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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the union representing some 97,000 employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) expressed her very great disappointment at the failure of the House of Representatives to approve legislation which would modify a law that unfairly targets only IRS employees and has contributed significantly to lowered revenue collections.

The legislation, H.R. 3991, was considered by the House yesterday under a rule requiring a two-thirds affirmative vote. There was opposition to the bill from many lawmakers based on a completely unrelated matter contained in the measure.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said “the sooner we revise this law, the better off the nation will be,” and she urged the House to view the legislation that would modify Section 1203(b) of the 1998 IRS Restructuring and Reform Act (RRA) strictly on its merits and to not let extraneous amendments keep it from becoming law.

“The chilling effect on both revenue collection and IRS employee morale of Section 1203(b) cannot be overstated,” President Kelley said, noting pointedly that the NTEU call for modification of the law is now supported not only by the IRS itself, but by the Treasury Department and the administration.

Under Section 1203(b), a list of infractions that has come to be known as the “10 deadly sins” carries a penalty for IRS workers of mandatory loss of their employment. These infractions include the late filing of a tax

return even when a refund is due—a circumstance that affects neither any other federal or congressional employee, nor, for that matter, any other taxpayer.

“Fundamental fairness demands that IRS employees not be subject to this uniquely harsh standard,” the NTEU leader said.

The most important change in H.R. 3991, President Kelley said, would allow for discretion in discipline, rather than mandatory termination.

“NTEU does not condone any violation of law or rules of conduct by its members at the IRS or any other government agency,” Kelley said. “Violations of some rules clearly warrant termination of employment. IRS employees were terminated for serious misconduct before Section 1203 went into effect, and would face termination even with these changes.

However, under H.R. 3991, other penalties could be applied, if appropriate.”

The union leader said the legislation would “correct some of the fatal flaws” of RRA and “enhance the fundamental fairness of the statute.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments.