Iowans are telling me tax relief and the economy is working for them.
Across Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, I am hearing from folks who are keeping more of their hard-earned money and businesses investing in their communities and creating jobs. The average Iowa family in the Third District is receiving a tax cut of nearly $3,000. For an Iowa family, this can go to paying for their child’s education, a much-needed family vacation, a car payment, or just saving for a rainy day.
The doubled child tax-credit in the new law also helps a family keep more to support their needs. This important tax relief law has been giving Iowa families more relief when it comes to their budgets.
I wrote here a few months ago about working to make tax relief for individuals, families, and small businesses permanent. I was pressing House leadership to take up legislation to accomplish this goal. Last week, the House passed legislation which makes tax cuts for individuals and small businesses permanent. Iowans and job creators need certainty in order to plan for the future. This is why locking in this historic tax relief has been a priority in Congress.
From Bondurant to Stuart to Oakland, small businesses are benefiting from lower taxes and 90 percent of Iowans are paying less taxes than they were just last year.
In Iowa, our unemployment rate has fallen to 2.5 percent – the second lowest in the country. I continually hear from businesses who can’t find the workers they need to fill orders and provide services. This competition for workers leads to wage growth and new data shows personal income in Iowa is up over five percent.
Recently, it was announced Iowa’s state budget would have a surplus of $127 million. Many largely credit this because of the new federal tax law. Because businesses have been unshackled from an outdated tax code which punished success, increased revenue has resulted in more tax revenue collected at every level of government – local, state, and federal.
And because of the new tax relief law, businesses are returning to the United States from domiciling overseas because of a lower and more competitive tax rate. Wage growth last month hit the highest levels since 2009. Jobs coming back to our shores and bigger paychecks for hardworking Iowans help build a healthier economy which benefit our families and communities.
The real data combined with what I hear from Iowans when I visit every county every month makes it clear – most Iowans believe and show they are better off now than they were just two years ago. We still have a lot of work to do and I’ll keep fighting for solutions for Iowans which provide economic security and opportunities for our families.