WASHINGTON — Since the IRS first admitted to targeting conservative political groups in 2013, the agency has continued to face intense scrutiny from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. One of the most vocal critics reiterated calls to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen last week.
U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana: On Wednesday, Jordan again called for Koskinen’s impeachment during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“Commissioner Koskinen failed to fulfill his duty to the American people,” he said. “With three preservation orders and two subpoenas in place, he allowed 422 backup tapes containing potentially 24,000 emails to be destroyed. He failed to inform Congress about the destruction of these backup tapes in a timely manner. He gave false testimony before Congress regarding the backup tapes, and then refused to correct the record when given the opportunity.”
U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green: On Monday, Latta will host an opioid epidemic forum at Winebrenner Theological Seminary in Findlay, with resource tables opening at 5:30 p.m. and panel discussion commencing at 6:30 p.m. Latta will be joined by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Ohio Department of Health Director Richard Hodges, and Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Director Tracy Plouck.
On Thursday, the House held a vote to overturn a presidential veto on House Joint Resolution 88, expressing disapproval of the U.S. Department of Labor’s “fiduciary rule.” This rule requires financial advisers working with retirement plans to act as fiduciaries, having a binding contract to offer advice in the best interest of clients.
While the vote passed 239-180, it did not reach the two-thirds majority needed to overturn the veto.
“It’s disappointing that affordable financial advice will be more difficult to obtain for countless Ohio families due to this misguided and burdensome rule,” Latta said. “Once again, we’re seeing a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn’t take into account the needs of Americans that are simply trying to plan for retirement or save for their children’s education. I’ll continue to look for ways to protect access to quality financial planning that doesn’t increase costs for advisors and their clients.”
U.S. Senate
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio: On Monday, Portman voted to support legislation penned by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to prevent suspected terrorists from being able to purchase a firearm. The vote did receive a majority vote but not the 60 votes needed to pass.
“I support the Cornyn proposal because it would prevent suspected terrorists from being able to purchase a firearm, while also protecting the rights of innocent, law-abiding citizens by ensuring they receive due process if they are mistakenly placed on a government watch list,” he said. “Importantly, it not only blocks the sale of the gun, but also authorizes law enforcement to arrest terror suspects and take them off the streets.”
As chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Portman chaired a hearing on billing practices for cable and satellite companies. On Thursday, the committee found that Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications, which recently merged, made several improper equipment overcharges to customers, pocketing the extra money and not making any effort to reimburse customers.
“During just the first five months of 2016, Time Warner Cable overbilled up to 11,000 customers in Ohio — and those overcharges totaled $108,000,” Portman said. “Time Warner Cable further estimates that, throughout last year alone, it overbilled 40,000 Ohio customers with overcharges of more than $430,000. And rather than correct the mistake by refunding the overcharges, the company just kept money. In my view, that is a rip-off of Ohio consumers, and I’ll be asking the company today how they are going to fix it.”
Portman said Time Warner Cable has made steps to correct this issue, conducting monthly audits to find overcharges, and providing one-month automatic credit to overbilled customers.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
