Rep. Lawrence, Michigan delegation win fight to keep IRS jobs in Detroit

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (MI-14) announced Friday, April 22nd, that the joint effort with Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters and Reps. Sandy Levin and Debbie Dingell to stop the IRS from moving more than 90 jobs from the Detroit Computing Center to Tennessee has succeeded.

In a letter dated April 22, 2016, IRS Commissioner John A. Koskinen stated that the department in question, and all of its employees, will remain in Detroit in their current downtown location, at 985 Michigan Ave.

Commissioner Koskinen also wrote, “We worked closely with GSA over the last several months to identify alternative locations for our Correspondence Services function. In the end, we jointly determined the best and most cost-effective option for the federal government was to remain in the current location.”

In their letter to the IRS, Rep. Lawrence and her colleagues expressed grave concerns about the IRS’ plan to shut down one floor of the Detroit Computing Center and move jobs associated with Correspondence Services out of state. The delegation also stressed its expectation that the IRS and U.S. General Services Administration must continue to search for a new location in the Metropolitan Detroit area before moving the printing and mailing jobs across the country. The letter followed several meetings Congresswoman Lawrence held with the IRS, the Administration, and members of the Michigan delegation.

“I am deeply gratified by the outcome of this effort to save not only the jobs of hard-working Detroiters, but the very community that these people call home,” Congresswoman Lawrence said. “Uprooting these workers, and their families, to move 750 miles from their homes, schools, churches, relatives, and friends would have had a devastating impact for all involved. I am grateful that the Administration and the IRS recognized the stakes of such a move, and were able to see the true cost of such action.”

The Congresswoman added, “This proves two critical points: that the Administration remains strong in its support of Detroit, and all of Michigan; and that when we work together there is no challenge too great to overcome.”