Op-Ed: Rep. Zach Nunn: Tax relief, real reform, and the Iowa values behind the One Big, Beautiful Bill
Last year, I met with Iowa mom Sarah Curry during a field hearing in Des Moines. Her story stuck with me, not because it's unique, but because it represents the experiences of thousands of families across Iowa and millions throughout the nation.
Sarah and her husband are raising three boys in rural southwest Iowa. Their middle son, Isaac, has autism. Like so many parents, Sarah works hard to make sure her kids have every opportunity to thrive. Thanks to tax relief passed under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), Sarah was able to use her federal tax refund for occupational speech therapy for Isaac and to replace a water heater that finally gave out.
That's real-world investment in a child's future and a family's home, and it's one of the reasons why I voted in favor of the Republican reconciliation package President Trump just signed into law, because it puts more money back in the hands of families like the Currys.
What's in the bill?
This bill is built around a simple principle: trust hardworking Americans to do more with their own money than Washington ever could. For families, that starts with expanding the Child Tax Credit to $2,200 — a lifeline for working parents balancing the rising costs of groceries, school supplies, and childcare. It also includes a tax cut up to $5,000 for families who are opening up their homes to adopt a child. As an adoptive father to two beautiful girls, I was proud to personally fight for this provision to help more families afford to adopt and help more kids find their forever home.
We also delivered for Iowa's seniors with a yearly $6,000 deduction on social security taxes, because it's long past time we recognize that it's unfair to tax seniors twice — once when they pay into the system during their working years, and again when they finally begin to collect the benefits they earned. This deduction gives our seniors a little more breathing room to cover everyday essentials, whether that’s prescription costs, heating bills, or helping a grandchild with college tuition.
Workers are also seeing the benefit of the Big, Beautiful Bill, with no tax on tips and no tax on overtime. A waitress in one of our hometown diners who relies on her tips to cover rent and groceries will now keep more of what she earns. A firefighter putting in overtime hours to protect his community will see more in his paycheck at the end of the week.
For small businesses and family farms, the certainty provided in this legislation is transformative. It makes 100 percent business expensing permanent, which means Main Street entrepreneurs and producers can invest in equipment, upgrades, and staff to grow with confidence right here in our hometowns.Equally, farmers in Iowa receive a much needed boost in our bill. We eliminated the death tax for nearly two million family farms, ensuring they can stay in the family for years to come. We also made important updates to reference prices to ensure that farmers can better weather volatile markets and stay competitive around the world.
This is what smart tax reform looks like. It empowers parents. It rewards work. It invests in the backbone of our rural communities. And it proves that when we lead with Iowa common sense, we can deliver results that lift up every corner of our state.
What's not in the bill?
What’s not in the bill is just as important as what is. This legislation includes the largest federal spending cut since World War II — over $1.4 trillion in savings. But we can't balance the budget on the backs of Iowa families, which is why I fought to ensure that every vulnerable Iowan, every family with a disabled child, every pregnant mom, and every senior continues to get the benefits they rely on. Instead, the cuts we made go after waste, mismanagement, and unchecked expansion that’s driven our national debt and strained critical safety net programs.
Under the Biden administration, millions of ineligible recipients were added to the Medicaid rolls while states got away with SNAP error rates in the double and even triple digits. The bottom line is that America's benefit programs were being bled out by a lack of state accountability and individuals who shouldn't have access to programs that are meant to support our most vulnerable.
Our bill addresses these challenges head on with commonsense eligibility checks and work requirements, while ensuring robust protections for the most vulnerable. The reforms we've made ensure that states are held accountable for their mismanagement so that nutrition assistance and health care are there for families in need today, and long into the future. We also made crucial investments in rural healthcare with a $50 billion investment in stabilization funding to help rural hospitals keep their doors open and care for patients closer to home.
The bottom line is that this bill delivers real relief, restores fiscal responsibility, and reflects the best of what Iowa has to offer — hard work, common sense, and a commitment to taking care of our neighbors. From tax cuts that support working families to reforms that protect essential programs for those who need them most, this is how we build a stronger future — by listening to Iowans and delivering results that put people first.
Rep. Zach Nunn represents Iowa’s 3rd District in Congress.