How the Trump Republican Tax Cuts Are Helping Minnesota

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have threatened numerous times to repeal the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on "Day One." But Minnesota is benefiting greatly from the tax cuts enacted by congressional Republicans and President Trump:
68,060 Minnesota households are no longer stuck paying the much-loathed individual mandate tax, thanks to the TCJA's elimination of this tax. 80% of Minnesota households hit with this tax made less than $50,000 per year. Be warned, Joe Biden wants to bring this tax back from the dead, one of the many reasons Biden can't be trusted on taxes.
412,660 Minnesota households are benefiting from the TCJA’s doubling of the child tax credit.
Every income group in every Minnesota congressional district received a tax cut. Nationwide, a typical family of four received a $2,000 annual tax cut and a single parent with one child received a $1,300 annual tax cut.
1,788,710 Minnesota households are benefiting from the TCJA’s doubling of the standard deduction. Thanks to the tax cuts, nine out of ten households take the standard deduction which provides tax relief and simplifies the tax filing process.
Corporate tax cuts led to utility rate relief: As a direct result of the TCJA’s corporate tax rate cut, Minnesota residents are saving money on utility bills. Lower electric, water, and gas bills help households and small businesses operating on tight margins. For example, Otter Tail Power Co., Minnesota Power, Northern States Power, and Xcel Energy Minnesota (see below) all passed along tax reform savings to their customers.
Thanks to the tax cuts, Minnesota businesses of all sizes are hiring, expanding, raising pay and increasing employee benefits:
Industrial Weldors & Machinists (Duluth, Minnesota) - Investing in employee pensions, hiring new employees:
“This is an American success story of generations,” Pence said of IWM, a third-generation family business that gets 70 percent of its work by rebuilding massive rock crushers used to extract taconite iron ore on the Iron Range.
Trump tax cuts helped the business and its employees, Pence said — including thousands of dollars in investments by the company into IWM employee pensions earlier this year.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Pence said.
It was an easy fact to check after the vice president’s remarks. All four sibling owners of the company were on hand — Dawn Bergh and her brothers Rick, Rob and Randy Abernethy. Bergh confirmed the pension investments for the company’s 32 employees.
“The boilermakers’ pension is in the toilet,” Bergh said. “They’re worried about it. We wanted to give them something that would keep them around. It’s really hard to get employees. We’re hiring right now for both a welder and a machinist.” - August 8, 2018, Twin Cities Pioneer Press article excerpt
3M Company (Maplewood, Minnesota) – the company increased employee pension contributions by $600 million:
3M said its tax rate under the new "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" will fall to 20 percent to 22 percent in 2018, down from a prior rate of 26 percent to 27 percent. Executives said they will use the savings to boost returns for shareholders, increase pension reserves and to invest in the company. – Jan. 25, 2018 Star Tribune article excerpt
In 2017, free cash flow conversion was impacted by enactment of the TCJA, along with an additional U.S. pension contribution of $600 million that 3M made following the signing of tax reform. – 3M Annual Report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018
Priority Courier Experts (St. Paul, Minnesota) – tax reform bonuses were given on Jan. 2, 2018 to employees; further, employees will receive another $500 bonus in 2018 on the anniversary of their hire date:
Priority Courier Experts paid a “TRUMP BUMP” to each of its 80 employees on their January 2nd, 2018 paycheck. We also expanded the “TRUMP BUMP” to pay each employee a $500 bonus on their hire anniversary date in 2018, and our hope for the future is to make the “TRUMP BUMP” Bonus permanent. – Steve Cossack, Founder/CEO, Priority Courier Experts
Minnesota Power (Duluth, Minnesota) – the utility is passing along tax cut savings to customers:
"When final rates go into effect late this year, customers will start receiving a 1.5259% credit on their monthly bill through a new line item, called the tax cut rider, totaling about $10 million a year refund until our next rate case," Rutledge said.
For a $100 power bill, that's about $1.53 returned - Aug 10, 2018, Duluth News Tribune article excerpt
Circuit Interruption Technology Inc. -- CIT Relay & Switch (Rogers, Minnesota) – hiring of new employees, growing the staff by 10 percent:
Circuit Interruption Technology Inc. dba CIT Relay & Switch manufactures and distributes electromechanical relays and switches to the electronics, security, HVAC, appliance and automotive industries. Employees were notified just before Christmas of one extra week pay added to their final year end check as a result of the new tax reform measure. Due to the positive atmosphere created by the passage of the tax bill Company profit sharing combined with normal 401K contributions amounted to an additional 5% per employee for 2017. CIT has added 10% to our staff thus far in January 2018 and more additions are expected. – Rick Hampton, CIT Relay & Switch
Albert Lea Public Warehouse (Albert Lea, Minnesota) – $2,000 bonuses for all 12 employees:
Albert Lea business leaders said the recently passed tax bill is helping them invest in their organizations.
The tax bill passed in December cut the top federal tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, likely putting billions of dollars in the pockets of major Minnesota companies.
Albert Lea Public Warehouse Owner Al Larson gave each of his 12 employees a $2,000 bonus, which he said would not have been possible without reduced rates. He said he decided to pay the bonuses in January to help the workers pay off costs incurred during the Christmas season.
“I just distributed it back to them,” he said.
In addition to bonuses, Larson is installing two roofs and investing in new dock levelers.
Larson said he prefers investing company revenue locally instead of contributing more of a percentage to the federal government. – Jan. 30 Albert Lea Tribune article
Otter Tail Power Co. (Fergus Falls, Minnesota) – the utility is passing along tax reform savings to customers.
Aldi - St. Paul (St. Paul, Minnesota) -- Aldi is building a new location in an Opportunity Zone created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
As director of St. Paul's Frogtown Neighborhood Association, Caty Royce returned from a policy summit in Chicago last year more alarmed than hopeful about the opportunities in "Opportunity Zones."
The federally authorized tax shelters allow investors to avoid paying capital gains taxes for up to 10 years if they funnel their profits into new real estate development within low-income census tracts.
"For me it was this huge red flag for any neighborhood along the Green Line, particularly for Frogtown, Rondo and Hamline," said Royce.
Critics worry that in poor neighborhoods, national investors will be drawn to projects that low-income residents can't afford, such as luxury housing. They'll buy up cheap real estate, tear it down and put up something more expensive.
But on Thursday, city officials and private developers held a groundbreaking aimed, in part, at proving the opposite.
St. Paul's first two Opportunity Zone projects are under construction near Phalen Boulevard and Clarence Street, much to the delight of some neighborhood advocates.
Within months, the 2.5-acre site will be home to a new Aldi grocery and the Entira Family Clinics, two new "anchor" tenants for the Phalen Village area, which sits in an Opportunity Zone. Both businesses are expected to open in late 2019. -- April 12, 2019 St. Paul Pioneer Press article
Koch Companies Inc. (Minneapolis, Minnesota) – increased driver wages; increased sign-on bonuses:
Raised driver pay to 41 cents to 45 cents per mile and the maximum sign-on bonus to $7,000 from $5,000 prior to late December.
“Rate increases and benefits from the recent tax law reform have allowed us to re-evaluate our current driver pay to make sure we are putting money back in the pockets of our greatest asset — the driver,” CEO Randy Koch said – Feb. 12 2018, Transport Topics article excerpt
Grand Rounds Brewing Co. (Rochester, Minnesota) – Because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the brewery was able to hire a new employee as well as invest in research and development:
“We are really a true industry that’s growing in the state of Minnesota, not only across the country, but Minnesota’s really got a lot of craft brewers,” said Tessa Leung, CEO of Grand Rounds Brewing Co. in Rochester.
…
Grand Rounds was able to invest in the research and development of their beers, update equipment and hire another brewer, but the tax increase will mean making adjustments.
“I wish we had, you know, the ability to double our prices and have nobody say anything about it, or take a vote on it, but people vote with their dollars, and they vote with where they’re at,” Leung said. – Dec. 5, 2019, KAAL 6 News.
Landmark Development (Duluth, Minnesota) -- The company is building an apartment complex in an Opportunity Zone created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
Downtown Duluth's skyline will be getting a couple of splashes of modern architecture soon.
Developers are working to figure out a demolition and construction schedule for a glassy, 15-story apartment building along the city's main downtown thoroughfare at 333 E. Superior St.
The $75 million project, which city officials said will help address a shortage of quality market-rate housing by adding 204 modern apartments, will rise near a $675 million, 14-story facility that Duluth-based Essentia Health is building. Nearby St. Lukes Hospital also is planning nearly $300 million in longer-term construction.
They are significant changes to the downtown skyline of a once-stagnant industrial city.
These projects that we are seeing now are once in a generation, and they're all happening at the same time, said Duluth Mayor Emily Larson. Its just tremendously exciting.
The apartment building, dubbed the Lakeview, will sit next to the Sheraton hotel and will feature units with floor-to-ceiling glass, wood floors and interior balconies so residents can enjoy Lake Superior views in all kinds of weather, said Brian Forcier, managing partner of Titanium Partners in Duluth, one of three developers on the project.
Plans for the bottom floor call for 19,000 square feet of retail space, including a grocery store an amenity that community leaders have been seeking for years. The second floor will have space for medical private-practice offices, Forcier said.
The project will replace the Voyageur Lakewalk Inn and a couple of other vacant buildings.
The developers, including Landmark Development of Madison, Wis., and Gerald Fogelson of Chicago, are taking advantage of a new federal Opportunity Zone program, which allows reinvestment of capital gains from other projects into properties in areas designated as economically distressed.
Larson said it is the single largest private investment in downtown Duluth's history for a residential building and a significant outside investment. She expects more outside investors to take an interest in Duluth in the next few years.
The city also agreed to pitch in $6.2 million in tax-increment financing for the apartment building, using the increased property taxes the development will generate to pay for infrastructure over the course of 25 years.
The building does nothing to help fill a shortage of quality low-income housing in the city, though. City leaders faced criticism for giving tax incentives to benefit high-wage earners.
We have a housing need across multiple spectrums and multiple affordability levels, there's no question about it, Larson said, adding that leaders can work on affordable housing while they're also working on market-rate housing.
Across the road, Essentia Health's new Vision Northland project will include a new St. Mary's Medical Center plus a clinic building and outpatient surgery center.
Construction is expected to begin later this year and finish in 2022.
And at nearby St. Luke's, officials are planning three phases of upgrades, with the most skyline-changing construction planned for about seven years out, said Vice President of Support Services Mike Boeselager.
At that time phase three of the project an inpatient tower would be built atop other buildings, for a total of 11 stories. Before that, projects will include relocating the emergency department and tripling its capacity, as well as expanding outpatient services.
Both medical facilities are getting state-backed bond financing for the projects. -- Jan. 21, 2019 Star-Tribune article
NAI Legacy (Minneapolis, Minnesota) -- The company built an apartment complex that is located in an Opportunity Zone created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
Call it planning ahead. But when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 unveiled the Opportunity Zone program, officials with Minneapolis’ NAI Legacy saw potential. And the firm acted on that potential.
Duane Lund, chief executive officer of NAI Legacy, said that he and other executives at the Twin Cities commercial real estate firm looked hard at Opportunity Zone legislation way back in the summer of 2018. They studied what Opportunity Zones could mean for NAI Legacy’s business model.
And that foresight? It’s paid off. Since launching its Opportunity Zone program, NAI Legacy has completed four Opportunity Zone investments totaling about $50 million.
“We educated ourselves on the program from the business side,” Lund said. “We surrounded ourselves with law firms and accounting firms that were diving deep into it, too. We’ve since given many of the investors in our program comfort with the assets we’ve targeted.”
One of those assets? Birdtown Flats, a new luxury apartment building in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale. This apartment complex opened for initial occupancy in February of 2020, and is located near downtown Robbinsdale.
Birdtown Flats includes 152 units and features amenities that include a rooftop deck, fitness center, business center, common area, underground heated parking, dog walk and bike-storage area.
......
The results bear this out. Lund said that Birdtown Flats is already nearly 70 percent occupied. -- April 3, 2020 RE Journals article
Entira Family Clinics (St. Paul Minnesota) -- The company is moving to an Opportunity Zone created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
St. Paul's first two Opportunity Zone projects are under construction near Phalen Boulevard and Clarence Street, much to the delight of some neighborhood advocates.
Within months, the 2.5-acre site will be home to a new Aldi grocery and the Entira Family Clinics, two new "anchor" tenants for the Phalen Village area, which sits in an Opportunity Zone. Both businesses are expected to open in late 2019. -- April 12, 2019 St. Paul Pioneer Press article
Stoneleigh Companies LLC (St. Paul, Minnesota) -- The company is building a apartment complex in an Opportunity Zone created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
Stoneleigh Companies LLC announces the acquisition of 10.71 acres of land planned for the construction of the 242-unit Waterford Bay Apartments located in the Saint Paul Opportunity Zone segment. Waterford Bay is one of the first Opportunity Zone projects in St. Paul.
Waterford Bay will offer luxury apartments in a prime location on the Mississippi River. The development aims to leverage the natural aesthetics of the Mississippi River Valley and nearby downtown Saint Paul into an attractive housing community through connectivity and integration of public/private spaces. The development is planning public access to the river with the addition of a kayak/small boat launch and expanding the regional bike/walking path trail system through the site. A portion of the land will be dedicated to the city for park space along the riverfront, accessible to the public by the extension of the bike/walking path. -- July 23, 2019 Cantify Investment News article
Xcel Energy Minnesota (Minnesota) - The utility is passing along tax cut savings along to customers:
About six months ago, Xcel Energy announced its Minnesota customers would receive a rebate because of a federal tax cut. In Minnesota, $200 million was returned to customers through a one-time credit on their bills. A typical Minnesota electricity customer who pays $85 to $90 a month received a credit of about $45. – February 8, 2019, Inforum article excerpt
Loon Liquor (Northfield, Minnesota) – Because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the business was able to reinvest in the community and buy more equipment:
Mark Schiller of Loon Liquor in Northfield also that the tax break has enabled his distillery to expand its business dramatically, which he's reinvested in the local agriculture community and other local businesses. If the tax break goes away, he says it would force him to cut back planned investments significantly.
"This tax break enabled us to invest more in local agriculture, more in our inventory, more in barrel aging our spirits, which is important for future profitability, and more in equipment," he said. "If it goes away, that will dramatically impede our business growth or our ability to invest in growth." – Faribault Daily News
U.S. Bancorp (Minneapolis, Minnesota) – Pay increases -- base wage raised to $15 per hour; $150 million charitable contribution, and $1,000 bonuses to 60,000 employees:
“We believe that tax reform is positive for the U.S. economy because it provides an immediate opportunity to benefit our employees, our communities and our customers.” – Andy Cecere, President and CEO
Northern States Power (Minneapolis, Minnesota) – The utility is passing along tax cut savings to customers:
The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) today approved settlement agreements with seven utilities to pass on to ratepayers their savings from the federal tax law rewrite, beginning in July. Three other utilities had no impact from the changes.
Filings were approved for Alpena Power Co., DTE Gas Co., Michigan Gas Utilities Corp., Northern States Power, SEMCO Energy Gas Co., and Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp. (UMERC).
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"Through swift action by the Commission, Michigan ratepayers will experience millions of dollars in refunds on their utility bills starting this summer due to changes in federal corporate income taxes," said Sally Talberg, chairman of the MPSC. “Utilities are benefiting from the tax cuts and their customers should, too.” – May 30, 2018 LARA Public Service Commission Press Release excerpts
Bio-Techne (Minneapolis, Minnesota) -- $500 bonuses for all 1,650+ employees:
Many of you, particularly in the U.S., have probably been keeping up with the news the past few months on U.S. tax reform. With the passage of the bill in Congress yesterday and the President’s signature, the new tax law is now official. How does this affect our company? A lot. Our current corporate income tax levels average between 29% and 31%. With this new tax law, over the next year our tax rates will drop to levels potentially as low as 21%. We don’t know the total answer yet because the law is complicated, and includes tax calculations from other countries where we do business as well. What I can tell you is that we are likely to pay substantially less taxes in the U.S. and overall.
There has been extensive media coverage here in the U.S. on what companies will do with these gains. The U.S. Government’s primary goal for the new law is that companies will use the additional monies to invest in growth, and not simply to benefit shareholders through a dividend increase or share buyback. I am happy to tell you that we will use the savings to invest in our company and in you. We will use the funds to continue our investment in the company through expansion and acquisitions. But we also want to invest in our employees. Our board of directors has approved a recommendation to pay a bonus of US $500 to every employee globally. The bonus will be paid to all employees employed as of December 31, 2017 (other than the Corporate Leadership Team) and will be included in a January 2018 payroll. Management and the Board value each of you and your contributions, and this bonus is one way we wish to show our appreciation for your contributions to our strong business performance and excellent execution.
I look forward to working with all of you to create great future of continued growth for Bio-Techne. On behalf of the entire management team, thank you. – Dec. 21, 2017 special message to employees from Bio-Techne CEO Chuck Kummeth
Best Buy (Richfield, Minnesota) -- $1,000 bonuses for full-time employees; $500 bonuses for part-time employees. Over 100,000 employees nationwide will receive bonuses:
Best Buy is the latest major corporation to hand out bonuses to its employees as a result of the recently passed corporate tax reform.
In a letter sent to employees Friday afternoon, CEO Hubert Joly said full-time employees will receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 and part-time employees $500.
All permanent employees who are not on an existing bonus plan will receive the additional funds. The bonuses are expected to show up in their paychecks this month.
In all, more than 100,000 of Best Buy’s 125,000 employees in the U.S., Mexico and Canada are slated to receive the extra payouts.
In addition, Best Buy is making a one-time contribution of $20 million to the Best Buy Foundation to help further expand its teen tech centers and Geek Squad Academies across the U.S.
“Our goal was simple: to say ‘thank you’ to more than 100,000 of our employees and help accelerate our work to bring much needed technology training to 1 million underserved teens a year,” said Jeff Shelman, a Best Buy spokesman.
In recent days, other major retailers including Lowe’s, Home Depot and Walmart have also said they will hand out bonuses, expand benefits, and raise wages of its workers in light of the tax reform.
In Minnesota, U.S. Bancorp and TCF Financial also are handing out bonuses to workers and increasing charitable donations. U.S. Bank also said it would raise the minimum wage of its hourly employees to $15.
Among other changes, the new tax law cut the top federal tax rate for corporations from 35 percent to 21 percent.”—Feb. 2 2018, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Hormel Foods Corp. (Austin, Minnesota) – Stock options for employees; increased base wage to $13 per hour:
Hormel Foods Corp. this morning announced that it plans to use savings from the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to award stock options to its employees and raise starting wages to $13 an hour. — Feb. 22, 2018 Post-Bulletin article excerpt
TCF Financial Corporation (Wayzata, Minnesota) -- $1,000 bonuses for full time employees; $500 bonuses for part time employees:
“As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, TCF will provide approximately $5 million in one-time bonuses to eligible team members—$1,000 to full-time team members and $500 to part-time team members—who earned less than $100,000 in total compensation during 2017, totaling 80 percent of its workforce. Additionally, TCF will donate $5 million to TCF Foundation to increase grants to nonprofit organizations in the communities it serves, including increasing its match of team member contributions to nonprofit organizations from 100 percent to 200 percent in 2018.” – Friday Dec. 29, 2017 TCF Financial Corporation press release
Data Sales Co., Inc. (Minneapolis, Minnesota) – $1,000 bonuses for all 80 employees:
Data Sales Co., Inc. announced today that the Company will celebrate the recent passage of tax reform legislation by distributing to all 80 plus employees a special bonus of $1,000 each. Data Sales Co. will benefit from the new tax law lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent:
“Our hard-working employees make this company succeed, and we wanted them to share in the savings the company will see and also help grow our economy. Today I’m announcing that every employee will receive a cash bonus of $1,000 each,” said Paul Breckner, President of Data Sales Co. “I also want to thank our local Congressman, Jason Lewis, for his consistent advocacy of tax reform and seeing it through to becoming law. With the majority of our 80+ strong workforce here in Burnsville, I’m pleased that the benefits of tax reform will be felt at home.”
Background on tax reform bonuses and Data Sales Co.:
All employees, whether full-time or part-time, hourly, salaried, commission or non-commission will receive the bonus to show our appreciation and heartfelt thanks for their service. We believe this tax reform will be good for Data Sales, spur economic growth, continue to grow jobs and keep unemployment at an all-time low. – Jan. 22, 2018 Data Sales Co., Inc. press release
DTN (Burnsville, Minnesota) -- DTN an independent provider of information and actionable insights in the areas of agriculture, transportation and energy, and publisher of The Progressive Farmer, gave $1,000 bonuses to nearly 700 employees.
Ecolab Inc. (St. Paul, Minnesota) – $25 million in charitable donations:
In response to the passage of the new U.S. tax law, Ecolab announced its intent to make a $25 million contribution to the Ecolab Foundation. Since 1986, the Ecolab Foundation has contributed more than $100 million to communities in which we do business by providing basic needs, including hunger relief and affordable housing; supporting education, the arts and environmental conservation; as well as providing support to global relief organizations during times of natural disasters. – Jan. 23, 2018 Ecolab Inc. press release
T.J. Maxx – 16 stores in Minnesota – increased retirement plan contributions, parental leave, enhanced vacation benefits, employee bonuses, and charitable donations:
The 2017 Tax Act benefited the Company in the fourth quarter and full year Fiscal 2018. The Company expects to continue to benefit from the 2017 Tax Act going forward, primarily due to the lower U.S. corporate income tax rate. As a result of the estimated cash benefit related to the 2017 Tax Act, the Company is taking the following actions:
Associates
- A one-time, discretionary bonus to eligible, non-bonus-plan Associates, globally
- An incremental contribution to the Company’s defined contribution retirement plans for eligible Associates in the U.S. and internationally
- Instituting paid parental leave for eligible Associates in the U.S.
- Enhancing vacation benefits for certain U.S. Associates.
Communities
- Made meaningful contributions to TJX’s charitable foundations around the world to further support TJX’s charitable giving. – Feb. 28, 2018 The TJX Companies Inc. press release excerpt
Apple (There are five Apple stores in Minnesota: Bloomington, Edina, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Roseville) -- $2,500 employee bonuses in the form of restricted stock units; nationally, $30 billion in additional capital expenditures over five years; 20,000 new employees will be hired; increased support of coding education and science, technology, engineering, arts, and math; increased support for U.S. manufacturing.
AT&T -- 1,592 Minnesota employees received $1,000 bonuses; nationally, $1 billion increase in capital expenditures.
Bank of America (Multiple locations in Minnesota) -- $1,000 bonuses.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (Multiple locations in Minnesota) – Bonuses ranging from $250 to $1,000; increased employee benefits; nationally, $50 million investment in existing restaurants.
Cintas Corporation (Multiple locations in Minnesota) -- $1,000 bonuses for employees of at least a year, $500 bonuses for employees of less than a year.
CVS Health (Multiple locations in Minnesota) -- Base wage raised to $11 per hour, and other pay ranges adjusted accordingly; company will absorb increases costs of health insurance premiums; creation of new parental leave program.
Comcast (Multiple locations in Minnesota) -- $1,000 bonuses; nationally, at least $50 billion investment in infrastructure in next five years.
Home Depot (Multiple locations in Minnesota) -- Bonuses for all hourly employees, up to $1,000
Lowe's -- 1,000 employees at 11 stores in Minnesota. Expanded benefits and maternity/parental leave; $5,000 of adoption assistance; bonuses of up to $1,000.
Ryder (Six locations in Minnesota) – Tax reform bonuses for employees totaling $23 million nationwide.
Taco John’s (62 locations in Minnesota): All full-time and part-time crew members received a $200 after-tax bonus:
Taco John’s International, Inc. announced today that in response to the 2018 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, the company gave part of its projected tax savings to its restaurant crews, general managers, corporate staff and CORE (Children of Restaurant Employees).
On Friday, Feb. 23, Taco John’s International, Inc.’s employees received a one-time bonus, as follows:
- Every restaurant crew member - full-time and part-time - received $200 (after taxes);
- General managers and employees at the Taco John’s Franchisee Support Center in Cheyenne received $1,000 each; and,
- The Executive Council of Taco John’s International, Inc. (Vice Presidents and above) donated their $1,000 bonuses (a total of $10,000) to CORE, a national not-for-profit organization that grants support to children of food and beverage service employees who are navigating life-altering circumstances.
“At Taco John’s International, our team is our family, so sharing the financial benefits that were a result of the recent tax reform legislation only makes sense,” said Jim Creel, CEO of Taco John’s International, Inc. “We encourage other restaurant brands to follow our example and give a portion of their savings to the people that are at the heart of what we do and to great organizations like CORE that support our crew. One hundred percent of CORE’s funds directly benefit children of restaurant employees who have been afflicted with life-threating conditions.”
“We are so grateful to the Taco John’s team for their generous donation to our CORE family members,” said Lauren LaViola, executive director of CORE. “Donations like theirs help us provide for our food and beverage service families experiencing loss, illness and other life-changing circumstances, and help us get closer to our goal of helping even more families across all 50 states in 2018.”
The total amount that Taco John’s International, Inc. gave exceeded $150,000.00. – Feb. 28, 2018 John’s International, Inc. press release
Starbucks Coffee Company (Multiple locations in Minnesota) – $500 stock grants for all Starbucks retail employees, $2,000 stock grants for store managers, and varying plant and support center employee stock grants, totaling more than $100 million in stock grants nationwide; 8,000 new retail jobs and 500 new manufacturing jobs; an additional wage increase this year, totaling approximately $120 million in wage increases, increased sick time benefits and parental leave.
U-Haul (Multiple locations in Minnesota) – $1,200 bonuses for full-time employees, $500 bonuses for part-time employees.
Wal-Mart – 69 locations in Minnesota; Base wage increase for all hourly employees to $11; bonuses of up to $1,000; expanded maternity and parental leave; $5,000 for adoption expenses.
Waste Management, Inc. (Multiple locations in Minnesota) -- $2,000 bonuses.
Wells Fargo – 157 bank locations in Minnesota -- Base wage raised from $13.50 to $15.00 per hour; nationally, $400 million in charitable donations for 2018; $100 million increased capital investment over next three years.
Anthem (Multiple locations in Minnesota) -- Nationally, $1,000 in extra 401(k) contributions for 58,000 employees.
Note: If you know of other Minnesota examples, please email John Kartch at jkartch@atr.org
The running nationwide list of companies can be found at www.atr.org/list
More from Americans for Tax Reform
Dems Rushing Through Small Biz Tax Paperwork Mandate in Biden Spending Bill

Congressional Democrats are sneaking through new reporting requirements that will increase tax complexity for independent contractors, small businesses, and freelancers. They have included this proposal in the 200 page manager’s amendment to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. This is another attempt by the Left to exploit the COVID-19 crisis by passing unrelated policy measures long desired by progressives.
The provision in question would lower the reporting threshold to $600 or more for 1099-K reporting and eliminates the transactions threshold. Currently, one is only required to report when there is more than $20,000 in sales and more than 200 transactions in a year. The proposal also extends the 1099-K reporting to "specified electronic payment processors."
This would impact freelancers and independent contractors including freelancers compensated via PayPal, Etsy sellers, Airbnb hosts, Uber and Lyft drivers, food delivery couriers, and others participating in the sharing economy.
This provision would end up harming low- and middle-income contractors, small businesses, and freelancers, many of which have been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. Implementing new, burdensome reporting rules will only do more damage. It is quite ironic that a provision like this may be included in the so-called “American Rescue Plan.”
The House plans to vote on the stimulus package today, so Democrats are trying to rush these provisions through with no debate or public scrutiny.
Democrats last enacted burdensome new 1099 reporting requirements in Obamacare, when they required businesses to send 1099 forms for all purchases of goods and services over $600 annually.
Soon after this provision was signed into law, the National Taxpayer Advocate raised concerns that these reporting requirements would cause “disproportionate” harm to small businesses and do little to improve tax compliance.
This provision was so unpopular that it was quickly repealed in 2011 with a bipartisan vote of 87 to 12 in the Senate and 314 to 112 in the House. The Obama administration even hailed repeal of the provision a “big win” for small businesses in a press release:
“Today, President Obama signed a law that removes the expanded ‘1099’ reporting requirement from the Affordable Care Act. This is a big win for small businesses.
The SBA and President Obama supported repealing this provision, which would have required businesses to send 1099 forms for all purchases of goods and services over $600 annually. With this bipartisan effort, we have removed a requirement that would have been an undue barrier to small business growth.”
This provision being rushed through today is eerily similar to the Obamacare reporting requirement.
We should not make the same mistakes again. Expanding reporting requirements for 1099-K receivers will harm independent contractors, small businesses, and freelancers. Increasing compliance costs and the regulatory burden on already-struggling workers and small business owners is especially alarming given they have been disproportionately harmed by the pandemic.
Photo Credit: Kentucky Democratic Party
Costly Real-Times Sales Tax Collection Proposals would Hurt Small Businesses

Massachusetts is home to the 16th worst Business Tax Climate in the United States, according to the Tax Foundation. Aside from high taxes and a poorly structured code, small businesses in Massachusetts contend with soaring rent and costly regulatory regimes. Despite all of this and after suffering from a year of economic downturn, pandemic-induced lockdowns, and new expenses, small businesses in Massachusetts face even more new fees and regulations from their state government.
Members of the Massachusetts legislature are again considering a real-time sales tax remittance requirement for retailers, which does not increase revenue for state coffers like other tax grabs, but does impose significant new costs on employers at a time when many businesses are struggling just to stay open. While this misguided proposal wouldn’t raise any new revenue, a real-time sales tax collection and remittance requirement would force businesses to create an entirely new payment system that would saddle employers with new compliance costs, further reducing the job-creating and sustaining capacity of Bay State small businesses while raising new privacy concerns for consumers.
The retail infrastructure required to fully comply with a real-time sales tax remittance mandate does not exist. Current payment processors only collect a final purchase amount and aren’t built to collect the data required to remit a sales tax instantaneously. As a result, the real-times sales tax requirement some on Beacon Hill are calling for would force businesses and financial institutions to build new systems from scratch in order to comply, all to generate no new revenue, just earlier collection. The State Tax Research Institute estimatesthat this process would cost businesses almost 1.2 billion dollars in costs.
Aside from the added costs, the real-time sales tax proposal raises significant consumer privacy and information security questions. The current sales tax collection and remittance system is already a complex web that requires coordination from multiple government agencies and stakeholders. Any new information needed to make a transaction compliant presents another point of attack for bad actors to access even more consumer information.
Forcing the nation’s first real-time sales tax requirement on employers would only serve to make Massachusetts a more costly and less hospitable place to do business and invest. The real-time sale tax proposal being advocated for in Massachusetts would inflict pain on in-state employers, with no gain for state coffers. This misguided policy would create no additional revenue for the state. It would only levy new rules and associated costs for businesses that are just beginning to recover from the adverse effects of the pandemic-driven downturn. Several state legislatures have proposed and eventually rejected instant sales tax remittance because they ultimately understood that it was an onerously expensive and unnecessary policy that brought no new revenue to the state. Massachusetts lawmakers should heed the lessons from those failed attempts.
States Must Act to Prevent the Taxation of PPP Relief Aid

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), created in March 2020 as part of the CARES Act, was meant to help businesses retain workers and avoiding permanent closure amid government-mandated lockdowns. PPP loans issued to businesses were forgivable and not subject to federal income tax, so long as 60% of the loans went to keeping employees on the payroll. In some states, however, employers now face the prospect of being hit with higher state taxes as a result of accepting federal relief.
Businesses like Macromatic Industrial Controls in Wisconsin used PPP loans to help keep their workers employed. With taxes due this spring, the company’s president Steve Sundlov had been raising concerns about PPP loans being taxed by the state.
“The PPP money was again presented to us as tax-free money, and those were the rules that we were give,” Sundlov said, adding that “now, it seems like the rules are changing and that’s very difficult to deal with.”
Though it had originally appeared as though Governor Tony Evers (D) was going to subject PPP relief to state taxation, after increasing pressure from the Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature, Gov. Evers agreed last week to sign into law a bill exempting PPP loans from state income tax.
The prospect of state taxation of PPP loans that Wisconsin lawmakers rectified last week is a problem that’s not limited to Wisconsin. While it was good to see Governor Evers make the right decision, the threat of state taxation of PPP loans continues to hang over employers in many other states. Governors and legislators in a number of states still need to take action to ensure businesses are not subject to higher state taxes on account of their utilization of pandemic aid authorized under the CARES Act.
Unless state legislators in Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, and 16 other states take action soon, PPP relief aid that businesses received during the pandemic will be subject to state taxation because state lawmakers declined to exempt PPP loans as taxable income and disallowed expense deductions. The good news is that legislators in some of those states are in the process of taking such action.
Meanwhile in Maine, the Democrats who run state government seem less concerned about protecting businesses from surprise tax bills on their PPP relief aid. Gov. Janet Mills (D) introduced an executive budget on January 25, 2021 that did not exempt forgiven PPP loans from state income tax. The Governor argued that by taxing this relief aid, the state could get an additional $100 million revenue shortfall on top of the windfall of additional federal revenue that Congress is about to send.
After public backlash, Gov. Mills announced that she would look towards additional aid from the federal government to avoid taxing PPP funds, which the state is sure to get as part of the $1.9 trillion spending package now working its way through Congress.
While efforts to exempt PPP aid from state income tax are encouraging and necessary, lawmakers in many states still need to approve conformity legislation before taxes come due this spring. While Mr. Sundlov’s worries that he will “owe tens of thousands of dollars in income tax” have abated thanks to the prudent action recently taken by Wisconsin lawmakers to conform with the CARES Act’s tax exemption for pandemic relief funds, thousands of other small businesses across the U.S. still face the prospect of unexpected state tax bills. Unless lawmakers in those states act soon, some employers might have to resort to the sort of payroll reductions that PPP loans and the other liquidity enhancing provisions of the CARES Act were designed to prevent.
Photo Credit: Robert English
More from Americans for Tax Reform
Oilfield Welder on Biden's Hostility to Oil and Gas Jobs: "You have to change your whole life up because of politics."

Reporting from Watford City, North Dakota, the Fargo Forum interviewed local residents regarding President Biden’s hostility to oil and gas workers:
"I think everybody up here feels like we’re absolutely screwed," said Tara Paul, a Denver native who followed her sons to western North Dakota oil country just months before the pandemic hit.
Despite the claims of the Biden administration, workers cannot simply switch to working on solar panels. One of Tara’s sons, Shawn, shared his frustration over Biden’s lack of empathy:
For Shawn, 23, even if oil prices rebound in the next few years, the Biden climate agenda and the newly secured Democratic control in Washington look like writing on the wall for his long-term hopes in the oil business. "You build your lifestyle on these things, and you have to change your whole life up because of politics," Shawn said.
On Dec. 19, 2019, Biden said he would be willing to displace "hundreds of thousands of blue collar workers" in pursuit of a "Green New Deal."
Biden also suggested energy workers who lose their job due to his policies should learn to code.
On Dec. 30, 2019, Joe Biden said: "Anybody who can go down 300 to 3,000 feet in a mine can sure as hell learn to program as well...Give me a break! Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for god's sake!”
If you would like to read the rest of the Fargo Forum article, it can be found here.
Compilation of Personal Stories from Americans Hurt by Biden's Energy Policy

Americans for Tax Reform is collecting personal testimonials of Americans hit by President Biden's energy restrictions. (If you would like to submit a short video, please send it to Mike Mirsky at mmirsky@atr.org). Please see the examples below:
Pipeline Worker: "I've got my whole life invested in this."
Will New Hampshire Become the Next Right-to-Work State?

New Hampshire may soon join the list of 27 right-to-work states, giving private sector workers the freedom to choose whether or not they join and pay dues to a union. This would be a huge win for employees across the Granite State and a boon to the economy.
Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, public sector workers in New Hampshire and across the country are no longer forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment. That landmark victory for workplace freedom, however, did not apply to private sector unions. Private sector employees in states that do not have right-to-work laws in place still do not have this basic right to choose.
But now that New Hampshire is back under Republican control, there is a strong chance that things will soon change. Sen. John Reagan’s Senate Bill 61, which was recently approved by the Senate in a 13-11 vote, would prohibit collective bargaining agreements from including mandatory union dues, making New Hampshire the 28th right-to-work state. This commonsense law, if enacted, would give New Hampshire private sector workers the freedom to exercise their First Amendment right to decide to associate or not associate with an organization and give them the option to keep more of their hard-earned paychecks.
In addition, SB 61 is also smart economic policy. Scholarly research over the years has found that right-to-work states are more prosperous than forced-unionism states. The National Institute for Labor Relations Research, for example, found that the percentage growth in the number of people employed from 2009-2019 was 16.9% for right-to-work states and just 9.6% in forced unionism states.
These findings are not surprising. Right-to-work laws make states significantly more attractive to businesses looking to expand. John Boyd, founder of the Boyd Company, a business consulting firm that advises where to make job-creating investments, explained that right-to-work is a “common denominator among states attracting both aerospace and other types of advanced manufacturing.”
“I believe right-to-work, along with lower business taxes and workers compensation costs, will make New Hampshire more competitive and attractive to grow and locate a business,” said Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, who is a cosponsor of the bill.
Joining Sen. Reagan and Leader Bradley as co-sponsors of SB 61 are Senate President Chuck Morse, Sen. Gary Daniels, Sen. Bill Gannon, Sen. James Gray, Sen. Harold French, Rep. Richard Marston, Rep. Carol McGuire, Rep. Alicia Lekas, and Rep. James Spillane. SB 61 has been placed at the top of House Speaker Sherman Packard’s legislative agenda and Gov. Chris Sununu, a longtime supporter of right-to-work laws, is expected to sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.
Finally making New Hampshire a right-to-work state would be a win for all residents of the Granite State. It would give private sector employees the freedom to choose how they wish to assemble and allow them to keep more of their hard-earned paychecks, while also attracting new jobs and opportunities.
Photo Credit: James Walsh
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Biden's Quiet Tax Proposal: Banks Pay Twice

Over the past year, American banks were instrumental in supporting the survival of 51 million American jobs. The Paycheck Protection Program is currently in the middle of a successful second round as banks helped extend a lifeline to over 700,000 small businesses. Banks have been on the front lines throughout the healthcare emergency, retaining thousands of employees and remaining open to help Americans meet their financial needs. They should be applauded. But their resiliency is now a target as Democrats are preparing to tax these institutions at a time when access to affordable financial services is necessary to rebuild a prosperous economy.
President Biden consistently campaigned on reversing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, creating the highest corporate income tax rate in the industrialized world. For banks, S&P Global estimates a tax hike like this could cost the ten largest U.S. banks $7 billion annually.
Bloomberg reported the nation's top six banks saved $32 billion since Trump’s tax cuts. These savings helped them invest in their hundreds of thousands of employees and continue to expand access to affordable financial services and products. Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup raised their minimum wage to $15 per hour after the tax cut. Bank of America increased hourly wages to a minimum of $20 per hour.
The Biden administration also plans on instituting a financial risk fee on banks. Democrats, including Secretary Hillary Clinton, have been pushing for this double tax since 2015. And Biden may find a likely ally in the Senate to spearhead this initiative. During Senator Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) presidential campaign, she proposed a financial risk fee to pay for her “Climate Smart and Green Infrastructure” ambitions. She also chairs the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee which helps craft Senate Democrat's policies.
The mechanics of the financial risk fee could be similar to President Obama’s plan in 2015. His administration proposed an annual seven basis point fee on the non-depository liabilities of financial institutions with assets over $50 billion. These liabilities include Federal Funds Market Repurchase Agreements, commercial paper, and bond issuances, and would directly affect 42 depository institutions with assets over $50 billion. A large institution like Bank of America, which borrows to finance its lending and market-making activities, can see an annual $540 million fee in addition to their record increase in corporate tax.
This tax risks the employment of 1.4 million bank employees, and the tens of millions of customers who rely on these banks daily, especially during the healthcare emergency. Although many small banks would be exempt, this arbitrary penalty would discourage smaller banks from taking on new customers to remain below the $50B asset threshold.
Proponents of these policies claim that taxing bank’s borrowing reduces the chance of bank failures. However, economists have shown that bank taxes like this are ineffective and have failed elsewhere.
Essentially banks could be taxed for simply being banks, serving customers, facilitating financial transactions, and providing loans to small businesses or entrepreneurs. This tax would raise the cost of financial services and punish many of the unbanked and underbanked who need access the most to affordable financial products.
Without banks' further participation in programs like PPP to meet the financial needs of Americans, small businesses could see a pullback in lending, and the economy will be slow to recover. It is inappropriate for the administration to punish the banking sector in light of the essential services they have continued to provide almost a year into the healthcare crisis. Banks should, instead, be rewarded and bolstered for their ongoing support in stimulating the American economic recovery.
Photo Credit: Steve Walser
Letter: Oklahoma Lawmakers Should Reject Price Controls

Oklahoma Lawmakers Should Reject Price Controls
In a letter to the Oklahoma Senate Appropriations Committee, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, urged lawmakers to reject Senate Bill 734, which would impose price controls on prescription medication.
If implemented, SB 734 would cap the amount state-regulated commercial insurance plans could pay for prescription drugs at a reference price. “[T]his bill, which is a price control, would jeopardize innovation in the pharmaceutical industry and result in patients having less access to their medicines,” warned Norquist.
To read the full letter, click here.
February 25, 2021
To: Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee
From: Americans for Tax Reform
Re: Oppose Senate Bill 734, Price Controls on Prescription Medications
Dear Senator,
On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and our supporters across Oklahoma, I urge you to oppose Senate Bill 734, legislation that would cap the amount state-regulated commercial insurance plans can pay for prescription drugs at a “reference price.” If implemented, this bill, which is a price control, would jeopardize innovation in the pharmaceutical industry and result in patients having less access to their medicines.
Currently in the United States, it costs around $2.6 billion and takes approximately 10 years – which includes the six to seven-year clinical trial process the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires for drug approval – for a new drug to enter the market. Given this long and expensive process, it is unsurprising that less than 12 percent of drugs that begin preclinical testing make it to approval.
As such, forcefully reducing the price of prescription medications is a very shortsighted “solution.” Legislation such as SB 734 would leave pharmaceutical manufacturers with fewer resources available to invest in the next generation of lifesaving and life-improving medicines. Similarly, it would also make it more difficult for potential manufacturers to successfully launch their operations. This would result in the people of Oklahoma being left with even fewer, lower quality choices.
Buttressing this point is experience from countries with a more heavy-handed approach to healthcare policy, which has demonstrated that government intervention neither lowers costs nor increases access. Rather, it stifles development, creates shortages, and leads to fewer choices for consumers and patients.
The best thing state lawmakers can do to mitigate rising healthcare costs is embrace free market solutions, which promote the competition that spurs innovation, improves quality, increases the number of available options, and naturally keeps prices low. ATR opposes Senate Bill 734 and urges lawmakers to vote NO.
Sincerely,
Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform
Photo Credit: Jimmy Emerson, DVM
More from Americans for Tax Reform
Pipeline Worker: "I've got my whole life invested in this."

Americans for Tax Reform is collecting personal testimonials of Americans hit by President Biden's executive actions. (If you would like to submit a short video, please send it to Mike Mirsky at mmirsky@atr.org).
Please watch this video from Jason, a member of Pipeliners Local Union 798:
“My name is Jason Jernigan, I’m 45 years old and I’m a member of Local 798, Pipeliners Union. I’ve been a pipeliner for 21 years. This is all I know how to do. The recent administration has taken my livelihood from me and expected me to get a job somewhere else. I’ve got my whole life invested in this.”
See also:
Rise of Personal Shoppers Shows Robust Competition in Same-Day Delivery Market

Coronavirus lockdowns have fueled a massive surge in online shopping, with American e-commerce growing a staggering 44 percent in 2020 and online spending representing 21.3 percent of all sales.
Brick-and-mortar retailers have responded to this demand by rethinking their business models and expanding the resources they dedicate to fulfilling digital orders. The resulting innovation and competition in the evolving same-day delivery market has expanded access to goods and services for American consumers and increased job opportunities for American workers.
Walmart now has over 170,000 “personal shoppers” dedicated to fulfilling online orders. These shoppers receive online orders, pick the items off of shelves, then prepare them for delivery to customers’ homes. These jobs start at over $13 an hour, more than Walmart’s $11 minimum wage, and approximately 40 percent of personal shoppers are existing Walmart employees looking to advance in the company.
The rise of personal shoppers expands access to goods and services for American consumers. With government-mandated lockdowns forcing the entire country into self-isolation, online delivery services have been a lifeline for Americans that need groceries, prescriptions, and other household essentials delivered directly to their door. With stores like Target and Bed Bath and Beyond adding personal shoppers to their respective workforces, consumers will have more places to shop from without leaving their homes.
Competition between companies in the same-day delivery market will also benefit consumers in the form of lower prices and greater perks. Walmart has rolled out Walmart+, a new membership service that directly competes with Amazon Prime by offering same-day delivery, as well as two-hour delivery for an additional fee. Increased competition in the same-day delivery space will only continue to benefit consumers as choices increase.
This new market also benefits American workers, especially those who saw their jobs vanish due to the pandemic. As retailers continue to amp up their online presence, new jobs will need to be filled, and plenty of Americans will be available to fill them.
Ultimately, competition is a rising tide that lifts all boats. The rapid expansion of the same-day delivery market will benefit American consumers through increased access to goods and services, lower prices, and better membership perks. American workers will benefit through increased job opportunities as demand for personal shoppers increases.
As our country attempts to recover from the economic damage inflicted by COVID-19, the evolving same-day delivery market is a welcome reminder that American innovation will always adapt to new challenges.
Photo Credit: Bev Sykes