The main neg push will be “new funding” solves --- it doesn’t!

Unfortunately, simply restoring funding levels is by no means the easy fix. A federal agency deprived of funding for a year or two can tighten its belt and sustain operational efficiency. But a decade of funding cuts meant that the IRS, unable to hire new talent, missed out on almost an entire generation of skilled employees. As tens of thousands of employees resigned or retired, the agency lost a vast amount of institutional knowledge — a resource that will take time and training to restore. (Most technical IRS positions require two or more years of on-the-job instruction before an employee becomes self-sufficient.) A dedicated and consistent funding stream would enable officials to steadily ramp up their enforcement practices. This investment would also signal to potential tax evaders that they can no longer count on short staffing to keep eyes off their fraudulent returns. The additional funding for the IRS would be a long-overdue game-changer for the agency, but if it is just a temporary infusion of cash, it is likely to fail in its goals. As the adage goes, “You get what you pay for.” For too long, the American public has picked up the tab for underfunding IRS enforcement.