Work and production are coming back to Mahoning Valley, reviving its previous namesake as the “Steel Valley,” with the full investment of supporting the American worker with the passage of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, (https://home.treasury.gov/wftc/) Washington delivered the largest tax bill in nearly 10 years. These policies are not more government handouts or a subsidy; they are simply letting working people keep more of their own money.
This historic tax bill is hardly covered. Instead, the news is focused on who Stephen Colbert has on his cancelled late-night show. This is a concerted effort by the mainstream media to drown out the progress of the America First Agenda. In Ohio, these simple tax cuts make big differences. No federal income tax on tips, no federal income tax on overtime pay, and effectively eliminating the tax on Social Security for 88% of Ohio seniors. This means dollars staying in our pockets. These are factory workers, nurses, bartenders, truck drivers, and retirees across the Mahoning Valley, and across the country, keeping more of their money.
The benefits of this legislation to the American people are clear: (https://www.husted.senate.gov/contact/newsletters/progress-for-ohio-in-year-one/): lower taxes for working Ohioans, immediate expenses for new Ohio factories, and more than $202 million secured for Ohio’s rural hospitals (https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/cms-announces-50-billion-in-awards-to-strengthen-rural-health-in-all-50-states.html) through the Rural Health Transformation Fund created by this very law. The 20% small business deduction was preserved for 842,000 Ohio job creators. Manufacturers can immediately expense investments in new factories, machinery, and research. And the Child Tax Credit increase to $2,200 per child will serve 1.3 million Ohio families {https://www.husted.senate.gov/media/press-releases/husted-on-working-family-tax-cuts-this-budget-law-tailored-to-help-ohio/).
The Working Families Tax Cuts Act (https://congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1833) is not some government handout masquerading as good governance. A handout is when the government decides who deserves money and sends it to them. This law does the opposite: it allows you to keep more of your own money because you deserve it.
America was not built on redistribution. It was built on the proposition that your labor belongs to you.
The era of government deciding who gets to keep their paycheck is ending. This tax season, we will feel it directly. More money directly into our boxes and not offshored to Washington to decide how to spend, or waste, it.
America First tax policy that rewards hard work, respects overtime, admires tipped labor, and protects seniors is not radical. The Working Families Tax Cut Act puts that policy at the center stage, even if the media wants to dismiss it.
America works when working Americans keep more of what they earn. The numbers are proving it. Now it is time to make it permanent.
Travis Ricketts is the Ohio State Manager for America First Policy Institute.
