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A look at the year past in Washington, D.C. |
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January 20, 2018 |
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Mike Crapo and James Risch visit with
Pocatello Judge David Nye prior to his
confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.
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By U.S. Senator Mike Crapo
With Congress back in session, I want to take a
brief moment to update you on some of the
legislative accomplishments from 2017 that you
may have missed.
First, and perhaps the most noteworthy, tax
reform was passed by Congress and signed into
law by the President. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,
signed by the President on December 21, will
generate higher wages, greater job opportunities
and a more vibrant economy for all Idahoans.
We are already seeing the results of that law as
companies that operate and are based in Idaho
announce bonuses and wage increases.
Melaleuca, based in Idaho Falls, announced it
would give employees bonuses based on how many
years they have worked with the company. Other
companies that employ Idahoans, including Zions
Bank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and AT&T, have
also announced they would award bonuses to
employees and raise wages.
U.S. Bank, for example, announced it would raise
its minimum wage for hourly employees to $15 per
hour.
These, and numerous other announcements from
coast to coast, are significant achievements
made possible through the tax reform legislation
passed by Congress.
Idahoans in every income group will see a
reduction in their tax burdens, with the largest
percentage reductions benefiting those in lower
and middle-income tax categories.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes other
significant reforms. Here are a few highlights:
• Lowers individual tax rates to 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35 and 37 percent;
• Increases the Standard Deduction—from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals
and $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples
filing jointly;
• Establishes a new Family Credit—which includes expanding the Child Tax
Credit from $1,000 to $2,000 for each child and
providing new credits of $500 each for other
dependents;
• Preserves the Adoption Tax Credit; the deduction for charitable
contributions; the home mortgage interest
deduction for existing mortgages and maintains
the home mortgage interest deduction for newly
purchased homes for interest on up to $750,000
of mortgage principal;
• Continues to allow people to write off the cost of state and local
taxes up to $10,000 for both property and income
(or sales) taxes;
• Increases thresholds for the Alternative Minimum Tax are increased to
$1 million for married couples and $500,000 for
individuals;
• Eliminates the Obamacare individual mandate penalty beginning January
1, 2019;
• Provides immediate relief from the Estate Tax by doubling the exemption
amount; and
• Provides support for graduate students by continuing to reduce the
value of reduced tuition from taxes.
This law is already strengthening our economic
competitiveness as shown by the announcements
made by these companies.
Those listed here are but a small sampling of
the hundreds of decisions that have been made
across the nation. As a senior member of the
Senate Finance Committee, I am proud to have
joined my committee colleagues in advancing this
bill through the Senate and into law.
In addition to tax reform, Congress made other
significant legislative accomplishments this
past year in 2017.
With Idaho’s dual waiver initiative in mind, I
collaborated with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah),
Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, on a
proposal to modify the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act’s section 1332 state
innovation waivers.
This measure would provide Idaho with the
flexibility to tailor a health care system that
meets the needs of Idahoans. Further, as part of
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Congress repealed
Obamacare's individual mandate, which required
individuals to buy health insurance or face a
penalty fee.
This was a core piece of Obamacare and its
repeal will save lower-and middle-income-class
Idahoans from being forced to purchase a product
they do not want. This is a significant step as
Congress works toward fully rolling-back
Obamacare and the numerous tax hikes contained
within the law.
Working with Representative Raul Labrador,
Senator Risch and I introduced the Senate
version of the Shauna Hill Post-9/11 Education
Benefits Transferability Act, S. 410.
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate
passed the legislation as part of the S. 1598,
the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational
Assistance Act of 2017. It gives veterans
greater flexibility to transfer their education
benefits to a dependent.
The legislation is named for Idahoan Shauna
Hill, a 16-year-old junior at Eagle High School
who was killed in an automobile accident in
2012. Her father, Captain Edward Hill, then
sought to reassign his education benefits to his
younger daughter, Haley.
However, until this recent change in the law,
statute prevented a veteran from transferring
education benefits after retirement. Now, this
unnecessarily rigid restriction has been removed
allowing veterans to reassign benefits in the
event the original recipient dies, even after
the service member retires.
In March, the Senate Judiciary Committee, of
which I am a member, held four days confirmation
hearings on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to
serve as a justice of the Supreme Court. The
Senate confirmed Gorsuch in April as the newest
justice on the court.
In addition to confirming Justice Gorsuch, the
Senate unanimously confirmed Pocatello Judge
David C. Nye to serve as United States District
Judge for the District of Idaho.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I
worked, along with Senator Risch, to advance
Judge Nye’s nomination through the original
White House nomination, the hearing process, and
to confirmation.
In addition to Judge Nye, the Senate confirmed
Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court along
with 12 circuit court judges -- the most in a
president's first year of office since the
circuit courts were created in 1891.
These conservative judges will be servants of
the law, looking first and foremost to the
Constitution for guidance in their rulings,
rather than making policy from the bench.
In addition to my work as a member of the Senate
Budget, Finance, Indian Affairs and Judiciary
committees, I serve as the Chairman of the
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Committee.
Serving as Senate Banking Committee Chairman
over the past year has been an honor and
responsibility as the Committee has worked to
manage legislation that affects so many
Americans. Despite the current political
climate, my priority has been to find agreement
on common-sense reforms.
One significant achievement has been to reach
bipartisanship on the committee, avoiding many
partisan battles that plague so much of
Congress.
In December, the Banking Committee approved the
“Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer
Protection Act,” S. 2155. This bill will
right-size regulation for the community banks
and credit unions across the country who have
struggled to keep up with the ever-increasing
regulatory compliance and examiner demands
coming out of Washington.
This package of commonsense, measured proposals
is the result of a years-long process and
careful vetting, and its passage will help to
foster economic growth in rural communities
throughout the country. The bill currently has
12 Republican and 12 Democrat co-sponsors, and I
expect that it will be taken up by the full
Senate soon.
The Banking Committee also has jurisdiction over
economic sanctions, and passed important
sanctions legislation on Russia and North Korea
last year.
In total last year, the Committee held 43
hearings, including oversight hearings of Wells
Fargo and Equifax, and advanced 23 of President
Trump’s nominees out of Committee. Among those
nominees were Dr. Ben Carson to serve as
Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), Jerome Powell as Chairman of
the Federal Reserve, and Jay Clayton as head of
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
All told, 2017 was a busy but productive year
for the Senate and in the Banking Committee. I
look forward to building on this progress in
2018 as I represent you in Washington.
I have long held that the amount of excessive,
costly government regulation has held our
economy back from reaching its full potential.
Early in his Administration, President Trump
signed an Executive Order that for every one new
regulation, two old regulations must be
eliminated in order to control costs. In 2017,
the President has signed 70 pieces of
legislation passed by Congress aimed
specifically at overturning many of the costly
rules and regulations imposed during President
Obama’s Administration.
The result of this aggressive action by the
President and Congress has been the delay or
cancellation of more than 1,500 planned
regulatory actions, and, according to the White
House and its analysis, it reached a milestone
that for every one new regulation, 22 old
regulations were eliminated.
While the White House had aimed for
“two-for-one,” in 2017, it actually achieved
“twenty-two for one.”
Rolling back excessive regulation is essential
for our economy to grow and be competitive
globally. Reducing burdensome, redundant and
expensive regulation is a critical step for the
health of our economy.
As your Senator, one of my responsibilities is
to assist you, members of your family and
neighbors with challenges they may have when
working with federal agencies.
Often, these challenges may include receiving
unpaid or delayed veterans benefits, expediting
an application for a passport in case of an
emergency, and other types of requests commonly
referred to as "casework."
This past year was a busy year working with
hundreds of Idahoans on casework issues.
In 2017, staff from my office made more than 800
inquiries of various federal agencies on behalf
of Idahoans. At the end of 2017, these inquiries
have resulted in more than $3,280,990 of lump
sum benefits being recorded and returned to
Idahoans.
Of that amount, $2,246,103, or 68 percent of
those benefits have been related to an inquiry
with a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
entity or the Defense Finance and Accounting
Service, which handles military pay issues,
including retirement and combat-related special
related compensation.
Additionally in 2017, more than 1,400 Idahoans
visiting Washington, D.C., who reached out for
tour advice and assistance, were helped with
scheduling tours during their planned visits to
the nation’s capital city. This included
conducting staff-led tours of the U.S. Capitol,
and scheduling tours of the White House, the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the U.S.
Supreme Court and other D.C. landmarks.
If you are having an issue with a federal
agency, I encourage you to visit the constituent
services page on my website, at
www.crapo.senate.gov.
In addition, if you plan to visit Washington,
D.C., in the coming months and need assistance
with tours, please submit your tour requests as
soon as possible. Some of the most popular
attractions in D.C. become even more crowded in
the spring and have deadlines for submitting
tour requests.
The more time you can give staff, the better
your opportunities are for making the most of
your visit. |
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