“By the end of this month, 90 percent of workers across the country will see more money in their take home paychecks. That’s because this Thursday, February 15, is the deadline for employers to start using the new IRS tax withholding tables.”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor on how tax relief is starting to show in Americans’ paychecks.
Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
“It seems like every day we get more good news about the tax relief law that Republicans have 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.
“That’s 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 the taxes work out pretty close at the end of the year.
“The IRS looked at the new tax law, and they saw that people were going to be paying lower taxes at the end of this year.
“So they put out the new tax tables, they told businesses to adjust how much to withhold from a person’s paycheck, and do it by February 15.
“For 90 percent of Americans, this tax amount is going to be lower – which means that their paychecks are going to be larger.
“A tax cut is the same as a raise.
“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’s over $1,300 for the year.
“To me, that’s very good news for American workers.
“On top of this, a lot of workers are getting special bonuses and raises because of the tax law.
“It seems like there are about four million hard-working Americans who are getting bonuses of hundreds, or even thousands of dollars that they’re seeing as a result of the new tax reform law.
“They’re also getting extra money in their retirement plans.
“They’re getting higher starting wages.
“We’re seeing many places increasing their starting wages –some up to $15 an hour.
“More than 300 companies have said that they’re increasing all of these kinds of compensation as a direct result of the tax law.
“In my home state of Wyoming, people across the state are getting bonuses.
“These are people who work at Home Depot, at Lowe’s, at WalMart, at Starbucks, at Wells Fargo, and other businesses that have familiar names to people across the country.
“They’re also people who are working at smaller businesses, like Jonah Bank in Wyoming.
“They have branches in Casper and in Cheyenne.
“Every employee of this bank is getting a $1,000 bonus.
“The bank is also increasing its giving in the communities where they have branches.
“The workers benefit, the communities benefit.
“That’s what happens when we change the tax law so Washington gets less and taxpayers get to keep more.
“That’s why I voted for the tax law – to give the kind of tax relief that made these bonuses and these pay raises possible.
“That’s good for Wyoming, and it’s good for people all across the country.
“It’s even good for people in states where their senators voted against the tax law.
“There’s a business in Grand Rapids, Michigan called Mill Steel Company.
“They said last week that they’re giving an extra $1,000 to their workers because of the tax law –that every Republican voted for and every Democrat voted against.
“Four hundred people at that company are getting the 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.
“Most recently she said that all of the benefits that people are getting under the tax law are in her words just ‘crumbs.’
“For a lot of Americans a thousand dollar bonus is much more than crumbs.
“An extra $1,300 in their paycheck –that’s much more than crumbs.
“A starting wage of $15 an hour is more than crumbs.
“It’s bad enough Democrats tried to keep people from getting the extra money.
“Now it seems that Democrats want to insult people by saying what they are seeing and what their benefits are resulting in crumbs.
“These are just some of the cash benefits workers are getting from the tax law.
“Republicans predicted during the debate over this law that there would be other benefits as well.
“We said that businesses would pay less in taxes, and some of them would be able to additionally cut prices for consumers.
“Americans are starting to see this prediction come true as well.
“One of the first places they’re seeing it is in their utility bills.
“Gas, and 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.
“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 that 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, that’s like a pay hike.
“They have more money to save or to spending on other things, to invest.
“The owner of a gym in Cincinnati, Ohio spoke with his local television station about what tax relief means for him.
“He said: ‘When people have extra money to spend, they spend 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 that Republicans passed.
“They have the extra money despite every Democrat in this body voting against tax relief.
“Democrats voted no to tax relief for American families, essentially voted yes to keep that extra money in Washington so they could decide how to spend it.
“For so many Americans, every dollar helps – they’re not crumbs.
“Democrats may not know the difference, but the American families do.
“The American people understand what Republicans did with this tax law.
“They’re seeing more money in their paychecks.
“They know that Republicans promised to cut people’s taxes – and people know that Republicans delivered on the promise.
“They know the benefits that they’ve gotten already, and they are confident that 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 giving them a tax break.
“The American people know who took their side 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 that we have promised and a job on which we have delivered.”
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