Saturday, December 2, 2017 - WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, voted for landmark tax reform legislation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which passed the United States Senate today.
“The passage of this bill is a historic moment for Iowa and the entire country. It’s been more than 30 years since Congress passed significant tax reform. The good news is that this legislation will let Iowans keep more of their own hard-earned money, increase average wages and help create new jobs.
“This reform bill enacts across-the-board tax cuts, providing financial relief to middle-class and low-income earners who need it most. As just one example, an average family of four with two children would receive a $2,200 tax cut. Lowering taxes lets people decide how to spend more of their own money instead of Washington politicians. It would help working families struggling to make ends meet, allow farmers and small business owners to further expand and invest, and makes American jobs and workers more competitive globally.
“This bill also gets rid of the unfair and regressive Obamacare individual mandate tax, giving Iowans the freedom to make choices that work best for them instead of being forced by the federal government to purchase an unaffordable product they either don’t want or don’t need. More than 52,000 Iowans in 2015 were required to pay the individual mandate tax, even though more than 80 percent of those who paid the tax made less than $50,000 a year. That’s a tax on working families, and I’m hopeful to see it gone.
“The Senate passage of this legislation is a victory for Iowans of every income level and way of life, but there’s more work to be done. It now needs to be reconciled with the House-passed version. This is a once-in-a -generation opportunity to make lasting reforms to our broken and outdated tax code. I look forward to working with my House and Senate colleagues to draft a bicameral bill to be signed into law by the President.”
Grassley successfully included several provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, including whistleblower protections, taxpayer rights and corporate accountability measures. More information on these provisions is available here. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Grassley previously led through Congress $2 trillion in bipartisan tax relief, leaving more money in workers’ pockets, reducing tax rates across the board and spurring economic growth and activity. Congress later made permanent the vast majority of the Grassley-led measures with significant bipartisan support.
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