Congresswoman Susan Brooks (R-IN5) recently spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to celebrate the six-month anniversary of the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Below are her remarks.
Brooks
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a number of my colleagues from Indiana and Ohio, the great Midwest, to celebrate the six-month anniversary of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act being signed into law. Our previous tax code was written more than 30 years ago and became broken, outdated, and overly complicated, and desperately needed to be reworked so Americans could receive much-needed relief. It was failing to support families with the resources they need in order to properly plan for their futures. Our tax code left those who were struggling to make ends meet behind. But on Dec. 22, 2017, that began to change when the president signed H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, into law.
“In six short months, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act is already working for those who need it most, our country’s hardworking middle class families and workers, allowing Americans across the country, and in Indiana, to keep more of their income. For the typical family of four nationwide earning the median family income of $73,000, with this new law, they will now receive a tax cut of $2,059. In the Fifth District of Indiana – central Indiana, which I represent – the average family of four is saving even more than that, at about $2,590, and the average single person is saving about $1,716 dollars. These savings allow people to put money aside for things like continued education; payments toward a new home; and, overall, provide relief by making the cost of living just that much more manageable. Additionally, more than $4 billion in bonuses have been given out to employees all across the country – $4 billion. Our nation’s unemployment has fallen to the lowest in 17 years, an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent as of May of this year.
“Market confidence is also high. Our economy is booming, with 63 percent of small businesses saying they feel optimistic about the direction of our economy and 77 percent of manufacturers are planning on hiring new employees. This is good news, because when our economy grows, everyone benefits.
“A constituent of mine from Pendleton, who owns a restaurant, recently told me that instead of having to shut down for several days for repairs when a vital piece of his kitchen equipment broke, he was able to purchase a newer, more efficient model and remain open thanks to the new expensing provisions in the tax law.
“I also heard from a Hoosier who came to D.C. with NFIB [National Federation of Independent Business] who is now able to provide his employees health insurance thanks to the savings he has seen through the savings for small businesses resulting from the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. This critical benefit has helped him retain workers – he, I recall, had eight employees – and is allowing him to recruit even better talent to further grow his operations.
“These stories are just two of millions from across the country showing just how much tax reform changes people’s lives for the better and will provide certainty and optimism for much brighter futures. Still more good news is to come as Americans file their taxes next April for the first time using the new system.
“… There are companies throughout Indiana, companies like First Merchants Bank, one of the first in Indiana to announce they were going to have an hourly wage increase and $500 bonus for non-senior management; a company in my district, one of the larger employers, Hoosier Park Casino, all employees received a $500 bonus after the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act was announced; Fifth Third Bank, $1,000 bonuses to over 13,000 employees, and they also raised the minimum wage.
“These are the types of stories that we have heard, whether it is from small companies or from large, national companies and companies that do business all across the country. They are competing for workers, and when they are competing for workers, the workers and the employees are winning because everyone is hiring and everyone is trying to compete … Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to have been a part of the passage of this historic Tax Cuts & Jobs Act …”