Staffer ID’d in IRS Bill Flap

A Republican House aide was the prime mover behind a provision in appropriations legislation that would allow greater access to income tax returns, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee said Friday.

It was Rich Efford, who heads the GOP staff of the panel’s subcommittee controlling the Internal Revenue Service’s budget, the spokesman said. The provision would let leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees grant access to themselves or their aides to tax returns. Currently, only top lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee can do that.