State officials react to House passage of spending bill

DES MOINES— State officials are reacting Thursday to the U.S. House of Representatives forwarding the tax and spending bill to President Donald Trump for his signature.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said the bill delivers real tax relief to working families and rewards real work while not taxing ambition.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers exactly where Americans need it to,” she wrote in a release Thursday afternoon.
“First, it delivers real tax relief to working families. By eliminating federal income taxes on tips and overtime pay, it rewards hustle, it doesn’t punish it. That’s a stark contrast to the old Washington model of taxing ambition. If you're putting in the extra hours, Washington shouldn’t take the extra paycheck.”
Reynolds also commended the bills focus on the southern border saying it puts “an end to the chaos…”
“To help address the crisis created by the Biden Administration’s open border, this bill funds the wall, empowers our Border Patrol agents, and sends a clear message: America is a nation of laws, and we will enforce them,” Reynolds wrote.
She also said the bill addresses public assistance and reinstates it as a handup, and not a lifestyle. Reynolds has said able-bodied Iowans should work, volunteer or train as a condition of receiving benefits.
“The bill reinforces the dignity of work.There’s pride and purpose in earning a paycheck, and we should never let government dependency take that away. It’s not harsh to expect work if someone is able—it’s honest. And it’s what the vast majority of Americans support.”
However, the American Medical Association lambasted the bill as not going far enough to support physicians and hospitals. AMA President Bobby Mukkamala said the bill is bad for patients and the 11.8 million people who have no health coverage.
“Today is a sad and unnecessarily harmful day for patients and health care across the country, and its impact will reverberate for years. Care will be less accessible, and patients may simply forego seeing their physician because the lifelines of Medicaid and CHIP are severed,’ Mukkamala wrote Thursday.
“The American Medical Association’s mission is promoting the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health. This bill moves us in the wrong direction. It will make it harder to access care and make patients sicker. It will make it more likely that acute, treatable illnesses will turn into life-threatening or costly chronic conditions. That is disappointing, maddening, and unacceptable.”
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, also a physician, said the bill delivers on an mandate from the American people.
This legislation prevents the largest tax hike on Iowa families and small businesses in history by making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent,” she wrote.
“It reduces taxes on tips and overtime, doubles the child tax credit, provides a $6,000 tax break for seniors, brings manufacturing jobs back to America, and restores our energy dominance. After four years of crushing inflation and high energy costs under Joe Biden, this bill delivers the relief hardworking Americans deserve.”
Miller-Meeks also touted it’s impact on border security ending “catch-and-release”, finishes the wall and hires thousands of new agents with tools to stop the influx of crime, fentanyl, and chaos.
“This is a once-in-a-generation victory for the American people. I was proud to vote for it and look forward to President Trump signing it into law just in time for Independence Day,” Miller-Meeks wrote.
Iowa Sec. of Agriculture Mike Naig heralded the legislation as a “significant victory for Iowa’s farmers and rural communities, delivering permanent tax relief, enhanced death tax exemptions, extending the 45Z tax credit and strengthens crop insurance and commodity provisions.
“These measures bolster farmers’ financial stability, allowing them to invest in their operations and pass family farms to the next generation without the lingering fear of excessive tax penalties. I want to thank Iowa’s entire federal delegation and President Trump for their steadfast leadership in championing these pro-farmer policies that boost the ag economy and support rural prosperity,” he wrote.
“We must now focus on finalizing a modernized, comprehensive five-year Farm Bill to further help producers manage risk, enhance our voluntary conservation efforts, reinstate robust interstate commerce eroded by Prop 12, and address other emerging and evolving agricultural challenges.”