Republicans in Dallas had plenty to say about last year’s Working Families Tax Cuts bill. Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith made the case directly, recounting the marching orders he gave his colleagues when he took the committee gavel:

When I was selected by my colleagues to chair the House Ways and Means Committee, I told them that we were done writing tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. Our priority was going to the working class, men and women we represent in Washington….

Today, thanks to the working families tax cuts, if you are a family of four and make less than $73,000 a year or less in the United States, you pay zero in federal taxes because of the big beautiful bill…The personal stories I’ve heard from working families across the country speak to the real impact this tax relief has had on their lives.

House Speaker Mike Johnson followed suit:

We delivered the largest middle and working-class tax cut ever in history…97% of filers got a tax cut this year, averaging $3,400 each. That’s more money in your pockets and less to Uncle Sam.

Millions have claimed no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, the enhanced senior deduction. Nearly 40 million families claimed the enhanced child tax credit. And more than 127 million taxpayers benefited from the permanently doubled standard deduction.

Don’t forget the benefits for Main Street businesses included as well. For small- and family-owned businesses, the Working Families Tax Cut bill offered major tax relief that encouraged them to hire more workers and invest more in their communities, including:

  • Permanent 199A: Made the 20-percent Main Street deduction permanent, staving off a looming rate hike on over 26 million pass-through businesses;
  • Immediate Expensing: Restored 100-percent bonus depreciation and full R&D expensing, letting businesses write off investments in new equipment, machinery, and innovation right away;
  • Permanent Lower Rates: Locked in the individual rates Main Street businesses pay, avoiding a massive tax hike and allowing private companies to stay competitive with their C corporation competition; and
  • SALT Parity: Preserved state laws that restore the federal SALT deduction for pass-through businesses, the same treatment public corporation already get.

Representative Rob Bresnahan, himself a business owner, explained the importance of the tax bill from the Main Street perspective:

Every decision Washington makes can determine if the next investment or the next job happens here in America or somewhere else. That’s why tax relief matters. When manufacturers can keep more of what they earn, they can buy equipment, hire workers, and train apprentices, and the people doing the work should keep more of what they earn, too.

That’s the second half of the Working Families Tax Cuts benefits, and it’s a story we’re going to continue telling.