Tom Reed

U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, said Congress will start this week continuing to build upon the tax relief package of last year with a new bill called “Tax Reform 2.0.”

During his weekly conference call with regional media, Reed highlighted what he refereed to as successes from last year’s tax relief program. He said the average family of four in the 23rd Congressional District witnessed an additional $1,600 a year because of “Tax Reform 1.0.” Additionally, he said more than 1.7 million new jobs were created, with the lowest unemployment claims since the 1960s and the fastest wage growth since 2009.

“The tax cuts passed last year boosted jobs and allowed hard working people to keep more of their paycheck,” he said. “Nearly everyone who wants a job is able to get a job and wages are rising – great news for our friends and neighbors.”

Due to the tax cuts, several businesses in the district gave pay raises, bonuses and better benefits to employees, Reed said. Examples given included Cummins in Jamestown raising its minimum entry-level wage to $15 per hour and expanded plans to allow additional paid time off for new parents. The company also decreased the out-of-pocket maximums required to be paid by its employees for health care and added $1,000 to each of their 2018 Health Savings Accounts.

Reed also discussed Home Depot, which has a location in West Ellicott, giving employees up to a $1,000 bonus.

As the Ways and Means Committee meets this week, Reed said they will start work on tax cuts 2.0, which will include a provision to make both the tax cuts and the $2,000 child tax credit permanent to create certainty for families.

“Now with tax cuts 2.0 we are working to make tax cuts permanent and make it easier for families to invest their money in both their own and their children’s future,” Tom said. “We care about providing for our neighbors and feel we should update our tax code every year to ensure it is treating people as fairly as possible.”

Reed said the new tax cut plan is projected to create 1.5 million new jobs, increase wages by .9 percent and increase the Gross Domestic Product by 2.2 percent.

During the conference call, Reed also honored the memory of the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, as he held a one minute moment of silence.