Economy & Fiscal Responsibility
The role of the government is not to create wealth, but to foster an environment where America's entrepreneurial spirit can thrive and achieve great things. We must help the economy grow, encourage the creation of jobs and opportunities, and help Americans keep more of their hard-earned money to save and spend as they see fit.
Senator Cornyn believes the goal of our economic policies should be to create an environment that fosters economic production, job growth, and an increase in real wages.
The key to a prosperous economy is reducing the high level of taxation on Americans and businesses that has stunted their economic growth. Tax relief will allow American businesses to innovate and create jobs, and allow American families to keep more of what they earn.
Congress must also be careful stewards of your tax dollars, focusing on lowering annual deficits and recovering from our $31 trillion national debt so future generations can enjoy the same opportunities available today. By eliminating excessive spending and increasing economic activity over time, we can reduce the current budget deficit.
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Senator Cornyn's Legislative Efforts
- Authored and co-sponsored balanced budget amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which would cap federal spending and require a supermajority vote in Congress to raise taxes on the American people.
- Introduced the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act, now law, which provides additional flexibility for states, tribes, and local governments to spend their allocations of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
- Supported the establishment and extension of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), federally-guaranteed loans to help small businesses maintain their payroll during the pandemic.
- Expedited access to billions of dollars in capital during the pandemic by allowing small businesses who had applied for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) to request an emergency advance of up to $10,000 within three days to pay employees’ sick leave or maintain payroll.
- Authored the Small Business Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act, which lowers compliance burdens for taxpayers, strengthens taxpayer protections, compensates taxpayers for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) abuses, and improves taxpayer access to the U.S. Tax Court System.
- Authored the bipartisan Save Our Stages Act, now law, to provide relief to entertainment venues forced to shut down during the pandemic to preserve a critical cultural and economic industry employing thousands of Texans.
- Introduced the SAFE TO WORK Act to temporarily limit liability for COVID-19 exposure claims for frontline workers like nurses, doctors, teachers, and small business owners as long as they are following public health guidelines and are not grossly negligent.
- Voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, now law, which provided small businesses and working families with tax relief by doubling the child tax credit to $2,000, reducing marginal tax rate, and improving incentives for U.S. competitiveness.
- Sponsored a proposal that provides taxpayers with more time to collect proceeds from the sale of property that has been wrongfully levied upon and to bring a civil action against the IRS for a wrongful levy which was enacted as part of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.
- Sponsored the ITIN Reform Act to enact safeguards against tax fraud committed by illegal immigrants and eliminate billions in wasteful spending. A modified version of this proposal became law as part of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act.
- Co-sponsored legislation that would permanently eliminate the Death Tax.
- Co-sponsored the Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act to provide regulatory and economic relief to America’s community banks and credit unions that lend to local businesses.
- Authored the Wounded Warrior Tax Equity Act to extend the same level of protection from unnecessary extensions of IRS collection activity that is currently provided to civilians to hospitalized soldiers. This proposal became law as part of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act.
- Co-sponsored the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, now law, which requires the federal government to publish an easy-to-read online database of all federal spending so taxpayers know exactly how their tax dollars are being spent.
- Reduced regulatory costs on American businesses and workers by over $50 billion, in part through the repeal of excessive regulations using authority under the Congressional Review Act.
Key Votes
- Voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which provided tax relief to working families and small businesses.
- Voted for the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which reduced unnecessary red-tape for community lenders to help spur small business job creation.
- Voted for the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, providing tax relief to millions of Texans by creating a new, low 10% income tax bracket, doubling the child tax credit to $1,000, and reducing capital gains and dividend taxes on small investors.