If you listen to the debate over affordability, you’d think the Working Families Tax Cuts failed. Critics point to today’s cost-of-living challenges as proof they aren't working.
Kent Strang
No one bill was ever going to solve everything. If we’re going to judge this law, which Congress approved one year ago, we ought to judge it by what it was actually designed to do.
After knocking on millions of doors nationwide since 2022, Americans for Prosperity volunteers heard one concern the most: the cost of living. Families feel squeezed. Our polling found that the cost of living is a top concern for 4 in 10 American voters.
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They’re not asking Washington to promise overnight transformation. They’re asking it to stop making life more expensive. Families want their paychecks to go a little further. Small-business owners want to be able to make payroll with confidence. They want to hire another employee, invest in their business and keep their doors open for years to come.
Letting people keep more of what they earn is a good place to start on some relief. And that’s exactly what the Working Families Tax Cuts were designed to do, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Working Families Tax Cuts prevented a tax increase that would have cost the typical family of four $1,500 a year. Tax Foundation estimates show the typical taxpayer is paying nearly $2,300 less in federal taxes this year.
For families feeling squeezed, keeping more of what they’ve earned provides a cushion when the grocery bill is higher than expected or when the utility bill comes due.
I’ve heard the same thing from small-business owners. They need breathing room, too. Some months, making payroll is hard enough. Adding another employee, buying a new piece of equipment or expanding into a larger space all become harder when the tax code penalizes those investments.
The Working Families Tax Cuts changed that. By restoring full expensing for equipment purchases and research and development, the law lets businesses invest in growing instead of taxing those investments. That’s not just good tax policy. It's another owner with a little more room to put another name on the payroll.
That shouldn’t surprise us. Good things happen when families have a little more, and when businesses are free to invest in new equipment, ideas and jobs.
The broader economic projections point in the same direction. The Congressional Budget Office projects stronger economic growth under the law. The Working Families Tax Cuts are removing barriers to investing, innovation and growth. And when we bet on Americans and trust them to invest in themselves and their businesses, our economy benefits.
There’s still more work to do to make life affordable. But we're making real progress. We shouldn’t lose sight of that.
The Working Families Tax Cuts are working.
