{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/thune-republicans-help-americas-small-businesses-grow-put-more-money-in-americans-pockets/", "Thune: Republicans Help America\u2019s Small Businesses Grow, Put More Money in Americans\u2019 Pockets", "2026-09-28", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as delivered):\n\n\u201cMadam President, so far this year, 4.3 million Americans have filed to start their own business.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a 13 percent increase over the same time last year.\n\n\u201cAnd as these entrepreneurs get underway, their businesses will be able to take advantage of the pro-growth tax reform that Republicans enacted last year in the Working Families Tax Cuts.\n\n\u201cAnd because we delivered permanent tax reform, an entire generation of American small business owners, entrepreneurs, and innovators will have a better environment in which to pursue their American Dream.\n\n\u201cMadam President, small businesses are already benefiting from this landmark law.\n\n\u201cThis year, 12 million small business owners saw a lower tax bill \u2013 a $7,000 average tax cut.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the result of lower tax rates across the board.\n\n\u201cThe permanent 199A small business deduction.\n\n\u201cImmediate expensing for new equipment and for factory construction.\n\n\u201cAnd the permanent research and development tax credit.\n\n\u201cMadam President, these tax policies are helping small businesses across an array of industries as well as family farms and ranches across America.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s certainly true in my home state of South Dakota.\n\n\u201cAn agricultural co-op in my state says the 199A small business deduction \u2013 which Republicans first implemented with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act back in 2017 \u2013 has allowed them to pass $140 million in tax savings back to South Dakota farmers over the last decade.\n\n\u201cA car dealership in Sioux Falls was able to put an addition on and hire 10 new employees thanks to the bonus depreciation provision.\n\n\u201cJust to the west, a rancher in Montana said that thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts\u2019 expensing provisions, his ranch, and I quote, \u2018will be able to upgrade equipment, increasing [its] efficiency without being hit by a huge tax burden.\u2019\n\n\u201cU.S. Metal Powders \u2013 a manufacturer in Palmerton, Pennsylvania \u2013 has broken ground on a new production line that will allow the business to double the size of its workforce.\n\n\u201cA convenience store operator in Denver has said the Working Families Tax Cuts will help him double the size of one of his stores and reopen two others \u2013 allowing him to grow job opportunities at his company by 50 percent.\n\n\u201cAnd they\u2019re not the only ones.\n\n\u201cBusinesses across the country have been able to make investments in new equipment, raise their employees\u2019 pay, and create jobs because of the tax policy in Republicans\u2019 landmark bill.\n\n\u201cMadam President, one thing that business owners invariably bring up when they talk about the Working Families Tax Cuts is what it does for their employees.\n\n\u201cThey talk about how they\u2019ve been able to increase pay \u2013 not to mention the fact that more of that pay stays in their employees\u2019 pockets.\n\n\u201cThe Working Families Tax Cuts was responsible for no tax on tips and overtime, which allows hardworking people to keep more of their hard-earned money.\n\n\u201cAnd then there are the benefits \u2026 employers \u2026 have been able to offer because of this legislation.\n\n\u201cA business owner in Chicago has made long-term investments in paid maternity leave and a 401(k) matching program.\n\n\u201cAnother company in Missouri is giving its employees a profit-sharing bonus.\n\n\u201cA number of employers are pledging to invest in the Trump Accounts that their employees have been able to set up for their children.\n\n\u201cAnd provisions in this legislation support employer efforts to offer child care and help repay their employees\u2019 student loans.\n\n\u201cMadam President, I said that the Working Families Tax Cuts provides tax relief that will help small businesses and family farms and ranches for years to come.\n\n\u201cAnd on that point, perhaps no policy is as significant as the death tax relief we provided in this bill.\n\n\u201cMadam President, for a lot of family businesses, especially ag families, the death tax has cast a dark shadow over their dream.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a cause for anxiety especially among farmers and ranchers \u2013 businesses that might look well-off on paper, but are actually cash poor.\n\n\u201cTheir wealth is tied up in land, tractors and combines, and livestock.\n\n\u201cBut because that doesn\u2019t matter when it comes to the death tax, many families have had to sell off all or part of their operation just to pay the tax bill when a family member dies.\n\n\u201cMadam President, eliminating this fundamentally unfair tax has long been a priority of mine.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m proud that the Working Families Tax Cuts permanently raised the exemption threshold on the death tax, which means that a lot more families will be protected from losing their livelihood when they lose a loved one.\n\n\u201cThis was an important priority for Republicans last year, and it\u2019s encouraging to see farmers and ranchers breathing a sigh of relief with the burden of this tax off of their shoulders.\n\n\u201cOne farmer in Iowa said, and I quote, \u2018One of my goals when I started farming was to be able to pass this farm onto the next generation, and I\u2019m doing that. I feel very good about that.\u2019\n\n\u201cA rancher in Montana said this, and again I quote, \u2018Without the estate tax reforms \u2026 ranches like ours would have likely had to decide whether to sell off cattle or land just to cover the tax bill when it was time to pass it [down]. Now we have a fair shot at keeping the whole ranch together for the next generation.\u2019\n\n\u201cThanks to this bill, Madam President, family farms and ranches and family businesses have a fair shot at staying in the family for generations to come.\n\n\u201cMadam President, these are just some of the results of the Working Families Tax Cuts.\n\n\u201cAnd I can\u2019t overstate how significant this bill is.\n\n\u201cThe owners of a small business in Arizona wrote in their local paper last year that if Congress had not passed the Working Families Tax Cuts, they \u2018would,\u2019 and I quote, \u2018have had to raise prices and cut costs, and over time, the pressure would have only increased.\u2019\n\n\u201cMadam President, they\u2019re not alone.\n\n\u201cThis Republican majority has worked hard to put more money in American families\u2019 pockets, in many cases by getting government out of the way.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve delivered permanent \u2013 permanent \u2013 tax relief.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve rescinded a number of Biden-era regulations that would have reduced choice and raised prices for Americans.\n\n\u201cWe passed a housing bill that eliminated a lot of red tape that has driven up the cost of homeownership, and implemented new measures to drive down prices at the pharmacy counter.\n\n\u201cMadam President, Republicans are working to put more money in hardworking Americans\u2019 pockets and to help \u2026 America\u2019s small businesses grow.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re setting the conditions for a brighter future and keeping the American Dream alive and strong for future generations.\u201d", 1, "2026-09-29T11:07:12Z", "2026-09-29T11:08:49Z"]], "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://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/thune-republicans-help-americas-small-businesses-grow-put-more-money-in-americans-pockets/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8318787440657616, "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"}