House conferees on IRS reform legislation have offered to accede to the Senate on conflict-of-interest standards relating to a Treasury Department employee representative on an IRS advisory board the legislation would create, congressional sources said Thursday.
The move would help resolve at least a few contentious issues related to the board. Both bills provided for employee representation on the board, but the Senate's bill included a waiver from federal conflict-of-interest laws relating to that person's service.
The presence of a person from the National Treasury Employees Union on the board has drawn objections from some Senators, including, at one point, Senate Finance Chairman William Roth, R-Del.
The House's agreement to the Senate language on the-conflict- of-interest waiver could make it less likely any senator will push to remove the union representative. A range of issues concerning the standards and activities of board members, however, is still in play.
Senate conferees met through the morning Thursday and sent a counteroffer to the House late Thursday afternoon. A Finance Committee spokeswoman said this could be the last exchange of offers on paper.
From here, Roth and House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, will "go back and forth and sit down and hammer things out," the spokeswoman said.
It is likely that Ways and Means ranking member Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Finance ranking member Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., will also be included in these talks.
It is possible the conference will be wrapped up this week, but a congressional aide close to the discussions said innocent spouse relief, shifting the burden of proof in tax disputes to the IRS and other matters "remain open."
The Finance Committee spokeswoman conceded there are about a dozen provisions that still need the attention of conferees. But she pointed out that resolutions have been reached on more than a hundred other provisions, and conferees are not that far apart on those that remain.
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