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Washington, D.C.—The head of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today applauded the signing by President Obama of a fiscal 2010 omnibus appropriations measure containing a number of NTEU priorities, including the continuation of a government-wide moratorium on public-private competition for the jobs of federal workers.

In addition, the legislation continues to block funding for the use of private tax debt collectors by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and provides additional resources for a number of NTEU-represented agencies, including the IRS.

“It is very important for the effective and efficient delivery of government programs and services that federal agencies know precisely the resources they will have available,” said President Kelley, “and this bill provides that answer for many vital government agencies.”

The omnibus covers six of the seven unfinished appropriations bills; agencies have been operating under a continuing resolution. It also sets the 2010 federal pay raise at an average of 2.0 percent.

Under the bill, the IRS will received $12.1 billion this year, an increase of $600 million over the previous fiscal year, and an amount in line with the president’s request. Of that amount a total of $7.7 billion will go for twin purposes designed both to encourage and generate compliance with the nation’s tax laws. The IRS’s enforcement efforts will get $5.5 billion this fiscal year, while $2.2 billion will be directed toward customer service.

“These are two sides of the same coin,” President Kelley said, “and each is vital to our nation’s tax collection efforts.”

Along with the IRS, the Securities and Exchange Commission will receive an additional $85 million beyond last year’s funding. These additional resources, Kelley said, will be instrumental in helping the agency hire much-needed staff, in large part to improve investor protections.

Other NTEU-represented agencies receiving additional funding in the measure include the Financial Management Service and the Patent and Trademark Office.

On the matter of the IRS’s one-time program of using private tax debt collectors, the NTEU leader noted that while the agency has dropped the effort, statutory authority for it remains in place. As a result, the IRS could—if it chooses—reinstate the program, which NTEU strongly opposed. Thus, a legislated funding prohibition is necessary to ensure that the inherently-governmental function of collecting taxes remains in the hands of federal employees.

With regard to the contracting out issue—NTEU long has been the leader in the fight to curb government contracting—President Kelley welcomed language in the omnibus that requires agencies to create an annual inventory of their service contracts so they may determine whether work currently being done by contractors should be brought back in-house.

“Agencies have the authority to return contracted work to their employees,” Kelley said, “and we continue to be engaged in efforts to have them do so. We believe that would be a positive step for taxpayers.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.