President Trump’s Federal Budget committed to restraint while prioritizing the funding needed to rebuild our national defense and strengthen America’s borders.
Under President Trump, Congress passed the first overhaul of the United States tax code in more than 30 years, putting money into the pockets of millions of American families. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included the launch of “Opportunity Zones,” which bring hope and a brighter future to nearly 9,000 distressed communities with tax incentives for new development.
In 2019 alone, the Trump Administration surpassed its promise of removing two existing regulations for each new regulation added, issuing 150 deregulatory actions alongside just 35 new significant regulatory actions. This deregulatory wave unleashed massive benefits for the American people and our economy.
Administration Achievements
TAX RELIEF FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS
Passed $3.2 trillion in historic tax relief and reformed the tax code
- Signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—the largest tax reform package in history
- More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to tax cuts
- A typical family of four earning $75,000 received an income tax cut of more than $2,000—slashing their tax bill in half
- Doubled the standard deduction—making the first $24,000 earned by a married couple completely tax-free
- Doubled the child tax credit
- Virtually eliminated the unfair Estate Tax, or Death Tax
- Cut the business tax rate from 35 percent—the highest in the developed world—all the way down to 21 percent
- Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income
- Businesses can now deduct 100 percent of the cost of their capital investments in the year the investment is made
- Since the passage of tax cuts, the share of total wealth held by the bottom half of households has increased, while the share held by the top 1 percent has decreased
- Over 400 companies have announced bonuses, wage increases, new hires, or new investments in the United States
- Over $1.4 trillion was repatriated into the United States from overseas
- Lower investment cost and higher capital returns led to faster growth for the middle class, higher real wages, and stronger international competitiveness
Jobs and investments are pouring into Opportunity Zones
- Created nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones where capital gains on long-term investments are taxed at zero
- Opportunity Zone designations have increased property values within them by 1.1 percent, creating an estimated $11 billion in wealth for the nearly half of Opportunity Zone residents who own their own home
- Opportunity Zones have attracted $75 billion in funds and driven $52 billion of new investment in economically distressed communities, creating at least 500,000 new jobs
- Approximately 1 million Americans will be lifted from poverty as a result of these new investments
- Private equity investments into businesses in Opportunity Zones were nearly 30 percent higher than investments into businesses in similar areas that were not designated Opportunity Zones
MASSIVE DEREGULATION
Ended the regulatory assault on American businesses and workers
- Instead of a 2-for-1 ratio of deregulatory to regulatory actions, the Trump Administration eliminated 8 old regulations for every new regulation adopted
- These actions provided the average American household with an extra $3,100 every year
- Reduced the direct cost of regulatory compliance by $50 billion and were projected to reduce costs by an additional $50 billion in FY 2020 alone
- Removed nearly 25,000 pages from the Federal Register—more than any other president. The previous administration added over 16,000 pages
- Established the Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation to reduce outdated regulations at the state, local, and tribal levels
- Signed an executive order to make it easier for businesses to offer retirement plans
- Signed two executive orders to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans and their small businesses from administrative abuse
- Modernized the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in over 40 years
- Reduced approval times for major infrastructure projects from 10 or more years down to 2 years or fewer
- Helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of the Dodd-Frank bill
- Established the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing to bring down housing costs
- Removed regulations that threatened the development of a strong and stable internet
- Eased and simplified restrictions on rocket launches, helping to spur commercial investment in space projects
- Published a whole-of-government strategy focused on ensuring American leadership in automated vehicle technology
- Streamlined energy efficiency regulations for American families and businesses, including preserving affordable lightbulbs, enhancing the utility of showerheads, and enabling greater time savings with dishwashers
- Removed unnecessary regulations that restrict the seafood industry and impede job creation
- Modernized the Department of Agriculture’s biotechnology regulations to put America in the lead to develop new technologies
- Took action to suspend regulations that would have slowed our response to COVID-19, including lifting restrictions on manufacturers to more quickly produce ventilators
Successfully rolled back burdensome regulatory overreach
- Rescinded the previous administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which would have abolished zoning for single-family housing to build low-income, federally subsidized apartments
- Issued final rule on the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard
- Eliminated the Waters of the United States Rule and replaced it with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, providing relief and certainty for farmers and property owners
- Repealed the previous administration’s costly fuel economy regulations by finalizing the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, which will make cars more affordable and lower the price of new vehicles by an estimated $2,200
Americans now have more money in their pockets
- Deregulation had an especially beneficial impact on low-income Americans, who pay a much higher share of their incomes for overregulation
- Cut red tape in the healthcare industry, providing Americans with more affordable healthcare and saving Americans nearly 10 percent on prescription drugs
- Deregulatory efforts yielded savings to the medical community of an estimated $6.6 billion—with a reduction of 42 million hours of regulatory compliance work through 2021
- Removed government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare
- Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Trump Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year
- Signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that will result in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes
