House Ways & Means Committee Field Hearing on the Success of Pro-Growth, Pro-Worker Tax Policy 

Debbie Ladehoff, SHRM-SCP 

VP of Government & Legislative Affairs, Central Iowa SHRM

House Ways & Means Committee Field Hearing on the Success of Pro-Growth, Pro-Worker Tax Policy in the American Midwest held on August 16th at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines Iowa

I was asked to attend this event to represent SHRM and I welcomed the opportunity to do so. This was a very informative experience and I appreciate the effort that the committee is taking to hear from individuals across the country. 

The hearing that took place at the Iowa State Fair on Friday, Aug. 16th provided the opportunity for 5 individuals to give their testimony on how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act impacted their business, their employees, their families, and their communities. We heard from the following individuals who each brought a different perspective to the topic.

• Karen Dewalt - Vice President, Global Tas, the Home Depot
• Sara Curry - Mother, Glenwood Iowa, and Research Director, Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation
• Jolene Riessen - Farmer, Ida Grove Iowa and President, Iowa Corn
• Steve Sukup – President and CEO, Sukup Manufacturing Co.
• Lana Pol – Owner and President, Greetings Inc.

Each individuals indicated how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) impacted them and what would happen if these tax cuts were allowed to expire. Several of the witnesses testified on the impact of the reduction in the corporate income tax rate that allowed them to reinvest in and grow their business, expand their workforce, provide training and wage increases to their employees, and expand their R&D efforts. All of these things impact their local communities and help grow the economy.

Sara Curry emphasized the importance of the expansion of the child tax credit, increase to the standard tax deduction, and the change in marginal tax rates especially for families in rural America or those with children with special needs. Jolene Riessen indicated that the current tax provisions related to estate taxes are essential to preserving the legacy of family farms. Steve Sukup stated that “small and medium-sized companies across the country either thrive or fail due in no small part to the policymakers’ tax decisions.” As an entrepreneur and owner of several small businesses Lana Pol spoke about three tax provisions under TCJA that are critical to small business owners: the Small Business Deduction, the expansion of Bonus Depreciation, and Small Business Expensing. Ms. Pol indicated that without action, 30 million small businesses in the United States will be faced with massive tax hikes, which will hurt their ability to sustain their businesses, create jobs, and give back to their communities.

In addition to the witness testimonies, we also had the opportunity to hear from Iowa Representatives Mariannette Miller – Meeks, Rep. Ashley Hinson, Rep. Zach Nunn, and Rep. Randy Feenstra who also serves on the House Ways and Means Committee. Each of the committee members was provided with the opportunity to make a statement and ask questions of the witnesses.

Although attendees in the audience were not provided with the opportunity to ask questions, we were given paper to provide our stories and write our questions, which were turned in and entered into the record. I took the opportunity to write about the importance of gaining bipartisan support of the Employer Participation in Repayment Act (H.R. 9164/ S. 4778) which will permanently enable employers to provide up to $5,250 of tax-free student loan repayment education assistance as a benefit to their employees under Section 127 of the IRS Code (IRC).  These benefits are currently set to expire on Jan. 1, 2026.

I appreciated the opportunity to attend this hearing. I applaud the committee for making the effort to get outside of Washington DC to hear from individuals throughout the country who are impacted by the decisions they make. 

I was struck by how much I don’t know about our tax code. As HR professionals and as citizens we owe it to our businesses and ourselves to become educated on the issues that impact us.

The hearing can be watched on YouTube via this link.

The individual testimony from each of the five witnesses can also be downloaded from this website.

I encourage you to take the opportunity to learn more about and advocate for the issues that matter to you and your business. One way to do so is to become a member of SHRM’s Advocacy Team (A-Team), which was created to enable HR professionals to make their voices heard on public policy issues impacting the workplace.