You didn’t enjoy having your inappropriate behavior at a national agency put under public spotlight? Here, have a bonus check.

After an extremely controversial year, the Internal Revenue Service decided that the only reasonable response would be to reinstate its employee bonuses for fiscal 2013.

It is difficult to imagine a group of people who are less deserving of performance awards than the IRS. Last year, the IRS caused a political uproar when information was disclosed to the public that the agency had targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, according to an article by The Washington Post.

The IRS’s new commissioner, John Koskinen, announced Monday that he is planning to pay out millions of dollars in bonuses to agency employees. This counters a decision his predecessor made to save money during the sequester budget cuts last year, according to an article by CBS News.

The payouts will cap at 1 percent of salaries and are expected to reach $62.5 million, according to an article by The Washington Post.

Some speculation has been made as to where this money is even coming from amid a year of budget cuts and other belt-tightening.  

Nonetheless, Koskinen believes the bonuses are necessary to boost the morale of the agency’s employees. “The performance award payouts are in recognition of that great work done in very trying circumstances,” Koskinen said. “I firmly believe that this investment in our employees will directly benefit taxpayers and the tax system,” according to an article by The Washington Times.

Many of you might be confused about what ‘great work’ Koskinen is referring to – and you’re not alone. Was the great work targeting certain advocacy groups based on policy positions and names? Or was it actions that largely affected the proficiency of conservative and tea party groups? The ‘trying circumstances’ Koskinen refers to are the ones the agency created through their own unlawful actions.

It is important to note that not every IRS employee is to blame for targeting conservative groups. However, awarding all employees bonuses for the past year of work communicates the message that the actions the agency took were not all that bad. Not only did their behavior go unpunished, but it was actually rewarded.

The public has a right to be angry about the decision to grant IRS employee bonuses for their work in the year 2013. It sends the wrong message to the agency, the public, and the groups that were harmed by the unlawful actions of the IRS.

The decision to boost the morale of IRS employees by giving them bonuses is not a popular choice across the board. Instead, Koskinen should try firing half of the IRS staff so they can obtain jobs that actually contribute to the advancement of this nation. Maybe then IRS employees will not require additional money to feel OK about the work that they are doing.

– Ashley Lynn Fisher is a junior English major from Gig Harbor. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.