FederalDaily - March 27, 2007
Rangel Suggests Freeze on IRS Private Debt Collection
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is calling on the IRS to put on hold
its use of private-sector debt collectors to pursue tax debts. Rangel made the March 23 request in
a letter to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. In the letter, he also announced the launch of a committee
investigation into the IRS’ use of private companies to collect federal income tax debts. “We
have heard too many complaints and concerns about the tactics used by private debt collectors to allow
the IRS to issue new contracts,” said Rangel. National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President
Colleen Kelley applauded the move and suggested that the IRS halt the program immediately. The IRS
was granted authority to institute a private collection program in 2004. Of the three firms contracted
by the IRS to provide the services from September 2006 to March 2007, only two have received extended
contracts. To see more, go to: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News.asp?FormMode=release&ID=493.
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House Passes Three Bills to Improve Veterans’ Benefits
The House last week overwhelmingly passed three bills designed to help veterans, including measures
that would authorize a suicide-prevention program and increase disability benefits. The bills included
the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act (HR 327), which passed 423-0; a bill to expand benefits
for impaired-vision veterans (HR 797), which passed,424-0; and a cost-of-living increase for disability
benefits (HR 1284), which passed 418-0. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs
Committee, promised a broad legislative agenda that would in the future include new mental health initiatives
beyond suicide-prevention. “This Congress is working hard to keep the promises that have been
made to our veterans,” said Filner. “My job is to get legislation that will have a positive
impact on our veterans and their dependents enacted into law as fast as possible and these bills are
a great first step.” To see more, go to: http://veterans.house.gov/news/110/03-22-07.shtml.
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Bill Would Restore Union Rights
Lawmakers introduced a bill that would reverse a series of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions
which allowed some employers to effectively strip workers of their rights to organize and collectively
bargain. Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., introduced legislation March 23
to reverse a trio of NLRB rulings, often referred to collectively as the ‘Kentucky River” decisions,
in which the NLRB dramatically expanded the definition of supervisor. In so doing, the board stripped
an estimated 8 million workers— particularly skilled and professional employees—of the
freedom to organize, said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. The board ruled a worker can be classified
as a supervisor if he or she spends as little as 10 percent to 15 percent of his or her time overseeing
the work of others, Sweeney noted. “The NLRB defied congressional intent by reclassifying as ‘supervisors’ many
workers with only low-level supervisory duties, professionals such as nurses and other skilled craftspersons,” Sweeney
said. To see more, go to: www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr03232007.cfm.
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