The hearings illustrated some of the overaggressive tactics that IRS agents use to collect taxes, their unwillingness to work with taxpayers to find reasonable solutions to problems and their poor customer service.  As a congressional representative, the hearings only confirmed what I already knew.

Nearly 150 constituents have contacted my office this year for help with the IRS.  Most of those constituents are honest, hardworking, people who don’t mind paying their fair share of taxes – they just want the IRS to be more helpful.

Sometimes the IRS has made mistakes and admitted wrongdoing, yet the agency won’t correct them and adjust the taxpayer’s bill.  Other times, the taxpayer simply has questions and can’t get a straight answer from the IRS.

While the IRS is a clear example of bureaucracy run amok, placing all the blame on the agency would let Congress off the hook.  Past Congresses have not performed their oversight duty sufficiently.  

Keep in mind that the IRS is responsible for collecting $1.5 trillion annually from 209 million tax returns, and Congress has never provided clear guidelines on how to accomplish that colossal task.

Congress has investigative and funding authority over the IRS, so we shouldn’t absolve past Congresses of their role in allowing the IRS to develop into a bureaucratic monster.

Citizens’ problems with the IRS have serious, far-reaching consequences.  I believe our democracy is in a crisis right now because the people have such little trust in their government.  In a democracy, leaders must be responsive to the people and people must trust their government.  It’s a two-way street that has fallen apart and must now be rebuilt.    

As your representative, one of my primary goals is to help restore people’s faith and trust in their government.  For example, I want to make sure that everyone who comes into contact with my offices is treated well and has a positive experience.

Unfortunately, one government agency everyone has contact with – the IRS – is overly bureaucratic and can be very frustrating.  The recent Senate hearings will prove to be nothing more than a politically-motivated “pick-on-the-IRS” session unless we can enact meaningful reform that will make the IRS more accountable and more responsive to taxpayers’ needs.

In order to be part of that solution, I have joined a Task Force on IRS Reform with some of my moderate colleagues in the House of Representatives.

We are looking to find sensible and realistic approaches to improving the IRS.  Some of the proposals I support include:

• Improving access to customer services.  We need to first make customer services a priority at the IRS by ensuring that a top-level manager has only one duty: to ensure that customer service is topnotch.  The IRS should also expand its hours to have customer service agents available to answer questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  During tax season, IRS offices should stay open on Saturdays.
• Ensure that “whistle blower” protections are instituted.  During the Senate hearings, many IRS employees were afraid to testify for fear of retribution.  We must make sure that employees who report abusive behavior in the future are protected and feel comfortable coming forward.
• Ensure that merit system principles are scrutinized.  Promotions and merit pay for IRS employees should be based on the employee’s quality of work, not the quantity of tax receipts collected, as the Senate hearing alleged.
• Increase citizen input.  Citizens should have input into IRS policies and procedures on a regular basis, not just during the recent Senate hearings.  To increase public accountability, a management, oversight, or advisory board should involve citizens in the process of IRS decision making.
• Greater Congressional oversight.  To ensure that these reforms are implemented and adhered to, we must require that the IRS report to Congress for biannual evaluations.  Currently, the IRS only reports to Congress when requested.  That is unacceptable, and Congress must get tough and perform greater oversight duties.

Because of the recent public outcry at the Senate hearings, Congress seems to be paying attention to the IRS problem.  Time will tell whether it is just political maneuvering or if Congress is ready to step up to the problem and enact meaningful IRS reforms.

It is one step, although a very important one, that will help restore the public’s trust in our government.