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Today, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew highlighted key components of the Treasury Department’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget that will help support the Obama Administration’s comprehensive efforts to strengthen economic growth, create new jobs, and make government more efficient and accountable.
Investing in Economic Development and Job Creation
The Treasury Budget request makes key investments that will help spur economic growth and job creation.
The FY2014 Budget provides $225 million for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, which promotes economic development investments in underserved and distressed communities. Of the total request, $35 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative will support increased availability of affordable, healthy food alternatives in underserved communities.
The Budget includes $10 million to ensure proper oversight and administration of the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund and related RESTORE Act responsibilities.
The President’s Budget also seeks to boost near-term growth; incentivize investment in infrastructure; provide permanent middle-class tax relief; add balance to deficit reduction by asking the most fortunate Americans to contribute; level the playing field through revenue-neutral business tax reform; encourage onshore investments in manufacturing and insourced jobs; cut taxes for small businesses; and limit incentives for shifting income and assets overseas. Additional details on these growth policies are available in the Treasury “Greenbook”.
Improving Efficiency, Reducing Taxpayer Costs, Streamlining Operations
Treasury’s request includes substantial investments in improved taxpayer service, enforcement, and in technology at IRS, which will drive efficiencies now and in the future. The tax enforcement and compliance increases which will yield $32.7 billion in net revenue to reduce the deficit over the next 10 years are proposed to be funded through a multi-year program integrity cap adjustment.
Overall, the Treasury Budget request proposes operating efficiencies, such as space consolidation and infrastructure savings, as well as program reductions that would reduce taxpayer costs by $382 million in FY2014 and produce additional ongoing savings in future years.
These savings build on a number of steps that the Department has taken during the last three years to improve efficiency and reduce taxpayer costs, including:
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The IRS proposes $255 million in savings by reducing staff due to the increase usage of e-File, streamlining IT operational requirements, optimizing leased space, and achieving administrative efficiencies.
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The budget proposes $49 million in savings from ongoing efforts to reduce costs through moving to paperless transactions and consolidating functions such as information technology management in the Fiscal Service.
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The Treasury Departmental Office proposes $14 million in savings by improving efficiencies and reducing positions.
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Beginning in FY 2011, Treasury is saving $500 million over a five-year period as a result of paperless initiatives, including greater use of electronic payments, collections, and bond issuance. Switching these programs to on-line platforms increase convenience, security, reliability, and accuracy as well as reducing government costs.
The FY2014 Budget request for Treasury’s operating bureaus – excluding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Forfeiture Fund (TEOAF) – is 2.3 percent below the FY 2012 enacted level and 8 percent below the FY 2009 enacted budget.
Additionally, Treasury’s request includes funding for initiatives that are critical to full and effective IRS implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which is projected to lower the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next two decades.
Protecting our National Security Interests
The FY2014 Budget requests $2.9 billion for Treasury’s International Programs, which provide a cost effective means to strengthen our national security, support the next generation of export markets, and address key global challenges like environmental degradation and food insecurity, while fostering private sector development and entrepreneurship. These funds will also help preserve U.S. leadership in international financial institutions.
The Budget also includes a proposal to fulfill the United States commitment to implementing the 2010 IMF quota reform, agreed to by the G20 leaders in Seoul. Implementing the quota reform will enable the U.S. to preserve its leadership in the IMF without a new financial commitment to the IMF.
View the full Treasury Budget here
Makes Key Investments to Spur Economic Development, Strengthen Federal Financial Accountability, and Protect National Security
Treasury Proposes Increases to Tax Enforcement and Compliance and Identifies $382 Million in FY2014 Savings
“The President’s Budget puts our nation on a fiscally responsible path by shrinking our deficits in a balanced way and making targeted investments to grow our economy that are fully paid for. As part of that comprehensive strategy, Treasury is carrying out its mission more efficiently and at a lower cost to the taxpayer, while taking critical steps to strengthen the recovery, restore confidence in the financial system, bolster the housing market and meet our international obligations,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew.
