In early November she wrote, "We have seen in recent years that the program is particularly vulnerable to securities fraud. According to legal complaints, applicants for some projects were swindled out of their investment, and jobs were never created... When the program comes up for renewal in December, Congress should allow the program to die."

 

Two weekends ago, Judiciary staff was asked to come in and talk to Democrat and Republican leadership.  Staff was asked to hear out the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Real Estate Roundtable, and other industry representatives.

 

On that first day of December negotiations, there was a lot of discussion about how New York wouldn't be able to compete with rural America if our reforms were enacted.  They thought the bill was unfair to urban areas and they wanted every project in the country to qualify for the special Targeted Employment Area designation. The solution was to provide a set-aside of visas at the higher level to ensure they could use the program.  An agreement was in the works.

 

Yet, when they returned the next day for discussions, the Chamber and Real Estate Roundtable, along with a small group of developers represented by a law firm in town, came with a new list of demands.  They had half a dozen major issues, not to count their so-called technical changes.

After nearly 12 hours in a room with EB-5 protectionists, Judiciary Committee staff conceded and tried to find common ground.  They left with an agreement in concept.

 

But the next day when staff were called in to finalize the language, the industry said they wanted more. This is a common theme.  The industry wanted more. And more. And more.

 

It made one really wonder if they actually wanted a bill with reforms.

 

Then, after all the concessions made to the industry, some members in the Senate asked us to make even more concessions.

 

Despite all these challenges, the four corners of the Judiciary Committee compromised even more. We gave in on many areas. We tried to strike an agreement?as much as we knew it weakened our bill - because the security reforms are so desperately needed.

 

But after all that, our House and Senate leadership failed us.  They extended the program without changes for 10 months.  No reforms. No plugs to national security.  No safeguards against fraud and abuse.

 

The bill we presented to the Republican and Democrat leadership took into consideration edits from the industry, immigration attorneys, and several congressional offices.

 

Am I disappointed that the leadership simply extended a very flawed program?  Yes.  But, I also know that the product we had provided them on Monday night was a very flawed bill.  It was watered down.  It was a giveaway to New York City, Texas and rich developers who simply wanted to protect their projects.  It was a giveaway to affluent urban areas and a failure for rural America.

 

According to ABC News, more than $30 million was spent this year alone on lobbying efforts against reforms.  I would like unanimous consent to insert into the record this article, titled, "Lobbyists Declare Victory After Visa Reform Measure Dies Quietly."

 

Well, it's time for things to change.  I was for reform.  I wanted to make it better.

 

But, now I'm not so sure reforms are possible.  It may be time to do away with it completely.

 

Maybe we should spend our time, resources and efforts in other programs that benefit the American people.  Maybe it's time this program goes away.

 

The next 10 months will be spent exposing the realities and the vulnerabilities of this program.  As Chairman, I will exercise oversight of this program even more than I have.  I will ask tough questions and make more recommendations.

 

My quest to either have EB-5 reforms or end the program has just begun.

 

This is not the end.  This is just the beginning.

 

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Extension of PTC, important deductions for low-income families included in package

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after the House of Representatives passed HR 2029, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015. Among other provisions, the bill extends the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy. Loebsack has been leading the fight in Congress for this extension in order to give the wind industry and the thousands of jobs in Iowa that it supports, the stability and certainty it deserves. HR 2029 also includes tax extenders for charities, low-income families, teachers, small businesses, and farmers. The legislation now goes to the Senate for its consideration.

"The extension of the PTC included in today's bill will help support the thousands of jobs that the wind energy industry employs in Iowa alone. This current plan will help provide the stability and predictability that the industry needs and will not allow the rug to be pulled out from under this home grown, clean energy."

 

Loebsack continued: "Iowans deserve to have confidence in their tax system so they can plan for the future and make purchases. While I am pleased that many important provisions, including the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and certain charitable deductions, were made permanent, this bill is not perfect. Congress must work to continue to give families, charities, teachers and small businesses confidence in our economy."

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Senate Approves Bill to Crack Down on Federal Charge Card Waste and Abuse

Bipartisan Bill Will Improve Detection and Prevention of Waste and Misuse Across Federal Agencies

WASHINGTON - Today, the Senate approved a bipartisan bill to curb waste, fraud and abuse in federal agency travel and purchase cards spending. The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2015 (S. 1616), introduced by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) now heads to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

"I thank Senators Grassley, McCaskill, and Johnson for their partnership on this bipartisan bill," said Sen. Carper. "This common sense legislation would implement stronger and smarter controls to prevent potential abuse and misuse of government charge cards. While federal agencies have made progress in strengthening financial controls over government travel and purchase cards, more needs to be done to eliminate wasteful charge card spending. Congress must continue to work across the aisle to ensure that federal agencies crack down on charge card abuse and taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly across the federal government.  I encourage my colleagues in the House of Representatives to approve this legislation and send it to the President for his signature."

"This bill builds on my Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 by adding an additional layer of government-wide oversight to the work of individual agency inspectors general," said Sen. Grassley. "Earlier this year, a Defense Department inspector general report, which was drafted in response to the 2012 law, highlighted some areas where the Defense Department was not properly implementing the required controls and flagged casinos as a high risk for misuse of charge cards. Our bill will make sure we're looking for similar patterns of misuse across all federal agencies and that agencies are sharing best practices to prevent misuse and identify potential cost savings."

 

"What we've done here to help agencies find and end the waste, fraud, and abuse of government-issued charge cards is a no-brainer," said Sen. McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and top-ranking member on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "We owe it to the taxpayers to make sure these cards are being used for legitimate business purposes, and not as a personal credit card. This is the kind of commonsense legislation that'll easily save taxpayer dollars and help give Americans a little more confidence in their federal government."

 

"The federal government needs to do more to monitor and analyze the data on the travel and purchase cards of federal employees," said Sen. Johnson. "We can use this data to find fraudulent uses of employee cards and determine where agencies are repetitively spending money on items that could be bought in bulk at lower cost.  I am pleased that our bipartisan bill to address these concerns has moved through the full Senate, and I hope the improvements will be quickly implemented."

 

The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2015 helps prevent charge card misuse and abuse by requiring the Government Services Administration to continuously examine charge card purchases made across the federal government. The legislation would also facilitate improved anti-fraud information sharing among federal agencies that use purchase and travel cards, in addition to requiring those agencies to share best-practices for detecting and preventing waste, fraud and abuse. In addition, the bill would encourage agencies to leverage purchasing power through strategic sourcing.

Earlier this year, a Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General report detailed how some employees at the Department misused government-issued charge cards to gamble and pay for adult entertainment. This legislation aims to prevent charge card misuse and abuse by implementing more oversight controls for travel and purchase cards across federal agencies.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - State Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, is part of a bipartisan group opposing additional sales tax on advertising-related services, which may cause significant damage to small businesses.
"Illinois' present fiscal crisis will not be solved by adding a new tax on small businesses throughout the state and holding them back from hiring and maintaining local workers," Smiddy said. "Any proposed 'Ad Tax' affects all businesses, but would specifically target small- to medium-sized businesses in my community and make it hard for them to thrive in this competitive market."
Governor Bruce Rauner has advocated for the option of expanding the states sales tax to include advertising, such as advertising agency fees, billboards and media advertisements. Smiddy is co-sponsoring House Resolution 889, which states opposition to expanding the sales tax to include advertisement and marketing-related services, due to the harmful impact this may have on small businesses and financial growth in the state of Illinois. Florida passed a measure similar to this concept and reportedly faced negative consequences, including the loss of revenue and jobs.
"Cuts and major adjustments have to be made in order to fix our current financial state, but small businesses are the backbones of our communities" Smiddy said. "I will continue working to find a quick and balanced approach to strengthen our economy that helps our entire state instead of hurting us."
For more information contact Smiddy's constituent service office at 309-848-9098.
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WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today praised the inclusion of a five-year extension of the wind energy production tax credit, his provisions to enhance Section 529 college savings plans, his measures to protect taxpayer rights and more welcome provisions in the newly released bipartisan, bicameral omnibus budget and tax package before Congress.

"Certainty and predictability in tax policy are necessary so businesses can plan and invest accordingly, which is important for job creation." Grassley said.  "A five-year extension of the wind energy provision will support jobs.  It supports the renewable energy that consumers want for a cleaner environment and energy independence from countries that wish to do us harm.  The college savings provisions help families and students afford college.  They improve a tax incentive that's popular with Iowans and others around the country who work hard to save money for their children and grandchildren to get an education.  The IRS provisions are necessary to get the agency more focused on its number one job of taxpayer service."

The five-year extension of the wind energy production tax credit is a victory for wind energy producers.  The extension is meant to lead to a phase-down of the industry-specific tax credit.  As included, the wind production tax credit will be 100 percent in 2015 and 2016, 80 percent in 2017, 60 percent in 2018 and 40 percent in 2019.

"As the father of the first wind energy tax credit in 1992, I can say that the tax credit was never meant to be permanent," Grassley said.  "I also can say that the wind energy industry is the only energy industry that came forward with a phase-out plan.  The oil and nuclear industries have benefited from tax incentives that have been permanently on the books for decades.  The five-year extension for wind energy brings about the best possible long-term outcome that provides certainty, predictability and a responsible phase-down of a tax incentive for a renewable energy source."

On education, the tax package before Congress includes Grassley's provisions to improve the already successful Section 529 savings program.  Grassley's provisions allow 529 funds to purchase a computer on the same tax-favorable basis as other required materials; cut outdated, unnecessary rules that increase paperwork and costs on plan administrators; and  provide tax and penalty relief in instances where a student may have to withdraw from school for illness or other reasons.

Grassley introduced his bipartisan provisions in February.  His reforms build on improvements to 529 college savings plans enacted in 2001 and 2006 under Grassley's leadership on the Finance Committee and with broad bipartisan, bicameral support.   The 2001 law made distributions from the plans tax-free if used for education expenses but it was scheduled to expire.  The 2006 law made the tax-free provision permanent.  The President proposed eliminating the 529 program earlier this year, drawing opposition from parents and Congress.

The measure includes another long-time Grassley provision, the extension of an above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses for higher education. The provision extends the above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses. The deduction is capped at $4,000 or $2,000 for individuals, depending on income.  Another long-time Grassley priority included is an extension and modification of a deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers, including school supplies that they purchase out of pocket.

The tax package includes an extension of the existing biodiesel fuel blenders credit, the small agri-biodiesel producer credit, the tax credit for cellulosic biofuels producers, the alternative fuel vehicle refueling tax credit, and bonus depreciation for cellulosic biofuel facilities.  Grassley authored the initial version of many of the alternative fuels provisions when Finance Committee chairman.

Grassley hoped to include his bipartisan provision to modify the biodiesel blenders credit to a domestic production credit.  "I'm disappointed that my common-sense, cost reduction modification was not included," Grassley said.  "We shouldn't provide a U.S. taxpayer benefit to imported biofuels.  The domestic production credit would have made sure that U.S. policy incentivizes a domestic industry instead of benefiting foreign producers, and I'll continue to push this reform.  Still, a blenders credit will help a growing industry that creates jobs and gives consumers alternatives to fossil fuels.  The more fuel options, the better to meet demand."

The measure includes the enhanced per-child tax credit, making it permanent and indexing it for inflation.  "This is helpful for families facing the tremendous expense of raising children," Grassley said.

The tax package permanently extends enhanced Section 179 expensing for equipment purchases, which is popular with farmers and small businesses.  This allows farmers and small business owners to deduct the cost, up to a limit, of major equipment and property purchases that contribute to farm and business operations and job creation.  The permanence is a major achievement because this provision has been temporary over the last several years.

Included is a bipartisan measure Grassley led to increase the alternative tax liability limitation for small property and casualty insurance companies. These small companies largely serve rural communities, which rely on this adjustment to provide additional surplus and cash flow used to pay customers' insurance claims.

"This provision helps to ensure that small mutual insurance companies will continue to be able to serve rural residents who have unique circumstances, such as living far from a fire station, and so are often unable to obtain private property insurance through traditional insurance companies," Grassley said.

The package includes several provisions from Grassley's Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act of 2015, introduced in June amid gross mismanagement and inappropriate actions by IRS employees that have shaken what little confidence taxpayers may have had in the agency.  The provisions include :

--Codifying the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which includes the right to:  be informed; quality service; pay no more than the correct amount of tax; challenge the position of the IRS and be heard; appeal a decision of the IRS in an independent forum; finality; privacy; confidentiality; retain representation; and a fair and just tax system and requires the IRS commissioner to ensure that IRS employees are familiar with and act in accordance with these rights.

--Prohibiting IRS employees from using personal email accounts for official business. This codifies an already established agency policy barring use of personal email accounts by IRS employees for official governmental business.

--Declaratory judgments for 501(c)(4) and other exempt organizations. The provision permits 501(c)(4) organizations and other exempt organizations to seek review in federal court in instances where the IRS fails to act on an application in a timely manner or makes a negative determination as to their tax-exempt status.

--Termination of employment of Internal Revenue Service employees for taking official actions for political purposes. The provision makes clear that taking official action for political purposes is an offense for which the employee should be terminated. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 to expand the grounds for termination of employment of an IRS employee to include performing, delaying, or failing to perform any official action (including an audit) by an IRS employee for the purpose of extracting personal gain or benefit for a political purpose.

"The IRS has never been anyone's favorite agency," Grassley said.  "But it shouldn't repel and mistreat the people it exists to serve.  The IRS' level of customer service might be at all-time low.  Taxpayers are at a disadvantage with an agency that has tremendous power over their money.  The IRS might talk about good customer service.  Too often, talk is all there is.  The IRS needs to walk the walk.  These changes will help swing the pendulum away from agency self-preservation and back to taxpayer service."

The tax package adopts Grassley-led policy to ensure that those granted deferred action under the President's executive actions on immigration cannot retroactively get the Earned Income Tax Credit based on earnings from work performed illegally in the United States.

Grassley is former chairman and a senior member of the Finance Committee, with jurisdiction over the IRS.  Grassley championed the 1988, 1996 and 1998 taxpayer rights laws currently on the books.

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