Working for Small-Town South Dakota
by Sen. John Thune
I was recently back in Murdo for my high school reunion, which coincided with the town’s 120th birthday. Visiting my hometown always brings back fond memories of growing up in Murdo and the sense of community, belonging, and responsibility that it instilled in me.
I’ll always be the son of a small town in South Dakota, and the values I learned in Murdo help to guide my work in Washington. I think about what regulations and other mandates will do to businesses like the Star Family Restaurant, where I got my start. I think about people living paycheck-to-paycheck, or harvest-to-harvest, and work to make sure government doesn’t stand in their way and take all the extra money in their budget.
It was small-town South Dakota that I had in mind last year when Republicans were working on the landmark Working Families Tax Cuts. Without action from Congress, a typical South Dakota family would have seen a $2,500 tax hike this year. Thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts, that tax hike didn’t come. More than that, Republicans delivered permanent tax relief, including raising the child tax credit and standard deduction, and we provided additional tax cuts on top of that. This landmark bill included no tax on tips and overtime and a new $6,000 senior deduction. All told, 97 percent of American taxpayers saw a tax cut this year, collectively saving $82 billion on their individual tax returns they would otherwise have sent to the IRS.
There was also good news in this bill for South Dakota’s Main Street businesses as well as the farmers and ranchers who are the lifeblood of our state. The 199A small business deduction and immediate expensing for new equipment are now permanent features of the tax code. These pro-growth tax policies free up cash so that small businesses, farms, and ranches can invest in their operations, whether hiring another employee or purchasing a new piece of equipment.
The Working Families Tax Cuts also protects a lot more family farms, ranches, and businesses from the death tax. It’s long been a priority of mine to lift this burden off of farmers, ranchers, and family businessowners, and I’m proud that these hardworking South Dakotans can breathe a sigh of relief because the Working Families Tax Cuts doubled the exemption threshold for the death tax. Now these folks can spend more time running their operation rather than worrying about the death tax and the estate planning that comes with it.
I’m a proud product of a small town, and I carry my Murdo values with me every day in the U.S. Senate. Whether it’s tax policy, agriculture policy, regulations, or anything else, small-town South Dakota is on my mind every day as I represent our state.
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