John Thune grew up in Murdo, South Dakota. His interest in politics was sparked at a young age after making five of six free throws during a freshman high school basketball game. He was later greeted by a spectator who said, “I noticed you missed one.” That spectator happened to be a well-known sports enthusiast and then-South Dakota U.S. Rep. Jim Abdnor. The introduction was the start of a friendship that ignited John’s career in public service.
John received his undergraduate degree at Biola University and his master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota. Upon completion of his master’s degree in 1984, he married Kimberley Weems, a native of Doland, South Dakota.
I have long supported tax relief for families and small businesses in South Dakota. Tax relief accomplishes two important goals: it puts more money in the pockets of South Dakotans, and it grows the economy, which is why I have consistently supported legislation to make our tax code simpler, fairer, and allows taxpayers to keep more of their hard earned money. Our byzantine federal tax code tax is over 4 million words in length and imposes significant compliance burdens on families and small businesses. According to the National Taxpayer Advocate, it costs taxpayers $168 billion to comply with the tax code. Congress hasn’t overhauled our tax code since 1986 and such reform is long overdue.
In fact, comprehensive tax reform for businesses and individuals is one of the most important things we could do to stimulate economic growth. Harvard economist Dale Jorgenson has estimated that the last successful tax reform effort in 1986 grew the U.S. economy by more than $1 trillion and that a similar reform now could increase national wealth by $7 trillion over the long-term. We have an opportunity to pass bipartisan bicameral tax reform, but only if the White House is willing set aside its desire to raise taxes and instead focus on making the tax code work better for all Americans.
I know that bipartisanship in this area is possible because last year Senator Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, and I co-chaired a working group at the Senate Finance Committee dedicated to making recommendations to reform our outdated business tax system. Along with 12 other senators from both parties, we agreed on number of important principles, such as the need to lower business tax rates, address structural biases against investment in the tax code, promote American innovation, and simplify the tax code so as to improve the taxpayer experience. We also agreed that we need to move our tax system more towards taxing consumption rather than savings and investment. South Dakota is of course a great example of how to do this at the state level.
Unfortunately, rather than seriously considering pro-growth tax relief measures for businesses and individuals, the current White House has decided to issue veto-threats with regard to tax relief measures that have passed the House, such as making permanent more generous deduction limits on business equipment and the ability of taxpayers to deduct state and local sales taxes. The higher business expensing limit of $500,000 per year is especially important in a state like South Dakota because it allows small businesses, including farmers and ranchers, to deduct much more of their qualifying equipment expenses during the tax year. It's an incentive created to encourage new business investment and it’s something that small businesses should be able to rely on permanently, instead of waiting until the last minute to see if Congress will extend it again. South Dakota taxpayers deserve much greater certainty and predictability.
Tax reform holds enormous benefits to our economy, but it will only happen if there is presidential leadership and willingness in both political parties to make tough decisions for the benefit of the country and future generations. I intend to keep pushing for an overhaul of the tax code that will raise take-home pay by leaving more money in the pockets of hard-working Americans, generate more robust economic growth, and help small businesses and entrepreneurs to succeed.