AUSTIN – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) authored the following op-ed in the San Antonio Express News on the benefits of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also known as the Working Families Tax Cuts, which will put money back into the pockets of hard-working Texans.

Republicans’ Solution to Affordability is Through Tax Cuts for Working Families

Senator John Cornyn

The San Antonio Express-News

In print December 21, 2025

https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/republican-tax-cuts-john-cornyn-21248007.php

Americans are facing an affordability crisis after 40-year high inflation under the Biden administration. A quarter of U.S. households are living paycheck to paycheck, while 56% of voters say that affordability is their top concern. While there is no silver bullet that can magically erase economic anxiety, Republicans have delivered solutions that will ease the burden of rising costs on Texan families through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also known as the Working Families Tax Cuts.

This legislation, which President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, helps Americans keep more of what they earn by lowering taxes across the board, with Texans receiving an outsized benefit. We permanently increased the base standard deduction to $15,750 with an annual adjustment for inflation. Without our legislation, the standard deduction would have dropped to $8,300 next year, hurting the more than 12 million Texan families who claim the standard deduction. We also made permanent the lower tax rates from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which were set to expire at the end of 2025. The Tax Foundation estimates that Texans will receive an average tax cut of $3,942 in 2026 from the Working Families Tax Cuts.

The burden of rising costs is particularly acute for families with children, who are often forced to pick between living on one income or budgeting for the increasingly exorbitant cost of child care. Without our legislation, families would have been further pinched next year with the Child Tax Credit scheduled to decrease from $2,000 down to $1,000. The Working Families Tax Cuts prevented this from happening, raising the Child Tax Credit to $2,200 and indexing it to inflation. Additionally, we permanently strengthened the Employer-provided Child Care Credit, which will incentivize businesses to provide child care. These reforms mark a small but important step towards making family life more affordable.

Health care remains one of Americans’ top concerns as medical costs continue to rise. We helped address this by expanding access to Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs. Our bill extended HSA eligibility to individual market bronze and catastrophic plans beginning in 2026, allowing people with individual market plans to save pre-tax dollars, and use those funds to cover eligible medical costs. It also permanently ensures high-deductible health plans can cover telehealth and other remote services before the deductible kicks in, while remaining HSA-eligible. With wider access to HSAs, families can rest a little easier knowing that they will have resources set aside to rely on in the case of an unforeseen medical emergency.  

Monthly car payments have become another stress point as high interest rates translate to higher payments. The Working Families Tax Cuts confront this problem as well. Our law introduced a new source of savings for those earning less than $100,000: Texans can now deduct up to $10,000 for interest paid on a loan for a new vehicle made in the U.S. This new deduction will help individuals and families who need to purchase a new car, while incentivizing manufacturing here in the United States. Whereas the Biden administration subsidized electric vehicles, a luxury household item made from materials that rely on Chinese supply chains, Republicans have rightly prioritized tax relief for purchases of made-in-America-cars for the working middle class. 

Republicans also delivered targeted relief to hourly-wage workers, tipped workers and seniors through new deductions. We delivered a historic win for the working class with our “No Tax on Tips” and “No Tax on Overtime” provisions. These allow employees and self-employed individuals to deduct up to $25,000 in tip income for tax years 2025 through 2028. We also created a new deduction of up to $12,500 for single filers for qualified overtime income, as well as a new $6,000 deduction for seniors over the age of 65. The U.S. Department of Treasury estimates that about 6 million workers will benefit from the new “No Tax on Tips” policy. Through these deductions, the Working Families Tax Cuts ensure that working Texans and seniors have a little more breathing room when Tax Day comes around. 

While there is no magic wand that will lower prices and end financial uncertainty, Republicans have delivered relief through the Working Families Tax Cuts and put more money back into the pockets of working Texans. Our historic reforms will help families, those struggling with health care costs or car payments, as well as hourly workers, tipped workers, and seniors. Through the Working Families Tax Cuts, the Republican Party has delivered a critical step towards one of President Trump’s most important promises to the American people, and that is to make life affordable again.