Faith & Freedom Coalition Praises U.S. Senate for Passing Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Washington, DC – Faith & Freedom Coalition today praised the U.S. Senate for passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. “This tax cut is pro-child, pro-jobs, pro-middle-class, and pro-family. By expanding the child tax credit, it strengthens the family and empowers parents. By repealing the individual mandate, it takes a giant step toward repealing Obamacare,” said Ralph Reed, founder and Chairman of Faith & Freedom Coalition. “We remain fully committed to repealing the Johnson Amendment restricting the First Amendment freedom of speech of the faith community, a provision contained in the House-passed version of the tax cut. I want to single out for praise Majority Leader McConnell and Finance Committee Chairman Hatch, who worked tirelessly with their colleagues to achieve a consensus and pass this tax cut.” The tax cut contains the following provisions that Faith & Freedom has strongly supported: Doubling the child tax credit to $2,000. An estimated 22 million Americans benefited from the child tax credit in 2015 and it has helped to lift over nine million people out of poverty. This is a $600 billion tax cut targeted directly at middle-class working families that is pro-life, pro-child and pro-family. Nearly doubling the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for families. This represents nearly a $1 trillion cut in taxes for middle-class families and will protect a larger share of the average family’s income from taxation. Repealing the Obamacare individual mandate/tax. An estimated 6.7 million Americans paid this tax in 2015 rather than pay for health insurance they did not want and could not afford. Cutting taxes on small businesses and pass-through companies. Small, family-owned businesses create 80 percent of the new jobs in America. “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cleared another hurdle today to fulfill Congress’ promise to reduce the tax burden on families and workers, and fuel the economic growth we so desperately need,” said Tim Head, executive director of Faith & Freedom Coalition. “People of faith want Congress to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act before Christmas and get it to President Trump for his signature so we can unleash the full power of the American economy and allow struggling American families to keep more of their hard-earned money.” Faith & Freedom Coalition will continue to work with Congressional leaders and the conferees of an anticipated conference committee to iron out the differences between the Senate and House versions and enact final legislation to give the America’s working families the tax cut they so richly deserve.