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Washington, D.C. — The leader of the nation’s largest independent federal union welcomed a Senate subcommittee’s recommendation to increase funding to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and amend the drastic budget cuts passed by a House committee last week.

“The IRS’s ability to fulfill its critical mission has been threatened the last two years by a lack of resources,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). “The Senate saw this problem and took a step to correct it by providing the agency with greater support to help taxpayers navigate the complex tax code and collect the revenue the government sorely needs to provide vital public services and address our deficit.”

Today, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government marked up an appropriations bill that includes $12.5 billion for the IRS in fiscal 2013. The $702 million increase is 6 percent more than the agency received in fiscal 2012.

Kelley commended Chairman Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and his colleagues on the subcommittee for recognizing that the lack of funding is negatively impacting the IRS as fewer employees are dealing with more and more demands. With a hiring freeze already in place, she said, the agency was forced to deliver the tax season with 5,000 fewer staff on the payroll compared to last year.

With a decrease in staff and resources, Kelley said it should not have been a surprise when the IRS Oversight Board, in a report this month, found a continuing decline in the percentage of calls from taxpayers to the IRS toll-free number that could be answered. According to the Oversight Board, the IRS was only able to answer 70 percent of calls, down 4 percent from the 2011.

In its report, the board stated: “IRS resources continue to be stretched thin, and the current trend of decreased resources coupled with increased complexity exacerbates the problem.” It echoed the sentiments of the National Taxpayer Advocate, who in her most recent annual report to Congress noted that insufficient funding for the IRS, coupled with a rising workload and increasingly complex tax code, was negatively impacting IRS’ ability to carry out its taxpayer service mission and assist efforts to reduce the federal deficit.

Despite these problems, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government approved $11.8 billion for fiscal 2013, which is $944.5 million less than the administration requested. The House appropriations followed the guidelines set forth in the House-passed fiscal 2013 budget resolution by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

Kelley criticized the shortsightedness of the House committee. “It is simply counterproductive to not better fund the IRS and would actually serve to increase the federal deficit by failing to support programs that generally bring in between $4 and $7 for every $1 invested,” Kelley said. “The IRS needs additional resources to carry out its vital work.”

NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.