Senator John Thune’s Weekly Column: Republicans’ Landmark Bill Gets to Work for South Dakotans

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Republicans’ Landmark Bill Gets to Work for South Dakotans
By Sen. John Thune

Last year, Republicans followed through on our promises to the American people by passing landmark legislation to support safer streets, put more money in hardworking Americans’ pockets, and create new opportunities to get ahead. The Working Families Tax Cuts that Republicans passed last July contains a decade of legislating in a single bill, and it will make a generational impact that the American people will begin to feel this year.

First and foremost is that the Working Families Tax Cuts delivered permanent tax relief for hardworking Americans, preventing a $2,500 tax hike on a typical South Dakota family beginning this year. As South Dakotans prepare to file their taxes, they can plan on taking advantage of a larger standard deduction, and seniors can claim an additional bonus deduction on top of that. We raised the child tax credit to $2,200 per child, which working families will be able to claim on this year’s tax return. Workers who earn tips and overtime pay won’t have to pay federal taxes on that income either. And all of that adds up to bigger tax refunds for a lot of South Dakotans in April.

Republicans’ landmark legislation also made a generational investment in rural health care. In the last two decades, more than 100 hospitals have closed across rural America. But thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts, help is on the way. This bill created a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program to address the rural health care crisis. Instead of a top-down approach centered in Washington, we gave states the resources and freedom to find solutions to their unique challenges. And in South Dakota, that funding will go toward creating regional hubs for emergency services, a major investment in telehealth, and to bolster our rural health care workforce, among other priorities.

This bill also made a significant investment in public safety and national security. It included funding for state and local law enforcement agencies, including efforts to combat violent crime and drug trafficking. It made a generational investment in border security, supporting the hiring of new enforcement agents, finishing the border wall, and deploying technology and resources to the southern border. And it supported much-needed efforts to modernize our military and ensure that America’s men and women in uniform have the very best capabilities to defend our national security from whatever threats may arise.

The contents and impact of this legislation are significant, and there’s much more I could say about it. I could talk about its sizeable investment in the programs that farmers and ranchers depend on; or tax policies that help small businesses grow; or its provisions addressing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs. This bill is filled with wins for the American people, and I can’t wait for that story to unfold in South Dakota and in every corner of America.

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24 thoughts on “Senator John Thune’s Weekly Column: Republicans’ Landmark Bill Gets to Work for South Dakotans”

  1. Sen. Thune writes: “And it supported much-needed efforts to modernize our military and ensure that America’s men and women in uniform have the very best capabilities to defend our national security from whatever threats may arise.”

    Threats? Oh, maybe he means from Greenland? Here is what our president had to say today, about taking over that country (CNBC):

    “whether they like it or not”… “I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way”

    I had to Google it elsewhere because it was just too crazy to be true. But it is true. He really did say it. So, does our Senator approve of this wacko idea too?

  2. The major benefit if the Big Beautiful Bill that Senator Thune renames is the permanent tax cuts it codified for the mega-wealthy. Did they really need another tax cut and can the government afford this with an already $2 trillion budget deficit?

    1. Here’s how money works: When the mega-wealthy get to keep their money, they use it to invest in businesses which hire people. The money goes to producers who want to work.
      When the mega-wealthy pay high taxes, the government takes the money and gives it away to parasites who don’t want to work.
      We can choose between an economy which encourages producers, or one which encourages parasites.
      The trouble with parasites is, if you don’t keep their numbers in check, eventually they will overwhelm the host and cause its demise, so limiting access to health care becomes necessary.
      Obamacare is already working as planned.

      1. And that is why Americans have suffered decreased quality of life, education, healthcare, jobs, and record income equality for 70 years while the wealthy get richer! Yeah, that makes a lot of sense!

      2. There it is folks, the party made of individuals claiming to be “Christians” doesn’t care about anyone that’s not rich. How Christ-like.

          1. What percentage of the federal funding you call “welfare” is for Ellsworth and the tribes?

    2. Anon 10:57P, WOW thanks for keeping Reagan-era welfare queen nonsense alive and kicking. Trump and Doge have riddled the US with jenga-tower collapse points the likes of which we have never endured. 2025 was the year of slow swaying teeter, 2026 could well be the fall of it.
      If you’re keeping track, REPUBLICANS have caused all the damage through cowardly inaction and service to Trump’s world-crashing plans. Republicans did this to us, and keep trying to clothe it in words of success and prosperity.
      Enough with the lies. Quit the party, it’s a mafia now.

        1. Biden provided the best economic recovery in the entire world to covid and Trump is finding a way to destroy it with a self inflicted recession to transfer more wealth to the top. You guys really do have Trump Delusion Syndrome.

          1. Self inflicted recession? Try CoPilot:

            The last recession in the United States occurred in 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. This recession was relatively short-lived, lasting only a few months as millions of Americans faced job losses and large-scale shutdowns.

            You apparently let your blind hatred for President Trump cloud your thought processes…but then you are a libturd so there is that.

        2. Anon 9:25 you are the mafia too so cram your TDS bs wherever it will fit. Biden was an AMERICAN president, Trump is a Putin clone. A poor one fortunately like Orban.

              1. Oh do go on. You and the other lefty lunatics lied about Bidum for 4 years (Joe is as sharp as ever…while getting lost on stage and shaking hands with people who aren’t there).

                Deal with it, President Trump is fixing what Resident Bidum broke.

  3. You bettcha John!
    Year to date soybean sales from Brazil to
    China ……110 MILLION METRIC TONS.

    Year to date soybean sales from the U. S. A.
    to China…….10 MILLION METRIC TONS.

    I can’t believe how well this is working out for South Dakota farmers.
    Poke yourselves in the eye with a pencil and then bitch because you can’t see too well.

    And you think that Trump and Thune give a crap about you.
    Check out AG related suicide and get back to me.

  4. To anonymous at 10:57, wow! So lower and lower middle class Americans are parasites not deserving of health care. Among other adjectives, that attitude is reprehensible.

    1. It’s one thing to require public assistance during a rough patch. That’s why the first word in TANF is TEMPORARY.
      It’s not supposed to be a multi-generational lifestyle.
      Medicaid now covers 41-42% of all births in the United States.
      Think about that for a hot minute: 41-42% of children are born to parents who can’t even support themselves, much less a child.
      If you can’t support yourself, why are you having kids???
      And why is it reprehensible to point out something so obvious?

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