MY WEEKLY COLUMN: MAKING LIFE MORE AFFORDABLE FOR IOWA FAMILIES

The following information was released by the office of Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra:

This year, working with President Trump, I was laser-focused on lowering costs for Iowa families, farmers, seniors, workers, and small businesses after four years of the Biden administration's disastrous economic policies and skyrocketing inflation. As the only member of Congress serving on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, it was my mission to advance policies that drove economic growth in our communities, helped to create new jobs, and let Iowans keep more of their hard-earned money. I'm glad to say that by making Republican economic policies law we truly advanced an agenda that prioritized affordability for Iowans over more government bloat and bureaucracy, and we saw the early benefits of our economic plan with the recent announcement that our economy grew 4.3% in the third quarter fueled by consumer confidence.

As a father of four, I know how tight the family budget can be, and why tax relief is so critical to helping our families and communities grow and thrive. I kept this personal experience in mind when writing President Trump's "One, Big, Beautiful Bill" also know as the Working Families Tax Cuts. We made the doubled standard deduction permanent at nearly $32,000 for families, permanently increased the child tax credit to $2,200 and indexed it to inflation, and created new investment accounts for newborns. Because of our work, Iowans can expect, on average, $10,000 more in take-home pay next April because Republicans passed the largest tax cuts in U.S. history.

For young farmers, I included legislation to lower the cost of crop insurance so that our farmland is passed to the next generation not China or any other foreign adversaries and, for our agricultural community at large, I secured a $15 million exemption from the death tax so that we can continue our proud farming traditions in rural Iowa. We also increased outdated reference prices for corn and soybeans, doubled Section 179 expensing to help farmers finance new equipment purchases, and developed new immediate expensing for the construction of U.S.-based agricultural facilities and manufacturing plants, powering economic growth in our rural communities and brining manufacturing back to Iowa.

Our Working Families Tax Cuts plan further supported our small businesses and main streets. We made the 20% deduction on qualified business income from the first Trump tax cuts permanent and included my legislation to help small businesses offer paid family and medical leave to their employees. These two investments taken together let small business owners keep more of the money they earn while delivering great benefits for their workers and allowing them to hire and grow. We also completely eliminated taxes on tips and overtime for Iowa workers, ensuring that the extra effort they make to earn more money is rewarded, not punished. In that same vein, we ended taxes on Social Security so that our seniors, many of whom are on a fixed income, can keep more of the money they earned after a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice.

While our Working Families Tax Cuts included many important, pro-growth provisions that will be jet fuel for our economy and create jobs, I'm excited that President Trump's recent signature on the National Defense Authorization Act protects nearly 1,000 jobs at the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City, Iowa. I secured authorization to construct a new runway at the Sioux Gateway Airport so that the 322,000-pound KC-135 Stratotankers housed at the 185th can take off and land safely for various missions. This NDAA will bolster our community as it protects good-paying Iowa jobs, spurs economic growth, and keeps the 185th strong and operational. After years of advocacy, I'm glad that the 185th is on the path to getting a new runway that will strengthen our national security and support our troops.

As a strong fiscal conservative and unyielding advocate for tax cuts for working Iowans, our Republican economic agenda is an investment in Iowa families, farmers, workers, seniors, and small businesses. The recent growth our economy has experienced is just the beginning of an economic boom fueled by tax cuts, pro-growth policies, manufacturing onshoring, and business development. I will continue to work with President Trump to lower costs, grow our economy, and usher in America's golden age.