Jobs and Economy

As a small business owner, I understand what it takes to successfully run a business. The government's role in the economy should be limited to allow businesses to thrive and create jobs, and taxes and burdensome regulations should both be decreased. Fostering economic development and innovation will make our East Tennessee community stronger than before. At a time when people are suffering, the last thing we need is more job-killing mandates from the White House and taxes on basic needs like gas. It is time to get people back to work and get our economy on the road to recovery.

In 2020, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled Increasing Economic and Geographic Mobility that built on his previous EO 13777, to alleviate regulatory burdens on occupational licensing. To continue to carry his legacy in my service to you and to help get Americans back to work, I introduced H.R. 3145, the Freedom to Work Act back to encourage states and the federal government to roll back burdensome, job-killing occupational licensing regulations which studies show cost taxpayers $203 billion every year. Many of these requirements are simply a big government power grab to prevent competition and keep would-be workers out of a particular job market. My bill would encourage less red tape and makes it easier for Americans to enter the workforce following a career of their choice. Read about support for my bill from Americans for Tax Reform here.

I also introduced H.R. 2363, the Voluntary Protection Program Act to codify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) which provides incentives to businesses with a demonstrated commitment to worker safety and health. The VPP safeguards nearly 1 million workers, and it saves private sector employers $257 million and public sector employers $30 million in workers’ compensation, insurance, and lost time costs by promoting safer workplaces. While the VPP has been operating since 1982, it is currently not statutory, meaning that it can be eliminated or defunded at any time.

After hearing from many small business, beauty salon, spa, and barbershop owners in East Tennessee, as well as local cosmetologists such as Ashley Williams in Johnson City and Danielle Beam in Elizabethton, I added my name as a co-sponsor for H.R. 821, the bipartisan Small Business Tax Fairness and Compliance Simplification Act. Much like the restaurant industry, employees at barbershops and beauty salons rely heavily on tips to supplement their wages. This legislation would extend the tax code’s Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax tip credit — which is currently available only to the foodservice industry — to the tens of thousands of employer-based beauty service establishments where tipping is also customary. The FICA tax tip credit acts as a reimbursement for the costs employers incur in accounting for tip income and is part of an integrated compliance system that has been effective in ensuring the accurate reporting of tip income and tax compliance. By reducing the tax burdens for our tipped employees as well as improving reporting of tip income, H.R. 821 would simplify and create parity in the tax code for many of our local small business owners such as Elizabeth Gartner of Great Clips with 8 locations in Northeast Tennessee, Doc Roberts of Blades Salon in Pigeon Forge, and Wendy Avery of Levels Barbershop in Johnson City, who reached out to me looking to support their employees and grow their businesses.

Toward the effort of keeping our taxes low and spurring our economy and job creation, I have co-sponsored the following bills and amendments:

H.R. 1712, the Death Tax Repeal to amend the IRS Code of 1986 to repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes to protect family-owned businesses, farms, and ranches from being hit with a hefty tax in the event a loved one dies. This would allow farmers, ranchers, and small business owners to expand their operations, invest in their employees, and upgrade their infrastructure, instead of selling off their assets to pay the estate tax.

H.R. 970, the Opportunity Zone Extension Act introduced by our fellow Tennessean, Rep. Tim Burchett to stimulate new investment into Opportunity Zones and support a strong post-pandemic recovery in low-income and underserved communities. The Opportunity Zone program was enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that President Trump signed into law to spur investment in economically distressed communities by providing investors tax benefits in exchange for financing new locally approved projects and businesses.

I signed a discharge petition in support of H.R. 859, the Protecting American Energy Jobs Act, which would nullify President Biden’s job-killing climate executive orders, overturn the energy leasing ban on federal lands, restore the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline, and prohibit future energy moratoriums without the approval of Congress. Upon being signed by 218 members of the House, the discharge petition would force a vote on this bill.

H.R. 1304, the bipartisan American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act. Research and Development (R&D) investments are more important than ever as U.S. companies strive to keep pace with the continuing evolution of markets and competition. This legislation will allow companies such as Eastman in Kingsport to continue to fully expense R&D costs in the year they occur. This important provision is critical for U.S. based entities to remain competitive on a global scale. I appreciate Eastman bringing this important issue to my attention.

H.R. 2558, the ALIGN Act to extends a provision in President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that under current law will soon phase-out. It makes permanent the ability of businesses to fully and immediately recover or expense the cost of investments in certain short-lived assets, like machinery and equipment by deducting those costs from their tax bill in the year they make the investment. This represents a strong incentive for American businesses to invest in the kinds of assets that will make their workers more productive — which in turn contributes to economic, job, and wage growth. In my view, smart tax policy produces long-term economic growth more than any government hand out ever could! It’s important that federal tax policy be aligned to ensure that recovery continues, wages keep rising, and employers keep hiring.

H.R. 6485, the Inflation Prevention Act to help protect Americans from rising prices and bring some common-sense fiscal sanity to Washington. It would bar future legislation that is estimated to increase inflation until the year-over-year inflation rate drops below 4.5 percent.