HARRISBURG – Senators Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) and Camera Bartolotta (R-Beaver/Washington/Greene) introduced a resolution that, should it be approved by the Senate, would call on the United States Congress to oppose a recently introduced effort by the Biden Administration to gain access to bank account information of private citizens and businesses.
Last week, the Biden Administration released plans that would allow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to look at bank accounts with accounts containing more than $600.
The state senators said that this federal proposal is misguided and would not target those who are cheating the system but would instead capture information on nearly every Pennsylvania taxpayer – individual taxpayers and businesses alike.
“Pennsylvanians have real concerns about having their financial institution share this information with the IRS when the agency has a troubling track record of protecting taxpayer data. The IRS is a constant target of cyber criminals and has recently suffered significant data breaches. It is impractical and ill-advised for the government to put this significant amount of additional sensitive financial data at risk, especially when the IRS does not even have the capability to effectively utilize that data,” the senators wrote in a memo to their colleagues soliciting support for the resolution.
“Our office has fielded calls and emails from very concerned citizens about this gross invasion of privacy into personal bank accounts to dramatically increase the size of the federal government. While the decision should be made by our elected officials in Congress, we are hopeful that this will send a clear message on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania that bank accounts should remain private,” Phillips-Hill said.
“Americans rightfully prize their privacy, so this effort by the Biden Administration has created concern. It would be another example of law-abiding citizens being penalized for the misdeeds of others, and that is not the precedent that should be set,” Bartolotta said. “Americans deserve better.”
The resolution was recently referred to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
Contacts:
Jon Hopcraft (Phillips-Hill)
717.787.7085
Colleen Greer (Bartolotta)
717.787.1463