Critics of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act claim that the bill will only benefit business owners and wealthy investors at the expense of middle class families. Yet, fewer than 24 hours after the bill’s passage, businesses were already putting real money in workers’ pockets by raising pay and handing out bonuses. Companies also announced plans to invest in their workforce and hire more workers.
Here are a few of the results we’ve seen so far due to the newly-passed bill:
- AT&T is giving $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 workers
- Comcast is giving $1,000 bonuses to over $100,000 employees
- Wells Fargo increased its hourly pay to $15
- Fifth Third Bankcorp raised its hourly pay to $15 and will be giving $1,000 bonuses to more than 13,500 workers
- Washington Federal in Seattle will increase wages for most of its workers by 5% and is ?adding? 25 people to its information-technology staff
- Aquesta Financial Holdings in Cornelius, N.C will raise hourly pay to $15 and will be giving $1,000 bonuses to all of their workers
- Canary LLC will hire new employees and purchase more equipment
- Boeing is putting $300 million into employee-related investments
This anecdotal evidence confirms what studies already tell us: When businesses save from lower tax liabilities, the bulk of the earnings end up in workers' paychecks.
While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is not a perfect bill and doesn’t address all of the issues in our current tax code, it is still a huge step in the right direction. The final result is a pro-growth, pro-family, and pro-worker bill, and we ought to celebrate this monumental achievement.