Minnesota lawmakers want IRS help in tracking missing kids

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen introduced legislation on Wednesday to make it easier for police to find missing children using federal tax information.

Many times, those children are abducted by other family members, who then use the kids' Social Security numbers to get a tax exemption. That gives the IRS the children's' current address, which it keeps on file.

Under current rules, that information is considered confidential, but Paulsen and Klobuchar's bill would let federal authorities share that information with local law enforcement. Klobuchar called the bill a no-brainer.

"So while our local police in Brooklyn Park or Fridley, Minnesota, are sitting there trying to scramble with limited resources to find these addresses, most likely a third of them are likely known by another branch of our government," Klobuchar said.

The House and Senate bills have bipartisan support.