Broader Options for Americans Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, it seems as though just about every day we get more good news about the tax relief law that Republicans passed. This week, the news is getting even better for a lot of people all across the country.
By the end of this month, 90 percent of workers across the country will see more money in their take-home paychecks. It doesn't matter where they are. They can be in Meeteetse, WY, and they will see an increase in their paychecks this week. That is because this Thursday, February 15, is the deadline for employers to start using the new IRS tax withholding tables. The IRS tells employers how much money to withhold from people's paychecks so that their taxes work out pretty close at the end of the year. That is the way it is set up. Well, the IRS looked at the new tax law and saw that people are going to be paying lower taxes at the end of the year, so they put out the new tax tables. They told businesses to adjust how much money to withhold from a person's paycheck and to do it by February 15, tomorrow. For 90 percent of Americans, this tax amount is going to be lower, which means their paychecks are going to be larger. A tax cut is the same as a raise. That is what we are seeing all across the country--people getting a raise in their pay.
Some people have already gotten a paycheck with the new, higher wages. Others are going to get it very soon. The website Yahoo Finance crunched the numbers. They found that a typical worker making $60,000 a year will get an extra $112 in their paychecks every month because of the tax law. That is over $1,300 for the year. To me, that is very good news for American workers.
I was at home in Wyoming this past weekend, traveling around the State, and I am hearing about it in all the different communities I go to. People are saying: This has been better for me and my family personally.
On top of this, a lot of workers are getting special bonuses and raises because of the tax law. So not only are they getting more money because of the fact that the tax rates have been lowered, additionally, they are getting more money because they have gotten a raise or a bonus. It seems there are about 4 million hard-working Americans who are getting bonuses of hundreds or even thousands of dollars as a result of the new tax reform law. They are also getting extra money in their retirement plans. They are getting higher starting wages. We are seeing many places increasing the starting wages, some up to $15 an hour. More than 300 companies have said they are increasing all of these kinds of compensations as a direct result of the tax law.
In my home State of Wyoming, people across the State are getting bonuses--bonuses. These are people who work at Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, Starbucks, Wells Fargo, and other businesses that have familiar names to people across the country. They are also people who are working in smaller businesses, like the Jonah Bank in Wyoming. It has branches in Casper and in Cheyenne. It is not a nationally known bank, but it is very important in our State and in our communities. Every employee of this bank is getting a $1,000 bonus. The bank is also increasing its giving in the communities in which it has branches. Workers benefit, and the community benefits.
That is what happens when we change the tax law so Washington gets less and taxpayers get to keep more. That is why I voted for this tax law--to give the kind of tax relief that made these bonuses and these pay raises possible. It is good for Wyoming, and it is good for people all across the country.
It is interesting--it is even good for people in States whose Senators voted against the tax law. Ninety percent of people across the country are seeing the benefits no matter which State they are from.
There is a business in Grand Rapids, MI, called the Mill Steel Company. They said last week that they are giving an extra $1,000 to their workers because of the tax law that every Republican voted for and every Democrat voted against. Now, 400 people at that company are getting a bonus.
Michigan has two Democratic Senators. They both voted against the tax relief law. It still led to $1,000 bonuses for these 400 workers. What do the Senators have to say about it now? Are they proud that they voted against the tax law? Are they glad they said no to these sorts of raises that made it possible for people in their home States to get the bonuses?
We know what Nancy Pelosi thinks. She went out and first she talked about how the tax law was Armageddon, and then she said it was the end of the world. Most recently, she said all the benefits people are getting under the tax law, in her words, are just ``crumbs.'' ``Crumbs,'' she said. For her, it may be different, but for a lot of Americans, a $1,000 bonus--certainly for the people in my home State of Wyoming--is much more than crumbs. An extra $1,300--I talked about the worker earlier--in that paycheck is much more than crumbs. For a person with a starting wage of $15 an hour, that is more than crumbs.
It is bad enough Democrats tried to keep people from getting the extra money--Democrats voted against it because they didn't want people to get the extra money, it seems to me. It is hard to believe they would continue this way and take pride in voting against it, but they did. Now it seems like Democrats want to insult people by saying what they are seeing and what their benefits are, are resulting in crumbs. It is completely unfair, and I think it is disrespectful to the American people.
These are just some of the cash benefits workers are getting from the tax law. Republicans predicted, during the debate over this law, there would be other benefits as well. We said businesses would pay less in taxes, and some of them would be able to additionally cut prices for consumers--let people buy things more cheaply.
Americans are starting to see this prediction come true as well. One of the first places they are seeing it is in their utility bills. Gas, electric, and water utilities are cutting their rates because their taxes are going down under the law. In Vermont, the State's only natural gas utility company is cutting rates by more than 5 percent because of the tax law. Both of the Senators from Vermont voted against the law, but it is the law Republicans passed that caused these rates to go down. In fact, people living in at least 23 States and the District of Columbia are going to be paying lower utility bills because of the tax relief law. Another 26 States are looking into cutting rates. Rates are going down in California, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut--States where every Democratic Senator voted against the tax law.
What do these Democratic Senators have to say now? Are they proud of the fact they voted against the tax cuts that made it possible for people to have lower utility bills in their States? When people's monthly bills get cut, it is like a pay hike--more money in their own pockets. They have more money to either save or to spend on other things or to invest.
The owner of a gym in Cincinnati, OH, spoke with his local television station about what tax relief means for him. He said:
When people have that extra money to spend, they spend it.
Some save it.
They go out to eat. They buy gym memberships. And they enjoy themselves.
People have that extra money to spend now, today, because of the tax law Republicans passed. They have the extra money despite every Democrat in this body voting against tax relief. Every one of them said no. They all voted no. Democrats who voted no to tax relief for American families essentially voted yes to keep the extra money in Washington so they can decide how to spend it.
I have much more faith in people at home in Wyoming deciding how to spend their money than any faith I have in Washington, DC. For so many Americans, every dollar helps, and they are not crumbs. Democrats may not know the difference, but the American families do. People in every State of this country know the difference.
The American people understand what Republicans did with this tax law. They are seeing more money in their paychecks, more take-home pay, more money to decide what to spend and what to invest and what to save. They know Republicans promised to cut people's taxes. People know Republicans delivered on the promise. They know the benefits they have gotten already, and they are confident the economy will continue to grow stronger day by day.
People across the country also know the fact that every Democrat voted against this law, voted against giving them a tax break, voted against allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned money. The American people know who took their side, who voted for the American public versus who said no. Hard-working Americans asked us to do a job for them. Republicans are doing the job; Democrats in Washington certainly are not. Republicans are going to keep doing that job for the American people--a job we have promised and a job which we have delivered.
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