Earlier today, Florida Senator Rick Scott joined Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) and Mike Braun (R-In) to introduce the Blocking the Adverse and Dramatic Increased Reliance on Surveillance (BAD IRS) Activities Act.
“Across America, families are struggling to keep up with Joe Biden’s raging inflation crisis, while skyrocketing interest rates are holding them back from everything from home ownership to starting a business,” Scott said. “This is what happens when Washington spends decades recklessly spending taxpayer money and racking up $31 trillion of debt. In the face of these hardships for hardworking families, instead of cutting taxes and regulations to grow our economy and encourage job creation, Joe Biden and Democrats in Washington are hell bent on growing government and hiking your taxes to pay for it. There’s no denying their intentions and they even approved $70 billion for 87,000 new IRS agents to make sure they squeeze every penny possible out of American families to fund their radical agenda. Enough is enough. The last thing folks need is more government in their lives and my BAD IRS Activities Act will stop Biden and the Democrats for using the IRS to terrorize the American people and raise your taxes. Increasing costs and regulations on already-struggling Americans is wrong and I won’t stop fighting to put an end to it.”
According to a public statement from Sen. Scott, the BAD IRS Activities Act would:
- Rescind any unobligated funding as appropriated by the Inflation Reduction Act to hire 87,000 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents, which would harass and audit even more American families and small businesses.
- Senator Scott’s language previously received an amendment vote during consideration of the continuing resolution on December 15, 2022. All Republican Senators present voted in favor. (Senate amendment to H.R.1437, with Scott (FL) amendment #6540)
- Repeal the tax increase Democrats placed on working class gig and sharing economy independent contractors in the American Rescue Plan, which requires companies to send 1099-K forms to gig workers and independent contractors earning at least $600 a year on any number of transactions, dramatically increasing the prior requirement of $20,000 a year on at least 200 transactions.
“We should not be hiring 87,000 new IRS agents to treat working families and small startup businesses like tax cheats,” said Senator Budd said, “We should be removing harmful regulatory barriers so that we can jumpstart economic growth and see wages rise. Big thanks to Senator Rick Scott for leading this pro-growth legislation.”
Senator Braun added “The IRS has far outrun its intended purpose, and President Biden’s $70 billion army of bureaucrats is just the latest excess. I’m proud to cosponsor this bill to bring this agency closer to what it’s supposed to be doing.”
Since 2004, O’Hern has worked with political campaigns in roles ranging from major projects involving nationwide digital marketing for U.S. Presidential candidates, U.S. Congressmen, state governors, and state representatives. O’Hern’s journalism background includes news reporting and editing for various organizations and news publications in Alabama and Florida since 2002. O’Hern graduated from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala with a degree in journalism and a minor in political science.