Reforming Our Tax Code, Reducing Red Tape and Balancing the Budget

We need a common sense plan for growing our economy and that means creating an environment that allows businesses to expand so that the millions of Americans lacking work can find a good job. That means reforming our tax code and putting the brakes on new government regulations and red tape that stand in the way of job-creation.

Reforming and Simplifying our Tax Code: Congress passed and the President signed into law historic tax reform legislation which closes loopholes, lowers individual brackets and cuts taxes on businesses. According to the House Ways and Means Committee, a family of four in Brevard County with a household income of $77,359 will see a $2,189 Tax Cut. Single workers with no children with a house hold income of $50,752 will see a $1,214 Tax Cut. To further reform and simplify our tax code, Rep. Posey is an original cosponsor of H.R. 25, the Fair Tax Act.

The President signed into law Rep. Posey’s bipartisan bill, the Seniors' Tax Simplification Act of 2017, to simplify tax filing for seniors citizens. This legislation directs the IRS to create a new tax filing form for senior citizens (65+) who do not have complicated taxes -- including Social Security, distributions from retirement plans, annuities, interest and dividends, or capital gains or losses.

Eliminating Regulatory Barriers: Not all regulations are bad, and sometimes new regulations are necessary. But overregulation can have a chilling effect on economic growth. Increased costs from regulations put heavier burdens on businesses as business owners spend more to comply with government red tape and less on hiring/rewarding workers. According to a September 2010 Small Business Administration study, the annual regulatory compliance cost for small businesses is estimated to be over $10,000 per employee. American businesses cannot prosper and create jobs under the mountain of new regulations coming from the Administration.

Working with the President, Congress has made rolling back costly red-tape and regulatory reform a top priority. Using the Congressional Review Act, last year Congress voted to repeal 15 costly rules. With Rep. Posey’s support, the House passed the Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 5) to require agencies to choose the lowest-cost rulemaking alternative that meets statutory objectives and opens the rulemaking process up to more public scrutiny and input.

Also, the House passed Rep. Posey’s bipartisan legislation to make the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau more accountable and responsive by requiring it to provide written advisory opinions on how to conform to their rules. IRS, FTC, Dept. of Labor already requires this. In June the House passed Rep. Posey’s bipartisan legislation to protect credit union members by delaying a harmful new rule imposed on credit unions requiring large sums of capital to be set aside hindering their ability to loan money and provide other services. Also, in July, the House Financial Services Committee approved Rep. Posey’s legislation to provide mainly low and middle income home buyers with options for more competitive interest rates. My bill adds more clarity to a flawed rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Balancing the Budget: A balanced budget means our government is operating without a deficit, leading to a stronger currency and economy. It’s wrong to put America’s debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren. Rep. Posey has cosponsored and supported a Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment and believes that today’s overspending will be our children and grandchildren’s burden to bear in life.

The Balanced Budget Amendment fell one vote of passing the U.S. Senate in 1997 when the national debt was $5 trillion. At the time Senate Democrats said that we did not need a BBA to balance the budget because Washington could do it on its own. How wrong they were. Today, the national debt stands at more than $17 trillion. Where would we be today had the BBA been passed into law requiring the federal government to do what nearly every state law requires: a balanced budget. Both parties are at fault and it is long past due that Congress passes a BBA Amendment and sends it to the state for consideration.