The One Big Beautiful Bill for Small Business, Manufacturing, Working Families

The committee will come to order. Good morning, and thank you all for for being here, and welcome to the Ways and Means committees. filled hearing on the one big beautiful bill delivering for small businesses, manufacturing, and working families. It's great to be here in Congressman David Kustoff's um home district. David is a very, very strong and steady advocate for working families of West Tennessee. When the Ways and Means Committee was laying the groundwork uh for the one big, beautiful bill, He served as Vice Chair of the Supply Chain's tax team. He also led the fight to strengthen the employer-provided child care credit, which became law in the one big beautiful bill, and empowers employers to open child care centers so working parents don't have to choose between their jobs and quality care for their kids. I also wanna thank our host, um, The Orgil Innovation Center, which which is absolutely beautiful, love um the small flag behind us, um uh it's it's it's it's very welcoming, so um uh which helps with the independent hard hardware retailer, the family lumber yard, and the farm store compete with the one the with the big box chains. I see that first-hand back home in God's country, southeast Missouri, um there in Sykeston where Orgil's distribution center um keeps small town stores, um stocked all across the Midwest. I'm told this facility is is bigger than Wrigley Field, I'll take your word for that, and um and it took an investment of more than eighty million dollars to build and equip. When the hardware store in Main Street has what its customers need, the whole community definitely benefits. It's disappointing though that none of our Democrat colleagues um was able to join us here today. Um, but perhaps not surprising, because every single Democrat on this committee, and for that matter, every single Democrat in Congress voted y- voted against this tax relief that we are discussing today. Um, unfortunately, this is not the first time. that we have taken the committee on the road and found their side of the dais empty. Filled hearings are how we get out of Washington and into communities our work actually touches. Today we are here to learn how the one big beautiful bill is showing up in the lives of workers families and small businesses across West Tennessee. In the process of writing the one big beautiful bill, This committee traveled the country to hear from Americans struggling in the Biden economy, in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Georgia, and beyond, folks told us about how with higher prices and higher interest rates, allowing the largest tax hike in American hiscr- history to occur would have crushed workers and families and farmers, and definitely small businesses. The twenty percent small business deduction was also about to expire. The tax rates would have gone up on every single person. Businesses were about to lose the ability to write off new equipment right away. Research cost had to be spread out over five years instead of deducted in one. And forty million families would have seen the child tax credit slashed Republicans listened. We made the small business deduction permanent. So Main Street businesses sum thirty-six million employers and there are over sixty-three million workers can compete with larger corporations. And so they are not facing a tax rate twenty points larger than what similar sized businesses pay in Communist China. We made full expensing permanent for new equipment and domestic research. And for the first time, we let manufacturers write off new factories in full, right away. We made enhancements to the tax credits and deductions that support child care options for working families, including employer-provided child care and out-of-pocket child care cost, for the first time in over two decades. We delivered no tax on tips and no tax on overtime for the workers who keep American businesses running. And we delivered the largest tax cut in our country's, uh, in our country's history. Today is about hearing what that relief looks like in real life. Our witnesses know better than anyone how tax policy shows up in a paycheck. a hiring decision, or a new piece of equipment, how it supports working families to put food on the table and provide for their kids, or how it gives employers more resources to provide more jobs and better benefits to their employees. I want to thank each of you for taking this time to share how tax relief is working for you, for your business, for your family. This hearing is also about what comes next. The one big beautiful bill gave families and job creators greater certainty and much needed relief at a time when folks are still facing some tough financial decisions. But our work is not done. We want to hear from our witnesses about the barriers still standing in the way of small businesses, workers. and families and what this committee should focus on as we write the next chapter of tax reform. Whether it be tax policies that allow workers to keep more of their hard-earned money to put toward family expenses or additional support for small businesses to expand, invest and hire. I look forward to today's testimony. Last but not least, we also want to hear from all of you. in the audience. We will be passing around clipboards um with our team, stand up, Brandon. Brandon will be passing around these tip uh these these clipboards and we wanna hear um from everyone in the audience who who is attending today of any concerns or thoughts or ideas that you might have in tax reform and how to improve um what we've already started. Um that That information will be entered into the official record and will be part of the testimony as well today. Um, I'm pleased to recognize the gentleman who's hosting us, um, my neighbor, um, uh, Mister David Kustoff.

Mister Chairman, thank you very much for conven convening this field hearing here in West Tennessee. We really appreciate it. Uh, it's historic. I think any time to have a congressional hearing outside of Washington and in real America, and that's where we are today. So thank you very much. And I also wanna thank all of my colleagues here who have traveled from their homes to be part of this hearing I appreciate you all being here and you've gotten to experience Memphis and West Tennessee and Shelby County hospitality. I hope you've enjoyed it. To Boyd Moore and the team at Orgel, we thank you for hosting us today. Uh, Mister Chairman, Orgel is a great Tennessee success story. One of the largest private companies in our area, the oldest company in Tennessee. And I I think it'd be be remiss if I did not mention Joe Orgel, Joseph Orgel the third, who uh I know his vision is part of this great center and this company and he was a friend and he's somebody that we think about. and appreciate, but Boyden, thank you very much for hosting us today. To all the witnesses who are here, we appreciate you taking your time to share how the one big beautiful bill has benefited you and your businesses, and as the chairman talked about, as we look at this next uh this next bill, these next text packages, what we can do to build on the successes of the one big beautiful bill. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for convening of all this here and I'll yield back.

Thank you, Representative. I will now introduce our witnesses. Our first one is Mr. Boyden Moore, is President and CEO of our generous host, Orgel. Um, Miss Alex Grover is Owner and CEO of I-two-M. We have Mister Wade Thompson, is the Owner and President of Thompson Priestress in Jackson, Tennessee. And we have Mister Mike Miller, is owner of Patrick's Neighborhood Bar and Patio in Memphis, Tennessee. I wanna thank you all for joining us today. Your written statements will be made part of the hearing record, and you each will have five minutes to deliver your r- your remarks. Mister Moore, you may begin when you're ready. I think your mike needs to be on.

Chairman Smith, Congressman Kustof, and honorable members uh of the Ways and Means Thank you uh for being here and giving us the opportunity to welcome you to Oregon, Collierville, and Memphis. I'm Boyd Moore. I grew up in a f- small family-owned business. My dad owned Moore Printing in Anniston, Alabama, which still exists today. Earlier in my career, I worked as president of Marvin's Building Materials and Home Centers, a family-owned small chain of home centers in Alabama. And for the past five years, I've served as Orgel's President and CEO. As David said, Orgel will celebrate a hundred and eighty years in business next year. It's the oldest business in Tennessee and one of the top two hundred privately held businesses in the United States. We serve over thirteen thousand five hundred stores in every U. S. state and roughly sixty foreign countries. About sixty percent of our customers our single store operators, mom and pop independent hardware stores. Today, I hope to offer this committee a perspective, not only from our company, but also on behalf of the thousands of independent hardware and home improvement businesses that we serve across the country. We are sitting here today in Orgel's new five hundred and fifty thousand square foot innovation center. We cut the ribbon on this facility just last year, and it's the first of its kind in our industry. The Innovation Center represents a major investment in our company's future, in our community, and most importantly in our customers. Within these walls, we are showcasing many of the ways Orville and our industry partners work to provide ongoing solutions and support to the hard-working business owners that we serve. Our customers consist primarily of small, independently owned family businesses. The hardware stores, home centers, lumber yards, and farm stores that literally provide the building blocks for the communities in the United States. We all know that small independent businesses are critical to the health of our communities, but we also recognize that their interest can sometimes be overlooked because they don't have the profile or the scale of their larger competitors. So when this committee presented us with an opportunity to speak not only on behalf of Orgel but also to champion the interest of our customers, we were eager to do so. We're also eager to share some of the positive impacts we have seen from the recent legislation and to discuss how provisions included in the one big, beautiful bill can serve as a starting point for continued legislation for companies like Orgel and the small businesses that we serve. The legislative changes brought about by this act have delivered meaningful and measurable benefits to Orgel. In twenty twenty-five alone, provisions allowing accelerated depreciation and the immediate expensing of software development cost generated approximately twenty-five million in tax benefits for our company. Uh, those benefits didn't just strengthen our cash flow. They supported continued investment in our business and provided us with greater opportunities to better serve our customers. The act also created powerful incentives for continued investment and innovation. By allowing businesses to immediately deduct qualifying investments in equipment, technology, automation, and software development, Orgel can deploy capital more efficiently while continuing to modernize our distribution network and develop new solutions for our customers. But beyond the benefits that Orgel has experienced directly, perhaps even more important are the opportunities this legislation creates for our customers. The small, family-owned businesses that are so integral to the communities across the country. For independent retailers, provisions within the Act can create similar opportunities to strengthen their cash flow and reinvest in their businesses, from equipment and technology upgrades to pass-through tax deductions and workforce incentives. These provisions provide tools that can help local businesses invest, grow, and remain competitive. One specific example can be found in the expanded employer-child Child Care Tax Credit, known as forty-five F, which gives businesses greater incentive to help employees access child care, a promising tool for attracting and retaining workers while supporting working families. And the benefits extend beyond business owners themselves. Changes such as the new deduction for qualifying overtime compensation can have an immediate and meaningful financial impact on the people working in these businesses. allowing them to keep more of what they earn to support their families, their homes, and their communities. There is no doubt that many of the provisions included in this legislation have been helpful to Orgel and our customers. At the same time, we all recognize there is more work to be done to support small businesses and ensure they can continue to survive, compete, and succeed for generations to come. Uh, we take the fact that you're sitting here today inside an innovation center dedicated to helping independent businesses become stronger and more successful, as an encouraging sign. And we hope these res- recent legislative changes represent the beginning of even more positive work ahead, work that helps American small businesses thrive and strengthens the companies, communities, and people who support them. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Miss Grover, you may begin when you're ready.

Chairman Smith and members of the Ways and Means Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Alex Grover and I am CEO and owner of I two M, a manufacturer of flexible polymer films. While you may not see our brand in every product that you buy in the store, rest assured it is a key component to the homes and building products that protect America. We're proudly headquartered in northeastern Pennsylvania, and we have two hundred and ten full-time team members. I two M is agile, innovative, and globally competitive. We operate around the clock and we sell products around the world. Most importantly, we are investing in the American manufacturing workforce. I welcome this opportunity to talk about the tax law passed by Congress last year, and what it's meant not only for I two M and our employees, but to myself as a CEO and a parent. Of all the ways H R one has empowered us to invest in our people and our community, child care stands out. I two M has provided a child care benefit to our employees since twenty twenty two, an investment that we made coming out of the pandemic. Like many manufacturers, I two M was an essential business during COVID and needed all hands on deck, but noticed that many of our team members were struggling with balancing having a child at home, who was engaged in remote learning and being able to come to work. We responded by bringing a teacher in on-site to support their children, an experiment that succeeded, and taught us something as well. What we learned was that child care is essential for preventing workforce disruptions and for supporting our team and their families. And that's why HR one's expansion of the employer-provided child care tax credit really matters. Today, I two M partners with a phenomenal local child care provider to offer child care benefits to our team we reserve spots, offer reduced rates, and extend hours for team members who work seven a m to seven p m, not just for those who work nine to five. By expanding the tax credit to five hundred thousand dollars and increasing the credit rate to forty percent, Congress has made it more financially feasible for businesses like I two M to invest in top-notch child care benefits. Child care is not just a perk, it is critical infrastructure, as critical as the roads and bridges that my team take to come to work, and the electrical grid that powers our machines. Child care is a big reason why, at a moment when there is over half a million manufacturing jobs open nationwide, I two M has excellent employee retention rates. And as the mother of a fourteen month old, child care is the reason why I can continue to grow my business, and also the reason why I'm able to be here testifying in front of you today. The Working Families Tax Cut Act truly is a bill for working families, and importantly, for manufacturers like I two M who support working families. But that's not the only way that I've seen this bill have an impact on my business. Not only has it allowed us to provide child care, training, transportation, and other employee investments, it also helps with the innovation that I two M is known for. It starts with research and development. And with the help of H R one's immediate expensing for R and D, we are developing new products that meet our customers' goals for more sustainable, more recyclable plastics. And any time we make a new product, we need to then invest in the research to figure out how we are going to make it at scale. To build these new products, we are using HR one's immediate facility expensing provision, and I'm excited that in twenty twenty seven we'll be expanding our facility with a hundred and thirty thousand additional square feet, taking full advantage of that immediate expensing provision. Of course, once we have the space, we need new equipment and machinery, which we'll purchase with the help of immediate equipment expensing. Finally, H R one has made pass-through deduction and the estate tax exemption permanent. And that's what lets a company like I two M stay family-owned and keep investing in United States manufacturing. H R one's pro-manufacturing tax provisions ultimately have added up to more innovation, greater productivity, and more jobs. In I two M's case, This turns into a sixty-three million dollar in new investment, on-shoring critical production components, and preparing to hire forty more team members. That means forty more team members building meaningful careers in the manufacturing industry that is vital to US national and economic security and it means forty more families with access to competitive pay, health benefits, and yes, high quality child care. Our name, I two M, stands for innovation to manufacturing. For I two M, the Working Families Tax Cut Act is a game changer, for manufacturing, for innovation, and for all thirteen million people who proudly make and manufacture things right here in America. Thank you.

Thank you, Mister Thompson.

Chairman Smith and members of the committee, thank you for having me today. I wanna thank my Congressman, David Kustoff, for inviting me and Chairman Smith for bringing this committee to West Tennessee. My name is Wade Thompson. I am the owner and President of Thompson Pre-Stress in Jackson, Tennessee. We are a PCI certified precast and pre-stressed concrete manufacturer. We make the bridge beams, piling, bridge deck panels, and wall panels that go into highways, bridges, and buildings across the Mid-South. And my family has been doing it since nineteen fifty-nine. I'm the third generation to run the company. I also own Universal Hauling, which is a heavy haul trucking company, and Omega Concrete, a ready mix concrete company. We launched after this bill took effect. Each of my businesses is a pass through, and that means the tax rules this committee writes directly affect what I have available to reinvest in those businesses and in the community. Every dollar that we save in taxes is a dollar that I can put back into business or into philanthropic uh efforts that I believe in. The one big beautiful bill did four things that matter to a company like mine. First, it restored permanent one hundred percent bonus appreciation for qualifying equipment acquired and placed in service after January nineteenth of twenty five eligible used equipment can qualify too and that's how a small manufacturer can stretch a dollar. Second, it raised section one seventy nine, expensing limit to two and a half million for twenty twenty five with inflationary adjustments thereafter. Third, it lets us deduct domestic research and development costs in the year that we spend them instead of spending them over a five year period. And fourth, it made the twenty percent deduction for qualified pass-through business income permanent, subject to its eligibility rules and limitations. The word I, the word I want you to hear there is permanent. A manufacturer does not build a production bed or purchase a fleet of trucks for one tax year. We make investments for twenty or thirty years. When a tax break is about to expire, we plan around it. When it is permanent, we plan on it. Full expensing does not change how much a company can deduct over the life of a Getting that deduction up front is often the difference between buying equipment this year and buying it three years from now. Congress talks about capital investment in the abstract. Well, let me tell you what it looks like in Jackson, Tennessee. Since the bill took effect,

Okay.

our companies have invested, committed, or budgeted more than six million dollars in equipment, facilities, and research in West Tennessee. That includes launching omega concrete that I mentioned earlier, upgrading our equipment and concrete batch plant systems, developing new concrete mix designs, which are basically concrete recipes, uh and constructing a new production building on the yard with an addition to our offices. Since January twenty twenty-five, our companies have hired approximately fifty employees, and the certainty provided by this law is helping us continue that expansion. We started a ready mix company from scratch and purchased forty-two mixer trucks. We bought two tractors, seven trailers, three tankers, two front-end loaders, and a large Traco, among other things. We have also made substantial upgrades to our concrete batch plant systems since the one big beautiful bill took effect. We recently ordered new custom steel forms so we can produce bridge girders and piling we could not make before. We are now installing a new pre-stressed production line with a roughly forty foot tall manufacturing building over it and over the next six months we'll add on to our office building to make room for all the people that we're hiring. The employees we have hired are drivers plant crews, and office staff in West Tennessee. Many of them work long hours and are busy season, and the new deduction for qualified overtime can put real money back in eligible employees' pockets. A lower tax burden also reaches beyond our payroll. It gives us more capacity to support the organizations that make Jackson a better place to live and do business, including the Jackson Symphony, the Jackson Soccer Club, and the greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce. When a business in a community like ours does well, the benefits do not stop at the factory gate. And f- and for a business that has been running for sixty-seven years, the permanently increased estate and gift tax exemption means families like mine can plan for the next generation with confidence. Most of my employees depend on the federal highway program. When highway money comes in sporadically, we feel it. Mid-leitings get pushed, crews sit idle, and we hold off on hiring. The highway program has been extended only through December eleventh of twenty twenty-six a long-term bill known as the Build America two fifty act. cleared the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, sixty-two to two, on May twenty-second of this year. I would urge Congress to get it done, including putting the Highway Trust Fund on a solid footing. Roads and bridges are not and should not be a partisan issue. Every load of American commerce rides on them. And in closing, Thompson Pre-Stress has operated over thir- has operated under thirteen different US presidents, and more versions of the tax code than I can count. What I have learned is simple. Businesses do not grow on generous rules. They grow unpredictable ones. When Congress gives manufacturing certainty, we buy equipment, we buy plants, we hire people, we take risks, and we plan for the next generation. This law gave us that certainty. And I ask you to preserve it and make permanent the same treatment for the factories, where American manufacturing actually happens. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

Thank you, Mister Miller.

Good morning, Chairman Smith, Reverend Senator Kustof. Thank you very much for the invitation to be here.

That's better.

Uh, my name's Mike Miller. Uh, I'm the owner of Patrick's Neighborhood Bar and Patio here in, uh, East Memphis. I have roughly fifty employees. Uh, I've owned my own current business for a little over twenty-one years. Um, I've had several other restaurants in my career, and I'm also the current chair of the leadership council for the National Federation of Independent Business here in Tennessee. Uh, I appreciate the opportunity to share my experiences with you today, and hope that encourages you to further your efforts to continuing continue cutting burdensome taxes and and regulations. In my forty-two years of restaurant experience, one of the significant deficiencies in our industry is lack of planning and savings by our hourly employees. Many of our restaurant employees are young people, they view themselves as ten foot tall and bullet-proof. They're not thinking about anything beyond tomorrow and certainly not their retirement. Having grown up in this business, I've seen this firsthand, worked in every hourly position that you could have, from dishwasher all the way up to to being an owner. Uh, in my early years of being an owner, I knew that this was something that I wanted to address. I wanted to provide an opportunity and the guidance to get young people and my staff to save along the way. Uh, in twenty eighteen, when the small business tax deduction one ninety-nine A was originally introduced, This was my opportunity to look at four O one K programs. I'm a single owner restaurant. Again, uh this is one of those things that is not uh it's not common in small mom and pop restaurants, and I knew this was something that I wanted to pursue. Having this opportunity, uh this was an opportunity not for me to take more profit or uh do anything else. This was an opportunity for me to invest in my staff and my people. And so I went out, looked at four O one K programs that previously I was unable to bear the cost. Uh, this defrays the largest sum of this, uh, is is defrayed by my tax deduction. I get about thirty-one thousand dollars a year right now, and I outlay about forty to have a four O one K match program, uh, for my staff. Um, one of the things that I think is consistent with everybody up here is that the message that I always try to relay when I'm meeting with my representatives is, Besides the government getting out of the way, the best thing you can do is provide certainty. And making this permanent has provided that certainty that I can be competitive, that I can recruit, hire and retain people uh in in my one single little business. Um The other thing that that has been uh a significant benefit in the one big beautiful bill is no tax on tips. I don't personally see uh any direct benefit But the feedback that I've gotten from the people that happily took the twenty five thousand dollar deduction on their taxes, uh, it has been significant. It is one of those things that these people, again, are young people working their way through college in a lot of ways, uh, plus people that, that, or, that this is their career. And this is significant. We, we did a little bit of drilling down with our accounting. Uh, again, small little restaurant. The impact to my staff is is nominally fifty five thousand dollars in tax savings a year for my, and I have about thirty tipped employees uh on my staff. So you start taking that and dividing that out, you got eighteen hundred dollars in effect for a college student, a young mother working part time. Those are significant numbers uh that that help my staff. And you you talk about the health of my business, having a four one K that re helps me retain so I don't have to train as much. And this is ju yet another impact that is uh uh for our industry. You know, coming out of COVID, we had um we had we were kind of scapegoated as far as that goes. And, you know, it it it's one a benefit now that we can point to to say, hey, come back to our industry. Stay in our industry. This is a significant benefit. Um, so, uh, you know, again, the impact of this, no tax on tips is is It's hard to measure, but it it certainly the feedback has been significant. Uh again, thank you for your leadership. Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today, and I look forward to seeing you make further progress in cutting taxes and regulations.

Thank you, thank you, Mister Miller. Um thank each and every one of you. We will um now proceed to the question and answer session with with our members. Um I'll begin Mister, Mister Moore, uh, I wanna thank you again for, for hosting us in this beautiful facility. Um, uh, given the nature of the, the work you all do and the relationships you have with thousands of independent small businesses, you also have a unique view of how the tax policies championed in the working families tax cuts are helping support Main Streets. across the the country every single day. Um, what are you hearing from your customers about how provisions like the the twenty percent small business deduction, um, bonus depreciation, a hundred percent expensing, um, immediate R and D expensing, and, you know, no tax on overtime, um, to just name a few, um, are helping them grow or invest and hire today? And as we look at how we can further strengthen these policies going forward, is there one provision that that has stood out as making a particularly meaningful difference?

Chairman Smith, I do have the opportunity to spend a lot of time visiting with our customers throughout the country and in every case, whether they're a large business or a single store operation, all of them are looking for ways to grow. Grow their businesses, make them more efficient. And whether that means investing in new product assortments, opening a new store, implementing new systems to help them better manage inventory, pricing, promotions, marketing, or s- hiring additional staff. We work with all of our customers, uh, to help drive their success. And any time they can get some relief on their taxes, they take advantage of that relief to invest in these kind of things, which in turn help them grow their businesses and better serve their communities. Most independent hardware stores and home centers operate as a pass-through entity, whether that be a sub-S or LLC partnership or sole proprietorship. The continuation and optimization of the twenty percent small business deduction, and bonus depreciation are probably the two primary benefits from the big beautiful bill that helped drive these operators' ongoing investment in their business. I would also point to the interest deductibility. It it uh also helps independent hardware stores that are carrying debt, such as working capital loans, floor plan financing for major equipment or seasonal lines, or mortgages on their building. With these provisions, they benefit from expanded interest deduction limits. And any excess interest can be carried forward preserving tax value during economic cycles. Another provision that might not seem like it would have a direct impact on Orgel or our customers, is actually no tax on tips. And while this change might not directly impact a hardware store, it does have a positive potential outcome for them by adding more discretionary income into the economies in their markets. Giving these independent business owners a better opportunity to invest and compete for the future only strengthens their business and the communities they serve they're the ones that are sponsoring the local little league teams the PTA the high school sports and we're here to help them. We built this facility lean harder into our mission to help our customers be successful not just by delivering what they need when they need it at the lowest possible cost But also partnering with them and investing more in and experimenting with, vetting and showcasing the technologies, strategies, best practices they can implement on their own operations and drive their own success.

One of the big priorities that that we had when crafting the working families tax cuts was to bring more manufacturing back to the United States to bring more jobs, more economic growth and higher wages and and to better secure our supply chains. And in addition to making existing successful policies permanent, like R and D expensing and bonus depreciation, which in fact this legislation had the most permanent tax provisions since Reagan's tax cuts of nineteen eighty-six. So forty years ago, um So we're trying to give that certainty, Mister Miller, that you you testified about. In addition to making existing successful policies permanent, um like R and D and the hundred percent expensing, um for the const- uh we also created a new provision. It was the hundred percent immediate expensing for the construction of of n- of the new or improvement of existing manufacturing facilities. Prior to this change in law, businesses had to deduct the cost of this type of of construction or improvement over a thirty-nine year period. Uh, Mister Thompson, I'll ask you this, um, how do you see all of these policies working together to help expand your business and strengthen America's manufacturing f- future? So, we build and produce more right here at home. In other words, how How does being able to invest more in modernizing your facilities help enhance the positive impact of the other forms of tax relief like R and D expensing and bonus depreciation and and and how do the benefits of those investments flow to your employees?

Mister Chairman, uh, research helps us develop a better concrete product. which is what we're trying to achieve. Equipment and steel forms allow us to manufacture it, and the production line and the building give us the capacity, uh, to be able to make it at scale and compete. Those investments depend on each other. A better mix has limited, a better, right, uh, concrete mix, mixed design, uh, has limited value if we don't have the equipment and the space to produce it. Additional capacity is more useful when we have products that our customers actually need. tax treatment helps us to move those investments forward together. So for our employees, that means opportunities that come with a business that can compete for more work. Like I said earlier, we've hired fifty people. We basically doubled in size, uh, since January of last year. Uh, and of the fifty that we've hired, I think we've only lost eight, uh, of them. So, uh, net. Uh, so, I guess to, to answer your question, you know, rising tide, you know, raises all ships or whatever that saying is. But uh but as as we grow the community grows, the the people the workforce also share in that, more jobs.

Thank you. Um we talk a lot about how the twenty percent small business deduction is helping Main Street job creators to to grow their business hire more workers and raise wages. But that's not the only way to use the savings that this now permanent small business tax deduction um has guaranteed. Mister Miller, um you've taken the savings from the small business deduction and invested in in four O one K plans for your employees giving them a more secure uh future retirement. Why was that important to you as an employer and business owner and what do you see that doing for retention? for employee satisfaction and performance, and for the restaurant industry you've been a part of for three decades.

Um, this is an opportunity in in a very tough industry. Uh, you know, a average independent restaurant makes three to six percent to the bottom line. When you talk about making an investment, uh, that is of significant impact, having this help, to me, investing in your people, because that's our biggest challenge today, cost of goods is certainly a close second, uh but cost of goods is manageable. Getting people that want to work, that want to stay where they are, that we don't have to train and retrain, that want to uh to to continue to work. I I'm very proud that, you know, of my fifty employees I've got over ten of them uh ten percent of them that have been with me for twenty years long or or longer. Uh and part of that is because of the way that I look at my staff and this was an opportunity to invest in them. when you talk about the opportunity within the restaurant industry, I think this is the, this is the single biggest thing that we all compete for. We're not competing for each other's secret recipe and this or that or the other. We want to have people that provide the, the services that we want to put out there that make our businesses successful.

Some of the, the least discussed but, I believe, most important policies in the working families tax cuts are those that directly support workers who are not only trying to earn a paycheck, but also care for a family. Um, some of the the greatest impact of the Republican tax reforms is in supporting parents through better access to child care, more resources from the expanded child tax credit and educational savings accounts, and of course, the Trump investment accounts. which now seventy-one million children have. Miss Grover, we know parents, particularly low- and middle-income folks, may may have to face a decision of stepping away from full-time work or or leaving the workforce altogether to take care of their kids. You testified today with the blessing that you're able to be here today, because of child care of your fourteen month old. Some might make the decision because that's what they would prefer to do, but others might simply have have no affordable or dependable child care options available. As an employer that has used the employer-provided tax credit, which we enhance in the working family's tax cuts to establish a child a child care program at your company, how has it impacted your workers? And And what do you think it means for the health of your business, and any business that utilizes policies like this?

Thank you for the question. Um, so I'll start with a story that I think is illustrative of the impact of child care in our program at I two M. Uh, so we have a team member who, uh, his wife was a stay-at-home mom for their three children. Um, and she did that because that was the most cost-effective solution for their family. Um, he was able to enroll his children in our program. Um, a again we offer r significantly reduced rates and importantly extended hours, um, to allow that to be a great fit for their family. Um, as a result, his wife was able to re-enter the workforce, actually coming on board at I two M. Uh, so, so what does that mean for a family like that, right? Instead of having a single parent who's bringing in income, you now have two people who are not just working, they're building a career in US manufacturing, and they're able to expand their capabilities, their family income, create greater stability across the board. So it's stories like that that tell me that A, child care is incredibly important workforce infrastructure, but B, it's a way to help create stability for families, give them greater access to income, and give them greater access to wonderful careers in US manufacturing. So that's the type of impact that the expansion of forty-five F has.

Thank you so much. Um, I now recognize the gentleman who represents this district, Mister Kustof.

Thank you, Mister Chairman. You know, we've talked a number of uh a number of issues with the one big beautiful bill. I will point out this bill is so big and so comprehensive and so beneficial to everybody, and I think about at the individual level where we lowered the rates, the individual rates for everybody. We doubled permanently the standard deduction, which means in my district, ninety percent of the people who file taxes don't have to itemize. They can take the standard deduction. That's a big deal. One thing I've heard, I think I heard from everybody who testified about this bill towards permanency and certainty. And that's really what you all wanted. so that you can make the right decisions. And Mr. Moore, if I could with you, uh and again thank you for hosting, we're in this beautiful Orgel Innovation Center, which I know you all work hard on. The one big beautiful bill permanently restored a hundred percent bonus depreciation, allowing businesses to immediately deduct the cost of qualifying equipment, technology, and and other investments. I know at Orgel with your operations you rely on material, handling equipment, you rely on fleet vehicles, you rely on fulfillment, infrastructure, you rely on technology to deliver products to independent retailers efficiently. Can you talk about bonus depreciation and that certainty and how that allows Orgel to invest in equipment and uh those upgrades in your businesses to expand technology?

Yeah Congressman Kustof, restoring bonus depreciation is really um one of the primary ways that the big beautiful bill has positively benefited Orble. The new benefits have accelerated our ability to invest in equipment and technology we need to support our growth, and ultimately the growth of our customers. For example, we're in the middle of a significant transformation within our supply chain, with the goal of driving greater efficiencies. Efficiencies that will ultimately make us more agile and responsive to the needs of our customers bringing uh their costs down. This bonus appreciation supports the investments that we're making today, that will drive tomorrow's efficiencies and growth. And um I I like the way that it matches it in terms of the support that we get today, uh, and even this innovation center, a - a lot of - a lot of the, um, construction of this didn't actually qualify for the big, beautiful bill. It was prior to January nineteenth. So, um, had we been able to use that, we could be even farther along on, uh, some of the investments we're making in the rest of our supply chain transformation.

Thank you, Mr. Borb. Mr. Thompson, if I came with you, as it relates to bonus depreciation, so you've got con manufacturing, uh you got substantial investments in batch plants and loaders and forms and production equipment and mixer trucks. I know you made investments in forty something trucks. Ca can you explain how this equipment works together to produce and deliver concrete? And also about that one hundred percent bonus depreciation and how that allows you to make those investment decisions.

Congressman, the uh the batch plant measures and mixes the materials. Uh and the loaders uh keep it fed with aggregate. From there, the concrete goes into the steel forms uh that we use to produce the bridge beams, the piling, the uh partial depth deck panels. Um a o or it also goes into the uh the mixture trucks uh for a mega concrete that we sell to contractors and concrete finishers are um well all around Jackson. Uh, the equipment has to work together as a system. The more mixing capacity only helps if we can also manufacture or deliver uh the additional concrete that we can produce. So, immediate write-offs for qualifying equipment helped us accelerate the larger purchases needed to support that capacity. Some equipment, like the new forms, we needed regardless. Uh, the difference was how quickly we could move forward.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Uh, Mr. Miller, if I can with you, you talked about the small business deduction section one ninety-nine A where you can now deduct twenty percent. I've just filed a bill to take that section one ninety-nine A deduction from twenty percent to twenty-three percent. Would that be helpful to your business?

Absolutely. Uh, you know, the opportunity

Could you say that a little louder for my chairman if you would not mind?