Northeast South Dakota News

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune addressed the Senate floor today, emphasizing the Republican Party's commitment to preventing a significant tax increase on American families. Thune highlighted that without congressional action, a typical family could face a $1,700 tax hike next year, with families in South Dakota potentially seeing an increase of $2,500.

Thune stated, "Republicans are determined to make sure that that doesn’t happen." He mentioned that the reconciliation bill being considered this week aims to extend and make permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This includes maintaining lowered tax rates for all income groups and enhancing provisions such as doubling the child tax credit and nearly doubling the standard deduction.

The proposed legislation also seeks to further improve on these measures by increasing the child tax credit to $2,200 per child and linking it permanently to inflation. Additional provisions include suspending taxes on tips and overtime pay for millions of workers and increasing the standard deduction for seniors.

Thune remarked on the economic benefits seen after the 2017 tax cuts: "Our economy grew at a substantially better rate than projected," with real wages increasing and unemployment reaching a 50-year low. The new bill intends to continue this trend by making pro-growth policies permanent, including lower rates for small businesses and full expensing for new equipment.

He noted potential positive outcomes from this legislation as forecasted by the Council of Economic Advisers: "as much as 4.9 percent higher GDP in the next few years," leading to more jobs, increased paychecks up to $10,900 per year for typical families, more opportunities, and additional revenue generated through economic growth rather than higher taxes.

Thune concluded his remarks with optimism about passing the bill soon: "We’re well on our way to getting this bill passed this week... Republicans are ready to deliver."