McCormick: Pennsylvania needs ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ to stop tax hikes

Freshman Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick held a telephone town hall on Thursday with the grassroots organization Americans for Prosperity (AFP) to discuss why Pennsylvania needs President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

“The country elected change,” said McCormick. “That’s what the election was about. The Democratic Party and many of those progressive ideas were taking our country in the wrong direction. President Trump ran on an agenda of change. I ran on an agenda of change, an economic agenda about deregulation, an economic agenda about energy dominance, an economic agenda that would negotiate fairness in our trading relationships.”

And, he added, “making the 2017 tax cuts permanent.”

“If we didn’t move forward and pass this bill, we would have the largest tax increase in history,” said McCormick. “Despite what the media says, this is a tax increase that would hurt working families across Pennsylvania.”

AFP Pennsylvania Director Emily Greene, who moderated the questions from Pennsylvania residents, had a similar message. “Elements of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire this year,” she said.

The legislation was working its way through the U.S. Senate Sunday night. In the procedural vote to move the bill forward under the reconciliation process, every Democrat voted no, as did two Republicans: Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

Soon after his vote, Tillis announced that he would not be running for reelection in 2026. His seat was already considered one of the three most competitive in next year’s cycle.

Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, defended the bill on the Senate floor Sunday night.

“For those who claim this bill will add over $4 trillion to the deficit, it bears repeating: preventing a $4 trillion tax hike is not the same as deficit spending,” Crapo said.

“And to those who say we should let a $4 trillion tax hike to go into effect to pay down the national debt—every tax increase that Congress has adopted for as long as I can remember was not used to pay down the national debt. It was used to increase spending. And that is exactly what is going to happen if the Democrats have their way and force these tax hikes to happen.”

Republicans like McCormick are taking their message to local voters in hopes of boosting support for the GOP tax cut plan.

“The median income in Pennsylvania is $52,000 a year,” McCormick added. “If we didn’t extend this, a family that makes $50,000 would get a $2,000 tax increase, which is just an incredible impact, particularly after the inflation we suffered under the Biden administration.”  The bill drops taxes on tips and overtime, as Trump promised. And it includes more money for border protection and defense.

“It has school choice,” he said. It includes provisions for “advantaged philanthropy” in support of school choice.

And it has “a lot of pro-growth tax policies,” he said, like the immediate depreciation of research and development. “The only way we’re going to overcome what is a huge and growing debt and deficit is by showing fiscal constraint, but also growing our economy.”

Another part is eliminating tax credits in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, “a new Green Deal,” said McCormick, saying it would be a “wind down” of those credits that is still being debated.

The Senate wants to “rein in some of the reckless spending we saw through DOGE,” he said. And the Senate’s proposal on Medicaid. What is being proposed is “slowing the rate of growth” from 5 percent to 2.5 percent, he said. “Medicaid has grown by $250 billion in five years. It’s the fastest-growing entitlement program. It’s as big as our defense budget today…We have several people taking advantage of Medicaid that the program wasn’t designed for.” Able-bodied people would be required to work at least part-time, volunteer, or take classes.

Greene asked McCormick about energy, since Pennsylvania is the second-largest energy-producing state. McCormick said the country is in a race for dominance in both energy and artificial intelligence.

He is planning an Energy Summit in Pittsburgh on July 15 with energy industry leaders, technology and investment executives and politicians, including Trump, who will be the keynote speaker.

Pennsylvania is “in a unique position to lead the way on the energy and AI agenda,” said McCormick. “Pennsylvania is on the edge of a renaissance.”

A caller asked why McCormick was passionate about energy dominance.

“I really do think America’s national security depends on energy dominance, being a net exporter of energy, having the energy capacity for artificial intelligence,” said McCormick.  “I think our economic well-being depends on it. Not only low-cost energy for consumers, but great jobs in Pennsylvania…Those great jobs in energy…I’m opposed to subsidies, but I’m for all forms of energy.’

And Pennsylvania’s natural gas “is a huge part of defining America’s future.”

Asked why it’s important to pass the legislation, McCormick said, “We made a promise of change…And so there’s urgency. We’ve got to deliver on the promises.  I think what President Trump has done on the border is absolutely remarkable…We’re in the early innings of getting fair trade…We’ve got to get our economy moving in the right direction. The certainty for families and businesses that comes by knowing that these tax cuts are permanent is a huge benefit to the economy.”

Linda Stein is News Editor at Delaware Valley Journal.

This article was republished with permission from the Delaware Valley Journal.