WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio-15), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, published an op-ed in The Columbus Dispatch titled, “I am working to lower taxes for struggling Ohioans. I heard them at town hall,” discussing the urgent need for tax relief for Ohioans and all Americans as critical provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire at the end of 2025. Yesterday, Rep. Carey voted to advance critical tax legislation out of the Ways and Means Committee after a marathon 17-hour markup.
“Our solution is simple: put more money in the pockets of everyday working Americans and their families by letting them keep even more of their hard-earned income. We want to work with President Trump and the U.S. Senate to give Americans the certainty that they won’t see their taxes increase next year and renew the American Dream,” Rep. Carey wrote.
Full text of Rep. Carey’s op-ed can be found here and below:
Title: I am working to lower taxes for Struggling Ohioans. I heard them at town hall.
Author: U.S. Congressman Mike Carey (R-Ohio-15)
Words: 658
Ohioans face a major problem at the end of this year: working families could see the largest tax increase in American history at the end of 2025 when critical provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire.
During my telephone town hall in April, I connected with over 14,000 of my constituents here in Ohio, including retired seniors on fixed incomes, veterans and working families.
I heard stories from them about struggling to get by as years of high inflation increased the cost of housing, gas and groceries, hurting their ability to save and invest in their futures.
Forcing them to stomach the largest tax increase in our nation’s history would only make it harder for them and their families to thrive.
I don’t want that to happen, and we are working in Congress to prevent it.
In real terms, a family of four making our district’s median income would see a $1,540 tax increase in their annual tax bill if the 2017 tax cuts expire.
That equates to the average cost of eight weeks of groceries for that same family. That’s no small number.
That’s money families could be budgeting for childcare, gas or a mortgage.
It’s money they could be putting away and saving for their kids’ college educations.
In short — it’s money that families can use to improve their lives.
There are more than 464,000 taxpayers in our district, and they all face a tax hike if Congress doesn’t act.
There are over 88,000 families in our district that would see their Child Tax Credit cut in half if Congress takes no action. That’s a tax increase of $1,000 per child that families would pay each year. I want to prevent that from happening.
Additionally, 92% of taxpayers in our district would see their Guaranteed Deduction reduced by 50%.
56,640 small businesses in our communities could see their tax rate hit 43.4% with a lapse in the 199A Small Business Deduction.
In the agriculture industry, over 3,000 family farms in our communities could see their Death Tax Exemption reduced by 50%.
What does this all mean? It means families with children, small businesses and the farmers that feed America are all staring down a historic tax increase next year.
However, in Congress, I am working alongside my colleagues to prevent this massive tax hike. We are currently working to extend the 2017 tax cuts, which will ensure that Ohio families and workers don’t see a tax increase.
And we’re not stopping there. We want to deliver on President Donald Trump’s agenda that he discussed repeatedly during the campaign and during his joint address to Congress in March.
They are removing taxes on tips, removing taxes on overtime pay, lowering the tax burden on seniors, as well as allowing families to deduct the interest on cars assembled right here in America.
These are all goals we seek to accomplish in the reconciliation bill before Congress.
By reducing these taxes, we will put more money back in the wallets of working families and retired seniors where it belongs.
These are real, concrete policies that make a difference in the lives of Ohioans in our district and across our whole nation.
They’re a direct response to the concerns I hear from workers in our district.
Last year, I traveled across our district, Ohio and the country with other members of the Ways and Means Committee and heard firsthand from everyday Americans who felt the pain of high costs and how higher taxes would hurt them.
A massive tax increase would damage their family’s ability to live the American Dream.
Our solution is simple: put more money in the pockets of everyday working Americans and their families by letting them keep even more of their hard-earned income.
We want to work with the president and the U.S. Senate to give Americans the certainty that they won’t see their taxes increase next year and renew the American Dream.
Congressman Mike Carey represents Ohio’s Fifteenth Congressional District, serving communities in Franklin, Fayette, Clark, Madison, Shelby, and Miami counties. Congressman Carey is a member of the Ways and Means Committee, the committee charged with tax policy in Congress. He also sits on the House Budget Committee and House Committee on Administration.
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