Under changes proposed by the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), the 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Bill would reduce government spending by $246 million while priority programs would receive more funds.
Increased funding would go to such areas as law enforcement, drug-abuse prevention, assistance to small businesses and combating terrorism. Crenshaw said frozen or reduced funding would go to agencies that have shown a “disregard” for the American taxpayer, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“This agency must continue to be held accountable for its treatment of taxpayers and the money they send to Washington,” Crenshaw said.
The bill also proposes changes to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
“Since Dodd-Frank enactment, we have seen more complex regulations and burdensome paperwork that have done nothing to reduce risk to the financial markets,” Crenshaw said. “Therefore, the bill amends Section 716 of Dodd-Frank, the swaps push-out requirements, to protect farmers and other commodity producers from excessive and costly regulation.”
The bill also prohibits funding for inappropriate videos and conferences, for improperly disclosing confidential taxpayer information, for targeting organizations for regulatory scrutiny based on their ideological beliefs or for exercising their First Amendment rights, and for the White House to order the IRS to determine the tax-exempt status of an organization.
Also prohibited under the bill is taxpayer funding for the painting of portraits, pay raises for the vice president and senior political appointees, and the reporting of political spending by companies as part of the bid process for federal contracts.