Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas led a press conference to discuss the Overtime Wages Tax Relief Act, a bill he introduced alongside Senators Tommy Tuberville, Pete Ricketts, and Jim Justice. The proposed legislation aims to provide tax relief for American workers by creating an income tax deduction for overtime wage earners, focusing on lower and middle-income Americans.

Senator Marshall explained his motivation for introducing the bill: “I was born and raised on a farm... that time and a half overtime really incentivized a young person who was looking forward to buying his first car. But to my surprise, that first time I got my paycheck with that overtime, I was shocked to see how much money the government was taking out of my paycheck…”

The senator shared stories from Kansans like Steve Hewitt, a UPS driver who said, “Working overtime means I’m spending more time on the road and away from my family. But thanks to this bill, being able to keep more my paycheck in my pocket would be life changing – not just for me, but for blue collar workers across the nation.” Another story came from Brandon Switzer, a corrections officer at Shawnee County Department of Corrections: “As the Chief Steward and a corrections specialist... New legislation like this would also allow workers like me to possibly contribute more to our deferred compensation plan.”

Marshall emphasized the importance of this legislation as one of President Trump's priorities: “This is one of President Trump’s priorities... if we let this go off the books, that’s going to cost Kansas taxpayers $2,000 a year. Potentially... they could save another $4,000 on taxes if this legislation is signed into law by the president.”

He highlighted additional benefits such as addressing work shortages and boosting economic growth: “I think it actually will help grow the economy and pay for itself in its own way.”

On funding for the legislation, Marshall stated: “We should never look at any issue just in a silo... we need to come up with $2 trillion in savings for American taxpayers.” He further commented on government revenues and spending: “We have a spending problem, much more so than a tax revenue problem.”