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☆ Opinion: Many people can’t physically flee disasters. We are failing to help them
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-07 | by ( Opinion L. Vance Taylor | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Editor’s Note: Luis “Vance” Taylor is the chief of the Office of Access and Functional Needs at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. And for some individuals with access and functional needs, it was a nightmare. Unfortunately, nobody from the emergency management team had told the accessible transportation provider that they were part of the plan. Yet virtually all disasters have one critical commonality: They disproportionately impact individuals with access and functional needs, such as people with disabilities and older adults. Inclusive emergency management is an achievable mission.

Persons: Luis “ Vance ” Taylor, Taylor, CNN — I’ll, I’ve, there’s, Vance Taylor, Elijah Nouvelage, arth, I’m, you’re, Bill de Blasio, Jonathan Lamberton, Andy Katz, There’s, Allen J, we’re Organizations: California Governor’s, Emergency Services, CNN, Operations Center, Governor's, Emergency, Centers for Disease Control, New, Emergency Management, Pacific Press, California State Operations Center, Los Angeles Times, Getty, Twitter, Facebook Locations: California, Oroville, United States, Sierra Nevada, Sacramento, Oroville , California, New York City, , California

☆ Yellen: Republicans' IRS funding cut would hurt customer service goals
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen outlines the improvements the IRS will deliver to taxpayers in 2024, during remarks at IRS Headquarters in Washington on Nov. 7, 2023. Expanded taxpayer serviceYellen said the agency made a "tremendous leap forward" during the 2023 tax filing season by significantly reducing phone wait times. "This filing season, we will build on this foundation and continue expanding services for taxpayers: by phone, online and in person," she said. By the start of the filing season, taxpayers will be able to digitally file 20 more forms, including certain business forms, she said. Limited free Direct File pilotThe IRS will also prioritize a limited Direct File pilot, available to certain taxpayers in 13 states to file federal returns for free, Yellen said.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Kevin Lamarque, Yellen Organizations: Treasury, IRS, Reuters, Assistance Centers Locations: Washington

So far, at least 111 deaths have been confirmed in the wildfires, according to a release from Maui County. Names of other victims have been released by familiesFirefight continues : Crews are still battling the fires on Maui. “The people that were trying to put out these fires lived in those homes – 25 of our firefighters lost their homes,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said Wednesday. “They watched their homes burn as they fought the fire for other homes in their neighborhood,” she explained. “That is a scar that we will carry for a very long time.”Sarah Salmonese sits where her apartment once stood in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Friday, August 11.

Persons: John Pelletier, ” Pelletier, ”, Pelletier, Josh Green, CNN’s Wolf, “, Brenda Keau, ” Keau, Jeff Hickman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, ” Hickman, Melva Benjamin, Virginia Dofa, Alfredo Galinato, Robert Dyckman, Buddy Jantoc, Benjamin, Crews, Brad Ventura, ” Biden, Herman Andaya, would’ve, Matthew A, Foster, Richard Bissen, Aina Kohler, I’ve, Kohler, “ It’s, Jonny Varona, They’re, Wade Ebersole, it’s, who’s, ” Ebersole, ” Sarah Salmonese, Go Nakamura, Jae C, Patrick T, Fallon, Rick Bowmer, Justin Sullivan, Lauren Haley, Bryan Anselm, Makalea Ahhee, Yuki Iwamura, Mike Blake, Max Whittaker, Zoltan Balogh, Robert Gauthier, Mengshin Lin, Evelio Contreras, CNN Vixay Phonxaylinkham, Lana, Phonoxaylinkham, Marco Garcia, Claire Rush, Myrna Ah Hee, Sui, Ty O'Neil, Ku'u Kauanoe, ZUMA, Matthew Thayer, Bob Marshall, ” Marshall, Marshall, Jim Kelly, ” Kelly, ” Darren Pai Organizations: CNN, Maui Police, Authorities, Hawaii Gov, Hawaii Department of Defense, Fire, White House, Maui, Maui Emergency Management, Tuesday . U.S . Army National Guard, Staff, KITV, Maui Health, Maui Memorial Medical, New York Times, AP, FBI, Facility, Getty, AP Volunteers, Grace Baptist, Reuters, Volunteers, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Kahului Airport, Technologies, Kahului, AP Helicopters, Hawaii Army National Guard, Hawaii National Guard, Reuters Residents, ZUMA Passengers, Maui News, Whisker Labs, Maui Bird Conservation Center, The Washington, Hawaiian Electric, CNN Sunday Locations: Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, Lahaina, Tuesday ., ”, Lahaina , Hawaii, Wailuku, AFP, Kula , Hawaii, Kaanapali, Kula, Kihei, West Maui, Grace, Kahului, Napili, Honokowai, Honolulu, Maalaea, California, Las Vegas, Church, Lahaina Hongwanji, Makawao, Western Maui

☆ U.S. IRS to hire nearly 20,000 staff over two years with $80 bln in new funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Signage is seen at the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. But a significant portion of these new hires will replace the nearly 12,000 IRS employees expected to retire over the next two years -- including more than 4,700 enforcement staff, a U.S. Treasury official said. Those audit targets include wealthy individuals, corporations and complex partnerships, which have grown in number while IRS audit staff has shrunk by nearly half over the past decade, new IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters. REPUBLICAN BACKLASHThe plan drew fresh complaints from Republicans who want to repeal the IRS funding as part of their demands for raising the $31.4 trillion federal debt ceiling. He said that the percentage of Criminal Investigation staff would not change from its current proportion of about 3% of the IRS workforce.

☆ US IRS to hire 30,000 staff over two years as it deploys $80 bln in new funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Including those new employees, customer services hiring will total 13,883 full-time-equivalent staff over the two-year period, according to the 148-page plan. But a significant portion of these new hires will replace the nearly 12,000 IRS employees expected to retire over the next two years -- including more than 4,700 enforcement staff, a U.S. Treasury official said. The $80 billion in new funding from last year's climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act is aimed at rebuilding the agency's audit capabilities and 1960s-era computer technology after a decade of funding cuts mostly by Republican-controlled Congresses. The Treasury has used estimates as high as $400 billion over the decade, with higher collections beyond the 10-year budget window. The agency's ability to deploy new technology to automate many functions would help dictate future staffing needs, he said.

☆ Tax season starts with boosted IRS workforce, new technology as agency begins to deploy $80 billion in funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Tax season kicked off for individual filers Monday with a bigger IRS customer service team and enhanced technology as the agency begins to deploy its nearly $80 billion in funding. Over the past several months, the IRS has hired 5,000 new customer service staff, aiming to "significantly increase" the number of answered calls, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo told reporters Friday. IRS service was flagged as one of the agency's "most serious problems" in the National Taxpayer Advocate's 2022 annual report, with only 13% of callers reaching live assistance during the 2022 filing season. The agency also plans to improve customer service through technology, including the ability for filers to respond to certain IRS notices online and for the IRS to scan paper returns. "These improvements showcase how we are modernizing both technology and customer service to bring the IRS into the 21st century and how the IRS plans to deploy [Inflation Reduction Act] resources in the years to come," Adeyemo said.

☆ Firms use Google ads to entice small businesses to pay for help the gov't provides free
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jesselyn Cook | Jesselyn Cook Is An Investigative Tech Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Several draw in unwitting customers like Talbot through Google ads that outrank the legitimate SAM.gov page, illustrating the ease of buying visibility on the world’s largest search engine. Google removed the ads for a number of these sites in response to an inquiry for this article but subsequently reversed its decision. “We have strict ads policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms,” Google spokesperson Davis Thompson said in a statement. But the Small Business Administration urges people not to spend their precious resources on these services when so many free alternatives exist. She expects new, prominently displayed Google ads to play a part in the problem.

☆ House Republicans want to cancel Biden's push to make it easier for the IRS to go after tax cheats and send out refunds more quickly
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Joseph Zeballos-Roig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The IRS funding is meant to pursue tax cheats, shorten phone wait times, and issue refunds faster. House Republicans broke with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in rolling out their policy platform. McConnell has opted to keep the focus instead on Biden's handling of the economy without specifying what Senate Republicans intend to do if they recaptured the upper chamber. House Republicans' intention to repeal IRS funding echoes their earlier efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act under President Barack Obama throughout the 2010s. A group of Senate Republicans led by Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho sent a letter to the tax agency on Thursday urging them to prioritize improving taxpayer services.

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