In 2013, conservative nonprofits were targeted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because of their political affiliation. Donors’ names, addresses and other identifying information were exposed by the IRS and published by national media organizations. Americans should not have to worry about being singled out by those in power because of their political ideologies. This week, the House passed H.R. 5053 Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act, which I cosponsored. The bill does away with the Schedule B tax form, which lists sensitive information about donors. By passing this bill, we are helping to preempt future targeting of organizations because of political affiliation by the IRS, and eliminating the exposure of unnecessary and invasive personal information once and for all.
On June 8, I voted to postpone the implementation of President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2015 ozone regulations by eight years. Currently, communities and manufacturers in Wisconsin and across the U.S. must adhere to these new regulations by 2017. This schedule is unrealistic and costly for the state of Wisconsin, where manufacturing is the backbone of our economy. The 2008 ozone standards have not yet been revoked – meaning our state now faces having to implement two different ozone standards at the same time.
While our district already has the most manufacturing jobs in the U.S., we want to keep growing. These new standards will make growth almost impossible by halting the ability of manufacturers and other small business to expand, while raising energy costs on Wisconsin families. Postponing the implementation of these EPA ozone standards is a commonsense solution that eases the burden of these regulations on Wisconsin, our communities and our manufacturers.
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