Whether you live in Livingston or Conroe, the last four years brought unprecedented economic pain to Texas families. Gas prices reached a record-breaking $4.68 per gallon in 2022, while diesel topped $5.23. At the grocery store, Houston-area families faced inflation rates of 10.2%, well above the national average.
Economic hardship wasn’t the only challenge facing communities. Americans also watched as record illegal immigration threatened the safety of neighborhoods, while disaster after disaster on the world stage put service members in grave danger.
Something had to change.
Last November, President Donald Trump and Republicans were put in charge of the great American turnaround, built on restoring institutions and providing relief to the nation. Fast forward to this month, and we delivered on that mandate.
On Independence Day, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. The timing was fitting, as the legislation prevented the largest tax increase in American history while removing taxes on tips and overtime. Our founding fathers, who created the United States partly on the promise of low taxes, would surely be proud of these efforts.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act addresses each of these challenges head-on, delivering real relief to Texas families.
Let’s examine the specific effect on my congressional district. If this legislation had not passed, the average family of four in TX-08 would have seen their taxes increase by $1,852. That’s 10 weeks of groceries saved, and a huge relief for Texans.
This comprehensive tax reform, coupled with Trump’s “America First” agenda, is designed specifically for middle and working-class Americans and their families.
But the bill’s major effects extend far beyond tax relief.
For the first time, Congress has given the president the funds necessary to secure the border and finish the wall. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that the federal government shut down for 35 days in 2018-2019 because former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) refused to fund its construction. We all saw how that turned out, 11 million illegal immigrants later.
Under Republican leadership, Trump and the Department of Homeland Security now have $46.5 billion to complete border infrastructure and keep Americans safe. This historic investment will fund not just the wall but also advanced surveillance technology and 10,000 additional border patrol agents.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also ensures that the military has the equipment and tools necessary to lead with peace through strength on the world stage. This includes investments in the Golden Dome advanced missile defense system, which will protect the homeland from hypersonic missiles. These funds are critical to national security and countering foreign adversaries such as Iran and China across the globe.
Most importantly, this legislation protects and strengthens Medicaid and Social Security. You may have seen partisan news pundits fearmonger and spread falsehoods about the availability of these vital programs. Let me be clear, those claims are simply not true. The commonsense provisions within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act guarantee the long-term viability of these programs through targeted reforms that eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. This ensures that resources remain available for those who need them most: our most vulnerable Americans, including seniors, children, pregnant women, and disabled individuals.
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As we quickly approach the 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation in 2026, I could not be more optimistic about America’s future. The passage and enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act gives our nation the ability to correct our trajectory and keep our ship sailing in calm waters for generations.
As Trump says, the best is yet to come. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act gets us closer to that bright future.
Morgan Luttrell represents Texas’s 8th Congressional District in the House.