American freedoms as we know them are being eliminated day by day. 

The Biden administration has taken its big government overreach right into the heart of each state across America. The liberal, progressive agenda is growing reliance on government, while forcing Americans to leave behind their individual liberties, including their right to privacy. 

Congress is now considering a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. With no surprise, it’s crammed full of expensive government giveaways and tax hikes. But one proposal in the bill is particularly disturbing. Biden and his congressional allies want to require financial institutions to hand over their customers’ transaction data to the Internal Revenue Service. This proposal in the “American Families Plan,” is being pushed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to increase taxes and pay for the federal government’s spending spree. 

The purported intent of this data grab is to help identify tax evaders. However, the IRS has given no evidence of how this measure would help. In this proposal, financial institutions must report accounts with $600 or more of annual deposits or withdrawals. With this low threshold, this obviously isn’t a singular target on the top 1% of high earners, it’s a target on all Americans. 

If this Orwellian proposal passes, the government will conduct one of the largest data mining experiments in U.S. history. This proposal would threaten the financial security of more than 100 million Americans from all backgrounds and incomes. 

Being forced to hand over your personal household or small business financial records to the government as a law-abiding citizen is as intrusive as it gets. There are no guardrails in the bill for how the government can leverage this highly private information. This is another example of the Biden administration’s big government agenda to police and control the everyday lives of average Americans. 

Americans will abandon their right to privacy when the government has control of your financial records. Biden wants the federal government to be able to monitor what you are purchasing with your money. Being forced to hand over your financial records to the government is an invasion of privacy and is wrong. 

The federal government’s track record of keeping financial data secure is unreliable at best. The IRS is one of many government organizations that recently experienced a significant security data breach. Financial institutions would be forced to hand over their customers’ data, so that the IRS can spy on Americans’ finances. Consumers could not trust their local bank or credit union if their data is vulnerable to cybercriminal attacks and government surveillance. This would be a privacy nightmare. 

If this proposal passes, local Arizona banks and credit unions would be burdened with having to comply with its cumbersome, expensive requirements, and compelled to act as an operative in this exercise of espionage upon the American people. 

As the treasurer of Arizona, I cannot stand by while the Biden administration tries to subject Arizonans to this unprecedented power grab. We must say no to Big Brother government surveillance and yes to the right to protect our privacy. 

Kimberly Yee is the state treasurer of Arizona.