Tax reform is badly needed in Arizona, America

Congress should work together

Posted

During August recess, I had the opportunity to visit communities across the First Congressional District and hold constructive and engaging public events to discuss the issues impacting Arizona communities. During many of these discussions, it became apparent that Arizonans agree with what I’ve been saying: we need tax reform to stimulate our economy and create jobs that will strengthen and grow our local communities. You expect Congress to take action, and I agree. As I return to Washington, I will be ready to get to work on tax reform.
I will sit down with Republicans and Democrats to streamline and modernize our tax system to create a fair tax code. We must bring relief to hardworking families and small business owners and provide incentives that encourage corporations to bring business back to our communities and hire American workers.
I’ve heard from many Arizona families who are struggling to make ends meet. The rising cost of health care, housing, higher education and energy have strained the pocketbooks of hardworking Arizonans who haven’t seen a pay raise in years. As we begin to reform our outdated tax system, we must ensure that they will see real tax relief that puts their money back in their pockets.

Arizona families rely on the earned income and child tax credits every year, but recent proposals would threaten these tax credits and similar deductions. We need to make changes to responsibly unleash business innovations while protecting critical deductions for parents, students and patients.
Small businesses drive our local economies, creating jobs and providing resources to our communities. Unfortunately, our small businesses face increasingly onerous and stifling taxes and regulations that keep them from succeeding. While we need to address issues that can arise from businesses (consumer protection, environmental protection, etc.), there are taxes and regulations that are misguided or overly burdensome. Instead of investing and growing their businesses, our entrepreneurs are wasting valuable time and resources trying to navigate our complex tax laws and rules. If we are going to get serious about improving our local economies, we must alleviate these unnecessary burdens and allow our small business owners to thrive.
Our small businesses are not alone in this struggle. Across the country, corporations of all sizes are choosing to relocate their headquarters and manufacturing plants to other countries, causing massive layoffs that devastate our local communities. Our tax code creates a major disincentive for businesses to invest and grow in America by imposing higher taxes, regulations and hurdles, and they choose to circumvent these hurdles by leaving the country. While we will disagree on some proposals, this is a real opportunity for bipartisan compromise. We must push for reforms that result in our businesses bringing operations back to the United States and creating American jobs.
Our current system does little to improve the lives of hardworking, middle-class families or promote business growth. Tax reform should be a win-win in every community, and Congress must make it a priority. Please do not hesitate to reach out to my office with your thoughts and concerns on any issue. I look forward to hearing from you.