{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/thune-republicans-working-families-tax-cuts-law-is-delivering-for-hardworking-americans/", "Thune: Republicans\u2019 Working Families Tax Cuts Law Is Delivering for Hardworking Americans", "2026-08-04", "2026", "2026-08", "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\u201cMr. President, a week or two ago I came down to the floor and talked about growing up in a small town in South Dakota.\n\n\u201cAnd as I said in those remarks, I carry those South Dakotans with me in a special way in my work here in Washington.\n\n\u201cWhen I consider bills or look at regulations, I think about what kind of impact they will have on those Americans \u2013 on hardworking people without a lot of extra money in the budget.\n\n\u201cOn people living paycheck-to-paycheck \u2013 or, as was the case with some of the farmers I grew up with, harvest-to-harvest.\n\n\u201cI think about how to ensure that government isn\u2019t standing in their way \u2013 or taking up all the extra money in their budget.\n\n\u201cAnd it was hardworking Americans like the South Dakotans I grew up with who were at the top of my mind when Republicans drafted our landmark tax relief legislation back in 2017.\n\n\u201cThe Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cut tax rates across the board, doubled the child tax credit, and nearly doubled the standard deduction.\n\n\u201cIt put more money in hardworking Americans\u2019 pockets: money that they were able to use for their particular needs \u2013 from child care to home repairs to medical bills to a family vacation.\n\n\u201cAnd those same hardworking Americans were our focus last year when we passed the Working Families Tax Cuts.\n\n\u201cOur first aim with the Working Families Tax Cut was making the 2017 tax relief permanent.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly what we did.\n\n\u201cWe made the lower tax rates permanent.\n\n\u201cWe made the increased child tax credit permanent.\n\n\u201cAnd we made the increased standard deduction permanent.\n\n\u201cBut that was just the beginning.\n\n\u201cWe weren\u2019t content with a permanent extension of the 2017 tax relief.\n\n\u201cWe wanted to do more for working families.\n\n\u201cAnd so that\u2019s what we did.\n\n\u201cAs I said, our 2017 tax relief bill doubled the child tax credit.\n\n\u201cWell, the Working Families Tax Cuts not only made that permanent, it increased the child tax credit even further \u2013 and then indexed it to inflation, so its value will never go down.\n\n\u201cI said the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act nearly doubled the standard deduction.\n\n\u201cWell, the Working Families Tax Cuts boosted the standard deduction even further.\n\n\u201cAnd we didn\u2019t stop there.\n\n\u201cWe instituted two big new tax relief measures \u2013 no tax on tips and no tax on overtime.\n\n\u201cThat meant major new tax relief for a whole host of working Americans.\n\n\u201cWaiters.\n\n\u201cDelivery people.\n\n\u201cBartenders.\n\n\u201cUber and Lyft drivers.\n\n\u201cNurses.\n\n\u201cFactory workers.\n\n\u201cParamedics.\n\n\u201cPolice officers.\n\n\u201cAnd many others.\n\n\u201cAnd that still isn\u2019t all.\n\n\u201cWe instituted a new, $6,000 bonus deduction for seniors.\n\n\u201cAnd we created new, tax-advantaged investment accounts to help parents save for their children\u2019s futures \u2013 starting with an initial $1,000 investment from the federal government for babies born between 2025 and 2028.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s far from the only thing we did to help the next generation get a head start on their American Dream.\n\n\u201cThe Working Families Tax Cuts also made some significant improvements to the traditional 529 education savings plan, allowing those savings to be used for a greater variety of education-related expenses \u2013 like tutoring or homeschool materials, and vocational and continuing education.\n\n\u201cOn the higher education side, we implemented accountability and reforms that put downward pressure on the cost of college degrees.\n\n\u201cWe also made permanent a policy I authored that allows \u2026 employers to pay off a portion of their employees\u2019 student loans without the employee having to pay taxes on the repayment amount.\n\n\u201cAnd on top of all that, we created the Workforce Pell program, which will provide financial assistance to Americans in shorter-term skills and career-training programs \u2013 whether they\u2019re just starting out, or looking to switch careers or develop new skills in their current field.\n\n\u201cMr. President, this tax season, more than 35 million seniors claimed the new bonus deduction for older Americans.\n\n\u201cMore than 29 million American workers were able to deduct overtime pay from their taxes, resulting in substantial tax savings.\n\n\u201cAnd more than 7.5 million workers deducted their tips on their taxes, ensuring that they were able to keep more of their hard-earned money.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s not to even mention the countless hardworking Americans who were able to take advantage of the increased standard deduction and the enhanced child tax credit.\n\n\u201cTax refunds were up this tax season, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s no surprise.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the Working Families Tax Cuts at work.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I may live in Sioux Falls now, which is one of South Dakota\u2019s bigger cities, but I still spend a lot of time in small-town South Dakota.\n\n\u201cAnd whenever I\u2019m there, I\u2019m proud to be able to share the details of the Working Families Tax Cuts and report that Republicans are delivering for working families.\n\n\u201cAnd we are going to continue to build on the Working Families Tax Cuts to expand opportunity and make life more affordable for hardworking Americans.\u201d", 1, "2026-08-05T07:37:37Z", "2026-08-05T07:38:44Z"]], "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-working-families-tax-cuts-law-is-delivering-for-hardworking-americans/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4646758791059256, "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"}