{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://dent.house.gov/2017/12/dent-tax-reform-will-benefit-the-people-of-the-15th-district", "Dent: \"Tax Reform Will Benefit the People of the 15th District\"", "2017-12-19", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Charlie Dent", "D000604", "dent.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. -Today, Representative Charlie Dent (PA-15) voted for the first major rewrite of the Federal Tax code in 31 years.\r\nThis legislation provides much needed tax relief for millions of American families and will make American businesses, large and small, more competitive so that they can grow and create more jobs in the United States, said Dent.\r\nDent cited a key provision in the reform bill and its impact on his constituents as a major factor in his decision. Tax data show that nearly 70 percent of the taxpayers in the 15th Congressional district of Pennsylvania do not itemize on their federal tax returns. That makes the near doubling of the standard deduction ($12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples), tied to lower income tax rates, a great benefit to the overwhelming majority of them, noted Dent.\r\nUnder this bill, the typical family of four earning the median family income of $73,000 will receive a tax cut of $2,059. He also applauded the doubling of the Child Tax Credit and the provision that raised the fully refundable portion of the credit to $1,400.\r\nRepresentative Dent also pointed to the business tax provisions in the bill and the benefits that would accrue to Americans workers and business owners.\r\nThis bill provides the key element necessary for economic growth and for curtailing corporate inversions  a competitive, stable corporate tax rate, said Dent. Our previous corporate tax rate of 35% was not competitive and it resulted in the creation of tens of thousands of pages of loopholes used by companies to reduce their effective rate, he said. Id rather see American businesses invest their time and capital in Research and Development, new equipment, new factories and hiring American workers and not on tax attorneys and compliance costs, he observed.\r\nFor these reasons, I support this important legislation and look forward to the Senates prompt approval and the Presidents signature, Dent concluded.\r\nPolicy Highlights of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) include:\r\n \r\nLowers individual taxes and sets the rates at 0%, 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%.\r\nIncreases the standard deduction to $12,000 and $24,000 for individuals and married couples, respectively.\r\nExpands the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000.\r\nPreserves the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.\r\nPreserves the mortgage interest deduction for homes up to $750,000.\r\nLowers the corporate tax rate to 21% beginning January 1, 2018.\r\nModernizes our international tax system.\r\n \r\n###\r\nCONTACT: Shawn Millan (610) 770-3490", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://dent.house.gov/2017/12/dent-tax-reform-will-benefit-the-people-of-the-15th-district"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6793489921838045, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}