gysel and then mr. olson and then i'm done. >> i would agree with the caveat that the cost structures of utilities are usually inversely related to the revenue structure. by that what i mean is 70% of our costs are fixed, but usually 70% of the revenues are at risk on consumption. if you have increasing block rates, if that last block is large enough, it represents a real threat to the utility to recovering the cost service. >> mr. olson? >> i would agree that generally it makes sense to increase the rate with more water usage. it encourages conservation and helps low income people pay a lower rate. >> thank you all. thanks very much. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator carper. we've had good participation today. i would like to conclude by -- well, first of all, recognizing that there's a very significant thing that came from oklahoma. it's the wife of the speaker of the house. so we want to recognize that. i'd like to also make a comment you get mixed reports of the media. i have every confidence

mr. olson, you mentioned sparsely populated parts of california which is where i live. 1500 people in 400 square miles. my question is, in the subsequent years since we have had the rural areas being essentially becoming really marginal, the cities were certainly overtaxed and underpaid in the earlier times, but i think rural areas today may be getting served the same treatment the other way around, and i wonder if there have been studies or if anybody has looked into this over the years? ted: doug might have a better answer than me for that. but i think it is a very important point and question. it is not so evident from the constitution that states cannot decide that rural communities, where there might be agriculture and there might be issues involving water, that we want one branch of our government, for example, possibly like the united states senate, to have a representation of geography as opposed to simply people. and since the federal government is structured that way, it is not eviden

mr. olson? thank you chairman and senator boxer and members of the it's an honor to testify this morning on behalf of the 2 million members and activists at the natural resource defense council. i wanted to summarize. it's been more than 30 years i've been working on drinking water and water infrastructure issues. and we've been talking about deferred maintenance, about the failure to upgrade treatment and upgrade technology, steady deterioration of our water supply for many, many years. and i find myself in agreement actually with several of the points that have been made earlier, that we really need to be making these investments. we've long known that wastewater and drinking water infrastructure are deteriorating. and you know, frankly, the chickens are coming home to roost. where we are now is that what we've all taken for granted, which is safe drinking water, we can't really consider a given any longer. you know, flint really does remind us that the penny-wise and pound-foolish decisions t

first i wanted to ask mr. olson, are frequent discharges of combined sewage overflows and sanitary sewer overflows, are they a concern? because we are focused on lead as we should be. what about these overflows with the bacteria? >> yes. these are definitely a concern -- >> i'm going to ask you -- >> these are definitely a public health concern as well as an environmental concern. from a public health standpoint, very often raw sewage is actually dumped into lakes and streams and that can cause massive contamination. we see beaches being closed, we see people getting sick, water-borne disease from swimming in it, from being exposed to it. >> so it is a problem that should be addressed, in your opinion? >> it's definitely a big problem in hundreds of communities. >> because that's what the studies are now showing. it's disgusting. and we have to fix it. and we can argue over everything. we have to fix it. now, mr. berger, i want to be your partner. the first part of your testimony, i agreed with. but the rest of it i

i first want to thank mrs. olson for the work that they do. especially this time of year it is frustrating and personally during this time of year. >> i hear from my constituents to be frustrated and stressed. listening to stakeholders to learn of their concerns. many frustrations stem from having a difficult time getting through to a person at the irs. are not having a call answered at all but unfortunately the less than robust is not expected. of 1.2 billion dollars bayou address this the national tax payer advocate against significant reduction in the iris budget. because of the budget cuts they cut staffing for all permanent employees because it is obsolete. but it says the kennedy administration. into not know how to work on them. those that run the system is unsustainable. they have outlined the plan to create efficiencies with the taxpayer services because of the cuts we face. 290 million of additional funding it is a step in the right direction it is not a one-size-fits-all. millions of taxpayers' to do financial transactions on my. th

mr. olson, sergeant rames from the investigation unit. how are you feeling?saulted in j-16 the other day, correct? i want to know if you're willing to cooperate in the case against the inmates. we are submitting charges to the district attorney's office on behalf of the state because it was a felony assault. all right. i'm going to put it down that you're not a cooperating witness at this time, but, however, we're still going to submit. so they will be charged, just so you know. all right? >> okay. >> all right. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> the human part of me says, absolutely, i want them to continue to pay, but the spiritual side of me says, forgive them and hopefully they'll learn. i have no reason not to forgive because i've forgiven so many things. >> lots of people who get victimized, but they don't want to cooperate. just part of the job. but due to the circumstances surrounding this, the inmates that were involved in the assault, i think it's a better route to go ahead and file the charges and seek prosecution. >> olson is awaiting transfer to pris

mr. chairman. good morning to you. thank you so much for being here with us. i first want to thank ms. olson, mr. buttonow, for the work they do and for being here today. i sincerely believe that the work that you both do on behalf of taxpayers and congress is vitally important. especially this time of year when millions are filing their taxes and you know, frustrating. i personally, i think i have little stomach extra this time of year. what about you? i care for my constituents and i know ms. olson, here from people all over the country who find themselves this time of year frustrated as stress but i appreciate the forum's given evn holding around the country listening to stakeholders and taxpayers alike so they can learn what their concerns are and how they can look for solutions. that's fantook for solutions. that's fantastic. many of these frustrations temperament a difficult time getting through to a person after i read. whether it's a long wait time for calls or not having a tight answer at all. unfortunately, this less than robust service is not unexpected. when congress slashes the infla

mcgill, mr. olson from gibson dunn, they're together, and, of course, the government will be in front of the d.c. court of appeals making a case looking for an order that will come from the court, they hope, that vacates that third amendment. they should get a ruling let's call it anywhere from six weeks to nine week, something like that. a fascinating story that continues to be followed closely. a lot of twitter traffic earlier in the week when the documents became unsealed and therefore were allowed to be in the public realm as will the arguments today. >> preferred or -- >> that's what perry holds. it's also what berkowitz and fairhome -- where trials were being used are going to be useful, they believe, and then you've got ackman in a lot of the common and some prefer. but, jim, if the d.c. court were to rule in perry's favor, all of the -- all the equity related to these gscs would go up as they did this week when we at least saw these documents for the first time. >> i want to caution people. tha

olson: i don't know the answer to that. it is in my testimony. i can get you that. mr. walberg 412,000 taxpayers, : what percentage -- olson: i don't know the answer to th but i could give you that. those overpayments were, a lot of them were driven by software, not asking tax payers to identify their exemptions. and so they were actually exempt from having health insurance but they didn't ask, and so, the software didn't ask, and so they didn't tell anybody. and that is also true that some of the preparers didn't ask. we were able to work with the software companies to get some of those programs changed for this filing season. we'll be looking very carefully at those overpayments to make sure that it doesn't happen again. mr. walberg: thanks for looking. i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman. so, miss olson, one quick follow-up question. is it the guidance ambiguous enough that the irs should consider a waiver of penalties until we get the guidance more specific. ms. olson: my personal opinion is that this law is so complex that for the first year we should be very, ve

and i'm not going to ask mr. olson, i'm not going to ask you to respond to these questions. really more for folks that are representing a utility or maybe city that has provides water for its residents. here's the first question. do you charge more for water when supplies are tight? >> no sir. >> no, sir. >> no, sir. >> okay. do you charge more for water use for, say, watering lawns or washing cars and for essential functions like drinking and bathing? >> no sir. >> no sir. >> no sir. >> we do have a tiered system that the water rights began $5 per thousand and when it gets over 10,000 it's $7 per thousand. >> okay. >> i think you may have answered this question for yourself. is it mr. moore? mr. moore? >> yeah. >> but do you charge more per person for water use as people use more water? >> yes, it is a tiered -- >> no for each of you. go ahead. >> we do not. >> okay. >> actually our is a declining rate. the more you use the lower the unit rates becomes. >> okay. all right. go ahead, mr. moore. >> new york i was -- i was saying ours is escalating tiered system the water cost

i've got some questions for miss olson but i will go to mr. lynch and recognize him for a second series of questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. one of the, we have recounted some of the weaknesses in the irs system. lack of personnel. that has diminished of recent years. lack of communication between the taxpayer and the irs. the risk of i.d. theft from filings. do we have any idea how many false tax returns get filed every year? >> there are millions. >> okay. all right. we don't need to get into that. the complexity of the system as well. the health care information component that's come in recently. and then the infrastructure weakness as well. i understand some of the programs that the irs is using date back to the kennedy administration which is sad. i'm just worried about, not just worried about, but i'm worried about the presumption of compliance within the american people and i think most people pay their taxes, try to do the right thing. i know this country is where that is not the norm. i know greece is very, very low compliance wi

mr. olson: mr. speaker, i come from texas. the world thinks that texans take care of texans and texans always brag about texas. we do. bob shultz, i work for bob. bob lives in richmond, texas. he's 51 years old. bob was given a death sentence, pancreatic cancer. after 19 rounds of chemotherapy, tons of radiation, and endless surgery, bob beat his cancer. bob recovered by volunteering almost daily at the hospital in ugarland to make sure the lids are prepared for the 6:00 a.m. opening of that great facility. mr. speaker, i'm going to close with seven words of texas pride, god bless a true texan, bob shultz. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. whether you are a mayor, city councilmember, or member of congress, it's the job of all elected officials to be problem

mr. chairman. good morning to you. thank you so much for being here with us. i first want to thank ms. olson, mr. buttonow, for the work they do and for being here today. i sincerely believe that the work that you both do on behalf of taxpayers and congress is vitally important. especially this time of year when millions are filing their taxes and you know, frustrating. i personally, i think i have little stomach extra this time of year. what about you? i care for my constituents and i know ms. olson, here from people all over the country who find themselves this time of year frustrated as stress but i appreciate the forum's given even holding around the country listening to stakeholders and taxpayers alike so they can learn what their concerns are and how they can look for solutions. that's fantook for solutions. that's fantastic. many of these frustrations temperament a difficult time getting through to a person after i read. whether it's a long wait time for calls or not having a tight answer at all. unfortunately, this less than robust service is not unexpected. when congress slashes the infl

olson, the national taxpayer advocate at the irs service and mr. james at the internal revenue service. welcome to both. pursuant to committee rules, all witnesses rise in rates right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. let the record reflect that the witnesses answered in the affirmative. you may be seated. please allow time for discussion and questions, we ask that you limit your oral testimony to five minutes and your entire written statement will be made part of the record. i would like to recognize missiles and for five minutes. >> chairman meadows, ranking member and distinguished members of the subcommittee. thank you for holding today's hearing. in the report identified the plan as the most serious problem for taxpayers. i will focus on that issue today. i will start with a simple question. what is taxation about? it involves taking money from one person and applying that to the greater good of many if not all. that is an extraordinary t

mr. chairman. ms. olson, thank you for being here and for the work of your office. are you familiar with that -- we had earlier this week the g.a.l. here in this committee room talking about the $385 billion annual tax gap that exists. you're familiar with the g.a.l.'s report? >> i haven't read their most recent, but i'm very familiar with the tax gap. >> would you agree that's a pretty accurate figure they've put on it? i mean the gentleman here from the irs frankly agreed with g.a.l.'s finding? >> i think that data comes from the irs. >> so it's right? >> so it's as correct as -- it's the known tax gap. there's an unknown tax gap, criminal activity, things like that. but, yes, there's a general consensus that's the figure. >> and obviously all the americans who pay their taxes would expect that all the revenue should be generated and they would get the type of service that, you know, they need from -- or expect from their government, and that's maybe not happening because the failure to collect all the ref yew due? >> we have looked at the tax gap as a surplus on

olson. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch for mr. lynch for his question. >> thank you mr. chairman. i want to thank both of the panelists for your willingness to help the committee with this work. i did have a question that was raised earlier about the affordable care act. a big part of the funding mechanism for the affordable care act was the so-called cadillac tax. the cadillac tax applies to union healthcare plans. i'm a former union president myself so i've served as a trustee of a health care plan. the taxes about a 40% tax. it applies to both the employer and the employee. congress in its wisdom delayed the implementation of the cadillac tax until 2020. however, the the limit stayed the same, so thousands and thousands, probably millions or more people will be in that cadillac tax category when 2020 rolls around. on top of that, for every dollar over the limit you will pay of 40% tax. so it's prorated for employee and employer. then, i read it more closely and the tax itself, a penalty is taxed. so it really comes down to a 58

mrs. clinton up in the polls in five states and bernie sanders saying he is in it to win it. joining us live in the studio, laura olson, washington correspondent for the allentown morning call, who has been on the campaign trail in pennsylvania, big prize there in pennsylvania. what do you make of hillary clinton doing this pivot now from talking a little less about bernie sanders and more about donald trump? >> if you look at the polls in pennsylvania she's got a double digit lead. >> 27 points. >> yeah. she's doing extremely well there. so in her appearances across the state, she has been talking about donald trump. she was critical of him on foreign policy in philadelphia, where she was saying that he and some of the other leading republican contenders are kind of loose with their language which poses -- >> does that resonate in pennsylvania? we all remember the famous line from president obama, folks who cling to their guns and religion. the words in pennsylvania really matter, especially in a state that is as diverse. you have scranton, philadelphia and pittsburgh and appalachia. >> when you look at the general e