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Washington, D.C.—The head of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today panned a House-passed funding bill, saying it would shortchange three key federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

NTEU National President Tony Reardon said the bill approved by the House late Thursday would cut next year’s IRS budget by $236 million compared to this year’s level—nearly $1.3 billion below the administration’s request. The cut would negate the progress IRS made this filing season in serving taxpayers. Earlier Thursday, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, in a report to Congress, said IRS used its modest budget increase this year to dramatically improve the level of telephone assistance it provided to taxpayers compared with the 2015 filing season.

“That clearly proves that if Congress gives the IRS the necessary resources the agency will step up and serve taxpayers the way they need and deserve. Despite that evidence, some in the House insist on gutting the agency,” Reardon said.

Congress cut the IRS budget by $900 million over the past six years and the agency lost 15,000 full-time employees in that period. In a letter to House members earlier this week, Reardon warned: “The additional cuts to the IRS budget proposed in H.R. 5485 cannot be absorbed without further degrading IRS’ ability to provide critical taxpayer services and enforce the nation’s tax laws.”

President Reardon said the bill also slashes funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in fiscal year (FY) 2017, leaving those agencies without the resources they need to protect consumers and investors.

“We won’t be deterred from our commitment to fight for these critically important agencies to receive sufficient resources from Congress,” he said. “After years of being poorly funded, these agencies are struggling to carry out their important missions on behalf of the American public. That’s just not right.”

Reardon noted that SEC funding is offset by fees it collects and therefore funding does not contribute to the deficit. The House defeated an NTEU-backed amendment to H.R. 5485 introduced by Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) to increase SEC funding by $50 million in FY17.

The House also defeated an amendment opposed by NTEU, introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) that sought to reduce funding for all agencies covered by H.R. 5485 by 1 percent in FY17.

NTEU represents 150,000 federal employees in 31 federal agencies.