On January 6th, 2015, Senator Marion Michael “Mike” Rounds was sworn into the United States Senate. Senator Rounds serves on five committees: Senate Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Foreign Relations; Indian Affairs; and Veterans’ Affairs.
Rounds previously served as the 31st governor of South Dakota from 2003 – 2011, easily winning reelection in 2006. From 1991 to 2000, he was elected five times to the South Dakota State Senate. In 1995, his colleagues selected him to serve as Senate Majority Leader, a position that he held for six years. During his time in state government, Rounds was committed to growing the economy, keeping taxes low and strengthening South Dakota families.
Our current tax code is too complex, inefficient and long overdue for reform. The last major reform occurred 29 years ago when President Reagan signed the 1986 Tax Reform Act. Over this period of time, the tax code has grown by more than 40,000 pages. Additionally, according to the National Taxpayers Union, the cost of tax preparation cost taxpayers and businesses an estimated $202.1 billion this past year, due to 6.1 billion hours in labor lost complying with the tax code. I believe we must streamline our tax code, broaden our tax base and lower rates across the board. Making these changes will benefit the economy and protect hard-working South Dakota families from higher taxes.