Dear friends and neighbors,
Just days ago, the Senate passed, with my support, our budget bill to lower taxes and preserve tax cuts for working Ohioans and their families. This is good news for Ohioans who want to keep more of the money they earn, have access to good jobs, run successful small businesses, live in communities that are protected by a secure border, and see America reassert itself as the most confident nation with the strongest military in the world.
I am proud this bill will make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. We are preventing tax hikes that would cost the average American family of four earning $80,000 an extra $1,700 in federal taxes. The average Ohio household would have owed an additional $2,140 in federal taxes if Republicans had not taken action to pass this budget bill, and 5.3 million Ohio families would have seen their standard deduction cut in half—90% of taxpayers use this standard deduction.
Importantly, the bill will combat abuse by ensuring deceased individuals are not enrolled in Medicaid. This bill will require able-bodied adults who do not have young children to work or volunteer 20 hours per week in exchange for their generous Medicaid benefits.
“Republicans are doing the country a fiscal and cultural favor by shoring up the program for the poor and disabled,” according to the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board.
This budget bill makes Ohio communities safer by:
- Funding border security measures at the southern border and on Lake Erie.
- Modernizing and overhauling the U.S. air traffic control system.
- Helping identify people illegally in America who have committed crimes, getting them off the streets and returned to their home countries.
It makes Ohioans and Americans more prosperous by:
- Making permanent the 2017 tax cuts, which lowered tax rates for working Americans and every income bracket.
- Increasing the standard deduction to $15,750 for single filers and $31,750 for joint filers, and making the deduction permanent and indexes it to inflation.
- Increasing the death tax exemption to $15 million for single filers and $30 million for joint filers by including provisions of the Death Tax Repeal Act, which I’ve cosponsored. If Democrats had succeeded in blocking this budget bill, 76,009 Ohio family farms could have seen their death tax relief cut in half.
- Protecting the 20% small business deduction. If Democrats had succeeded in blocking this budget bill, 842,000 Ohio small businesses would have lost their small business tax deduction. This protection is projected to create 1.2 million new jobs annually for the next decade, and 2.4 million more annually after that.
- Including no tax on tips by providing a $25,000 deduction for qualified tips.
- Including no tax on overtime by providing a $12,500 deduction for single filers and $25,000 deduction for joint filers.
- Including no tax on car loan interest by providing a $10,000 deduction for cars assembled in the U.S.
- Helping Ohioans become career-ready by expanding Pell Grant eligibility for those enrolled in short-term, accredited, workforce-aligned programs. Husted has cosponsored similar legislation to expand workforce Pell eligibility.
- Supporting Cleveland’s NASA Glenn research center by fully funding the Gateway lunar space station for FY 2026-2028 and the Artemis missions through Artemis V.
It enables job creators by:
- Making permanent the 2017 tax cuts, which lowered tax rates for working Americans and every income bracket.
- Immediately expensing investments in new factories, which boosts manufacturing in states like Ohio.
- Immediately expensing investments in capital investments in machinery and equipment, which boosts manufacturing in states like Ohio.
- Enabling job creators to permanently expense research and development expenses by including provisions from the American Innovation and Jobs Act, which I’ve cosponsored.
This bill supports Ohio families and our most vulnerable populations by:
- Increasing the child tax credit to $2,200. It also makes the increase permanent and indexes it to inflation. This increase benefits 1.3 million Ohio families.
- Making the adoption tax credit partially refundable up to $5,000.
- Expanding the annual deduction for senior citizens to $6,000.
- Protecting and strengthening Medicaid for vulnerable, sick, and impoverished Americans.
- Establishing tax-advantaged savings accounts for parents, allowing annual contributions of up to $10,000.
- Increasing the tax credit that people with disabilities can claim when they contribute to tax-free ABLE accounts. I’m a cosponsor of the ENABLE Act.
- Supporting educational attainment and freedom for Ohio families by providing a school choice tax credit. I’ve cosponsored similar legislation, the Education School Choice for Children Act.
This budget bill makes America’s national defense stronger by:
- Providing $400 million to accelerate production of the Air Force’s F-47 sixth-generation air superiority aircraft and $678 million to accelerate development of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
- Modernizing America’s national defenses by making initial investments into the Golden Dome air and missile defense system, re-stocking crucial munitions, rebuilding U.S. supply chains for critical minerals, and expanding America’s advanced manufacturing capacity.
- Investing in scaling production of innovative low-cost and next-gen weapons like drones, counter-drone technology, cheap munitions, and artificial intelligence.
This bill makes American energy stronger and Ohio energy cheaper:
- Extending the clean hydrogen production tax credit to Jan. 1, 2028, which helps ensure continued sustainability of Ohio’s Appalachian Clean Energy Hub, ARCH2.
- Eliminating the Inflation Reduction Act’s natural gas tax for 10 years.
- Reversing Democrats’ anti-energy policies and bolsters American energy production by expanding oil, gas and coal leasing.
By prioritizing working Americans, fueling jobs and economic growth, preserving benefits for those in need, and making historic spending cuts, this bill gets us on a path toward a more successful, sustainable future.
We’re here to help
Customer service is my top priority. Ohioans have told me how hard it can be to navigate a federal agency, and we want to help you. My team and I have established offices across Ohio to better assist our nearly 11.9 million neighbors.
You can find the office locations at www.husted.senate.gov and fill out a form here if you need help navigating an issue with a federal agency. You can also call our Columbus office at (614) 369 4925.
Stay in touch
You can keep up with the work I’m doing on behalf of Ohioans by signing up for my newsletter and following me on X at @SenJonHusted, Facebook at www.facebook.com/SenJonHusted, YouTube at @SenJonHusted, and Instagram at @SenJonHusted.
Finally, know that hearing from Ohioans helps me better serve you. I hope you’ll keep sharing your thoughts with me here.
Your U.S. Senator,
Jon Husted