For the first time since 2000, there are more job openings than there are people looking for jobs. Across the Third District, Iowans are seeing bigger paychecks as a result of tax relief signed into law last year. Nationally, 90 percent of workers are taking home more money than they were before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law.
The bottom line for Iowans: more individuals and families have more of their hard-earned money to save or spend however they please, and small businesses have the ability to increase wages and expand their operations.
The latest monthly jobs report showed 213,000 jobs were added in June and the national unemployment rate actually rose from 3.8 percent to 4 percent. You may be wondering how we can add jobs while the unemployment rate increases. Because our economy is strong, people who were not looking for work before now want to participate in our growing economy and have decided to look for a job and are getting back to work.
Our economy is better off now than it was just two years ago. And we are just are just getting started.
I have said since we began debating the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, tax relief for individuals should be made permanent. I’m pushing House leadership to take up legislation and vote to do this. This will provide even more certainty for families and businesses planning for their future.
In Congress, we’ve been successful in reducing red tape and repealing burdensome rules and regulations. We need commonsense regulations that don’t stifle growth or mandate one-size-fits-all approaches from Washington. Input from stakeholders – those workers and businesses affected in our communities – needs to be considered when it comes to the need for regulations.
One of my bills, The Fingerprints Act, requires those in federal agencies and departments writing rules and regulations to reveal who they are and sign their names – therefore showing authorship – when any rules or regulations are introduced for implementation.
When I, or any other member, offer an amendment or a bill, we have to put our name on it. We have to own it. When businesses across Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District put out a product, they put their name on it. Why should those in the Executive Branch writing rules and regulations be exempt from the public knowing who authored them? When you put your name on a product, there’s more transparency and accountability. And a better product is offered.
Three things are important to growing our economy: a rewarding tax code, common sense regulations, and a strong trade agenda. The tax and regulatory relief policies enacted by this Congress have led to economic growth and brought people back into the workforce. However, the trade war with tariffs on imports and exports threaten to undermine the economic growth we have achieved by hurting workers and employers.
I will continue working to end escalating trade tensions and pushing for open markets for Iowa’s goods and services. And as the summer continues, I will continue to advocate Iowans have the tools and flexibility they need to be successful and contribute to our growing economy.