[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 50 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S1886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               TAX REFORM

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on another matter, the good news about 
tax reform continues to sweep across the Nation. But recently, as 
special bonuses, wage increases, and expanded employee benefits 
continue to make headlines, they have had to share the front page with 
a series of late winter storms. This prolonged cold weather can mean 
high heating costs for working families. Fortunately, tax reform has an 
answer for that as well.
  Ratepayers in many States are looking forward to smaller utility 
bills, thanks to our country's new Tax Code. In my home State, the 
public service commission announced early this week that Kentucky 
Utilities and Louisville Gas & Electric will be passing along savings 
to customers to the tune of a 6-percent decrease in monthly bills. That 
means real savings for the middle-class families I represent.
  We have heard a similar story from our neighbors in Indiana. The 
Northern Indiana Public Service Company reports that thanks to tax 
reform, it will be able to pass $26 million in new savings on to its 
customers. That is just one of a long list of ways that tax reform is 
helping Hoosiers.
  Pat Williams, who lives in Southern Indiana, recently shared another 
tax reform success story with my friend, Senator Young. Pat's husband, 
Jim, works part-time in the U-Haul service center across the river in 
Louisville. He received a $500 tax reform bonus.
  Over in Converse, IN, tax reform enabled the First Farmers Bank & 
Trust to raise its starting wage for hourly workers, guarantee a year-
end bonus for all full-time employees, and announce a big investment in 
employee development and community programs.
  My friend, the junior Senator from Indiana, knows the folks at First 
Farmers. In fact, he was so impressed by their proactive response to 
the new Tax Code that he invited them to the President's State of the 
Union back in January. There aren't enough seats in the House Gallery 
for all the American families that tax reform is already helping--not 
even close. But if there were, I would bet the working families and 
small businesses from Indiana would come with questions. Why did only 
one of their Senators vote for these tax savings? Why did their senior 
Senator vote in lockstep with Democrats to block their tax cuts, 
bonuses, raises, and benefits? Those would be tough questions to 
answer. Fortunately, Republicans stayed focused on empowering the 
American people.

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