John Thune: “tax day was last week, and I would like to read a brief excerpt from a Washington Post article. The title of this…”

“tax day was last week, and I would like to read a brief excerpt from a Washington Post article. The title of this article: ``Tax refunds shoot up as Americans take advantage of new deductions.'' And here is the excerpt: Karen Richardson, 68, has had a predictable tax return since she retired from her job administering government benefits four years ago. She lives on a fixed income and usually owes some money at tax time, so she was surprised to get a $1,000 refund this year due to the senior deduction. ``The Big Beautiful Bill worked for me,'' she said, ``I didn't think it applied to more than the richer people. . . . I really didn't think it applied to me.'' Well, as Ms. Richardson and many other hard-working Americans have discovered, the Big Beautiful Bill, the Working Families Tax Cuts, does indeed apply to them. It worked for them this tax season, and it will work for them in future tax seasons. In 2017, Republicans overhauled our outdated Tax Code so that it would work better for our economy and for American families alike. We cut tax rates across the board, doubled the child tax credit, and nearly doubled the standard deduction. And all of this made a significant difference to working families' tax bills. But this relief was scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, which meant that starting this January, Americans would have seen a lot more of their paychecks going to the Federal Government. Republicans were determined not to let that happen.”