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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today applauded action by both the House of Representatives and a key Senate committee to advance fiscal 2010 appropriations measures addressing significant needs of NTEU-represented agencies.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a measure to fully fund the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and provide much-needed additional resources for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); meanwhile, the House approved the fiscal 2010 agriculture appropriations bill providing greater funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“These important steps in the appropriations process reflect congressional understanding of the importance to the public of fully funding these critical agencies,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. “We will work tirelessly in an effort to ensure these funding measures are enacted into law.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved fiscal 2010 SEC funding of $1.13 billion, an increase of $156 million over the current fiscal year. The committee said the additional resources would support the hiring of additional employees, while supplementing agency efforts to improve its information technology and expand its training programs.

The committee also acted to fully fund the administration’s request for IRS funding, including additional resources for enforcement of the nation’s tax laws—a step, President Kelley pointed out, that would result in greater tax revenue. The gap between taxes owed and taxes paid is put at about $345 billion annually.

“The IRS’s enforcement workforce has declined significantly over the last decade or so,” the NTEU leader said. “It is imperative that the personnel shortages in enforcement, particularly in such key positions as revenue officer and revenue agent, be addressed in meaningful ways.”

At the same time, Kelley emphasized the continuing importance of providing sufficient resources for IRS taxpayer service activities, as well. “Effective enforcement and proactive and continuing taxpayer service efforts go hand-in-hand,” she said.

“When taxpayers can get help in ways most convenient to them—mainly by phone and in-person—voluntary compliance with our tax laws rises,” she said, “and that allows the agency to more sharply focus its enforcement efforts.”

Meanwhile, in approving the agriculture bill, the full House provided additional resources for the FDA, a particularly welcome development in light of the agency’s expanding responsibilities. Under legislation approved earlier this year, the FDA now has certain regulatory authority over tobacco.

“The FDA has wide-ranging responsibilities dealing with food, medicine, medical devices and more,” Kelley said, “and it is absolutely vital that it have sufficient resources and personnel in all the varied scientific, regulatory and support aspects of its work in order to meet its missions successfully.”