All right, our event in southern Arizona has gotten underway. Looks like Speaker Johnson, Secretary Bessent, and Juan Ciscomani, he's an Arizona rep. They're taking to the podium. Ciscomani up first. Let's listen in. This is happening right now.
And we discussed a topic that's been top of mind for all of us. The impacts of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act on everyday Americans. Let me say that again. It's the impact of this act that we passed on everyday Americans like the ones that we met here today. Thanks to the leadership of Speaker Johnson and President Trump, this bill is now the law of the land. It is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in our lifetime. It represents the largest tax cut in American history, made permanent, and the largest share of tax relief directly to low and middle income Americans. It protects and creates up to 7.2 million jobs, 1.4 million manufacturing jobs specifically, like those right here in Casa Grande. We heard firsthand today what companies like PepsiCo are able to do, invest back in their company because of these tax cuts. And when you invest back in the company, you're directly investing back in the people in that company. On a personal note here, I will share this, and I think the speaker and the secretary will share great stats with you and information. But here's one of the things I want you to know. I have six kids. That allows me to go everywhere, to birthday parties, to football games, to soccer games, and talk to parents, talk to other coaches that I coach with. And I've heard repeatedly from so many of them that this last year, this year they received the largest tax refund they had in their entire lives. They're also motivated to work overtime because they're not getting taxed. Also, the child tax credit increasing permanently.
These are all real things for real people, putting real money back in their pockets. That's what's at the core of this bill that we passed. It's about people, the working class, like the ones that we met here today. For the average family, we see it up to between $7,400 and $10,600 more in take-home pay. This is again a game changer for many families. No income tax on up to $25,000 in overtime. That is huge for companies like this one and many across the district. No tax on tips, also up to $25,000. It gives every newborn in America a $1,000 head start through a new Trump account investment fund. I wish this was around when I was having kids. Now with six kids, we're a little too late for that one, but I want families to take advantage of it. And boost deductions for seniors. Arizonans 65 or older can claim a new $6,000 deduction on top of the standard deduction, on top of the existing senior deduction. You may have heard some of these things before, but they're now worth repeating. These are real wins that will put more money back in the pockets of hardworking families throughout Arizona and the nation. In fact, more Americans are working right now than any time in our nation's history. So, thank you all again for being here. The Working Families Tax Cuts Act is for everyday Arizonans. I appreciate all of you and each one of you being here in our district. Thank you. God bless everyone. And once again, I want to thank both Speaker Johnson and Secretary Bessent for being here with us today. Now, I want you to hear from the speaker himself. Speaker Johnson, thank you for being here, sir.
Thank you, brother. Appreciate that. Thank you, Congressman Ciscomani, my dear friend. It's been a great day here in Arizona, over in Casa Grande of course, and we're really grateful for the opportunity to have toured this sort of quintessential all-American manufacturing facility. PepsiCo and Frito-Lay is one of the great American companies. They have extraordinary employees here. We met with the leadership of the company at all levels and the real Americans who are employed at this place. It was not unusual, as we walked around and talked to employees, that many of them stayed with the company for decades. He mentioned the gentleman we met today who's going to retire after 37 years with the company. But I would say the average tenure seemed to be about 20 years. It's a great American story. It's a great corporate culture, and we are trying to do everything we can in the Republican-led Congress and in the Trump administration to make the conditions right for all companies to thrive in that way. We need to get government out of the way. We need to cut regulations, the ones that are burdensome and unnecessary. And we've been doing that. And we need to cut taxes. We've been doing that. We did the working families tax cut, the big beautiful bill as some call it, and it was infused with pro-growth policies. What we wanted to do is make the conditions right for companies like this to continue to expand and grow, to make their operations more efficient, to provide more jobs, better paying jobs for more and more Americans. And that's exactly what we saw today with our own eyes. That's what's happening. The ability to write off research and development, which they do a lot of in PepsiCo and Frito-Lay, the ability to write off capital investments, the expansion of manufacturing facilities, the updating of the facilities is a critical thing. We made the tax cuts permanent and they are taking full advantage of that, so it's been very encouraging for us to see it and to see how working families here in Arizona are benefiting directly from that. We heard from many of them today. They talked about what this has meant for them and their families, providing greater and greater opportunities for hardworking Americans.
For context, the PepsiCo facility opened here in 1984 during the Reagan years. It's been about that long since Congress has implemented any permanent reforms to our tax code. That is until we got this job done last year. We signed the working families tax cut, the big beautiful bill, ceremoniously on July 4th. That was our self-imposed deadline and we did it intentionally. As the secretary said, Secretary Bessent said in the fall of last year, he said 2025 was like setting the table. I've been quoting you everywhere, Mr. Secretary. He said the feast in the banquet in the economy will be in 2026. We put the conditions in place to do that and that's what's happening. A truly revolutionary piece of legislation that has had a landmark effect on the country. It supported, as Juan said, over 7 million jobs, projected $540 billion in worker wages, and sustained $1.1 trillion in economic activity, according to the National Association of Manufacturers report. And I'm just going to tell you that's just the beginning. This is a critical election year. As Juan Ciscomani said, his race is a key one around the country. I'm so excited that the people of this district in Arizona are going to send him back to Congress so that we can continue. We have more jobs coming home, more wages rising, more working families keeping more of what they earn. And that is our affordability agenda. There is more and more of that on the way. Our Democratic counterparts like to talk about these things. We are the ones who actually deliver it. We're putting manufacturers, small businesses, working families in the best possible position to succeed. And we're going to continue to do that. I believe we're going to hold the Republican majority in this midterm election. It's a faithful one. And right now it's a contrast election for everybody. They got to make a decision. Do they want to continue with common sense, growth, and opportunity, or do we want to go to this dark, dangerous, deadly road of communism? That is the contrast between common sense and crazy. The American manufacturing comeback is upon us. We are grateful to PepsiCo and Frito-Lay continuing to play an important role in that great American success story. In a word, in a phrase, I'd summarize it today by saying America is back and there's more of that to come.
I'm so grateful now to turn the podium over to a gentleman who has been a gift to America over this administration. Secretary Scott Bessent has become a legend in his own time, and he left a very successful career in the private sector as everyone knows famously, and he's fulfilling critical roles for the American people right now. He is our Treasury Secretary. He's the acting director of the IRS. I'm sure there's probably a couple other titles President Trump has given you, but I am grateful. I will tell you this in history we'll record. We could not have gotten the working families tax cut, the big beautiful bill, done were it not for the acumen of this great leader in the cabinet who helped us steer that through to passage and get it to the president's desk for signature. So, Secretary Bessent, on behalf of all the Republicans in Congress and all the American people, I want to thank you for your hard work and for being here with us today. I give it to you.
Good afternoon, Speaker Johnson. And all right. I'm pleased to be here alongside Speaker Johnson following an excellent roundtable. No one fights harder for Arizona families than Congressman Ciscomani, who demonstrated during our discussion why he was named one of the most effective lawmakers in Washington. At manufacturing facilities like this, you see the hardworking Arizonans who clock in every day to provide for their families and strengthen America's economy. President Trump's working family tax cuts, which I will add every Democrat voted against, are helping those very workers to keep more of what they earn. Never forget that if Democrats had their way, working families would absorb the largest tax hike in American history, $5 trillion. Instead, tens of millions of Americans across the country, including right here in Arizona, Casa Grande, have claimed one of President Trump's signature new tax cuts. Workers who rely on tips for income are keeping more of their earnings through that. No tax on overtime, which I can tell you, as overseeing the IRS, was the single most claimed deduction. 44% of taxpayers claimed one of the four signature policies last year. And earlier today at Treasury, we issued new guidance on the permanent expansion of the paid family and medical leave tax credit, which gives businesses like Pepsi greater incentives to help our workers at plants just like this one care for a new child or six, or recover from a serious illness without sacrificing financial security. Of course, thanks to Trump accounts, newborns in those families will get a stake in the American dream from day one with a $1,000 seed investment from Treasury. And don't listen to the Democrats when they claim that it's for the rich. 86% of the families who have enrolled in the Trump accounts of the 7 million thus far have incomes less than $200,000.
Trump accounts are reaching the people they are designed to serve. The best part of my job is to get out of Washington and to see how these policies are creating the conditions for families and businesses to flourish. The congressman left me with a great phrase which you'll see me using over the next few months: policies to people. We enact good policies, and if you come and you get to visit the people whose lives it impacts. None of this progress would have been possible without Speaker Johnson, who helped carry the legislation through Congress and benefits the hardworking families across Arizona. Mr. Speaker, thank you for your partnership and leadership. And Congressman, thank you. With the close majority, we were never in doubt on your leadership. You were early on this, and it has been a joy to do this. And it's an honor to be here today, as I said, to see how good policies they enacted just over a year ago today affect the great people of Arizona. So, thank you all. Great.
I didn't see a state name or anything.
Amalia Roy with Fox News. The first question is for Secretary Bessent. So, can you talk more about the conversations you had with these workers about specifically the working families tax cuts and any other concerns with the economy, especially going into the midterm elections?
I didn't hear the last part.
Also, any concerns about the economy going into the midterm elections?
What we heard was that, as I said, the overtime deduction has been the most popular here. And look, life is good here in Casa Grande. They work at a great facility. They have great camaraderie, and you know, from what I hear, they have taken it to the next level and are an exemplary facility for the other 80 manufacturing facilities around the country.
I do have a follow-up question both for Speaker Johnson and if Congressman Ciscomani wants to step in here. We do know that this district specifically in some polls it's showing as a toss-up. In Fox Power Rankings it's showing it actually is leaning Democrat. Can you talk about the strategy for this election, especially with the economy, to keep the seat during the election this fall?
