Prioritizing Troops Over Tax Collectors Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 161 To transfer funds from the Internal Revenue Service to the Department of Defense to increase the pay of certain members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To transfer funds from the Internal Revenue Service to the Department of Defense to increase the pay of certain members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prioritizing Troops 4 Over Tax Collectors Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:02 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H161.IH H161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 161 IH SEC. 2. MINIMUM RATE OF BASIC PAY FOR A MEMBER OF 1 THE ARMED FORCES. 2 Not later than 30 days after the enactment of this 3 Act, the rate of basic pay for a member of the Armed 4 Forces under section 203 of title 37, United States Code, 5 shall equal or exceed $31,200. 6 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN UNOBLIGATED FUNDS 7 FROM THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE TO 8 THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO CARRY 9 OUT INCREASE OF MINIMUM RATE OF BASIC 10 PAY. 11 The unobligated balance of amounts made available 12 to the Internal Revenue Service under section 10301 of 13 Public Law 117–169 (commonly known as the ‘‘Inflation 14 Reduction Act’’) are hereby transferred to the Department 15 of Defense to carry out section 1. 16 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE HIR- 17 ING UNTIL MINIMUM RATE OF BASIC PAY 18 FOR A MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES IS 19 INCREASED. 20 During the period beginning on the date of the enact- 21 ment of this Act and ending on the date on which the 22 Secretary of Defense certifies to the Commissioner of In- 23 ternal Revenue that such Secretary has implemented sec- 24 tion 1, the Internal Revenue Service may not hire any em- 25 ployee if such hiring would result in the number of full- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:02 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H161.IH H161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 161 IH time employees employed by the Internal Revenue Service 1 exceeding the number of such employees so employed im- 2 mediately before such period. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:02 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H161.IH H161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS