00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank the Secretary.
00:03Number one, I just want to be clear, and I already know the answer to this, but it's a yes or no.
00:08Are you making more money today than you were when you were in the private sector?
00:13Less.
00:13No, I know that.
00:14And just to be clear, too, in 2017, when TCJA was enacted, my tax rate went up.
00:27Yeah.
00:28Went up.
00:29Mr. Secretary, and I appreciate that.
00:32I do appreciate you being here.
00:35Will the gentleman yield for one second?
00:37No, the gentleman will not yield, not at all.
00:40But what I would like to say is that I represent central Ohio, including Columbus, Ohio, which is the second fastest growing city in the country.
00:50And while it is great, it presents a lot of issues as it relates to affordable housing, and I know that we've covered that here on the Ways and Means Committee.
00:58According to a report commissioned by the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio, housing permitting must increase approximately twofold in recent trends to meet the projected housing need of over 100,000 new housing units in just the next decade.
01:18So, obviously, increasing affordable housing is something that's very important to central Ohio and all across the 15th congressional district, and it's been a top priority of mine in Congress.
01:29The bill that we have put forward, well, there were some things that I disagreed with.
01:37The bill that we did, it did expand affordable housing supply by restoring the 12.5% allocation increase for LIHTC, while lowering the bond financing threshold to 25%.
01:54I think these are very, very powerful things in the affordable housing world, and something that I think we, as members of Congress, on both sides, I mean, you're going to hear a lot of drama, but the bottom line is I think there are a lot of things that we can agree with.
02:08I do want to ask you a couple questions before we move on to the next person.
02:14Over the last four years, in a state like Ohio, families have been squeezed, obviously, by rising prices, cost of living, groceries, whatever.
02:27And I want to address the child tax credit, because I think this is something that we did in our package that I'm very proud, very proud to support it.
02:38So I supported it in this bill, and it increases it by $500.
02:43Can you speak to how the Treasury views the role of modernizing the child tax credit and boosting family stability and workforce participation?
02:55And what's at stake if we let these enhanced benefits expire?
03:01Well, Congressman Kerry, that is a fantastic point, because not only does the One Big Beautiful Bill add $500 to the child tax credit,
03:13tax credit, it makes it permanent.
03:14So if the bill does not pass, then there will be substantial diminution when we talk about uncertainty for working families in terms of which parents should go to work, which shouldn't,
03:30in terms of their household balance sheets, in terms of their household balance sheets.
03:36So I think, as with most things in this bill, the permanence, the permanence, as well as the increase in the child tax credit, is what is very powerful here.
03:47And can you address the – if we did nothing, right, if we did absolutely nothing, we're going to go up to $2,500.
03:55But if we did nothing, what does the child tax credit go back to?
04:02The – I don't know the exact number.
04:06So $1,000, right?
04:07Yeah, so it's $1,000.
04:08Right.
04:09So, I mean –
04:09It's half.
04:10We're giving more money, but if we do nothing, it would go back to $1,000.
04:16I think I'm correct with that.
04:17Yeah, and the $2,500 is permanent.
04:21Yeah.
04:21There is surety there for families planning their budgets, planning the labor allocation, how they will work, when they will work.
04:33Mr. Secretary, I do appreciate your time, and I want to let you know, I mean, as somebody that's on this committee, there are a lot of things that my colleagues on the other side and I agree with.
04:43And I just want you to know that I know that we will work continually hard to work with the administration to make sure that those things get through because it's for the betterment of the American people.
04:53So, Mr. Secretary, thank you for your time, and I appreciate your service, sir.
04:57Mr. Yacom.
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