President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is being celebrated for its defunding of Planned Parenthood for a year, its expansion of personalized medical savings accounts and an end to federal student loan forgiveness programs, but it's also a good addition to a new Texas law and provides new direction for some economic programs.
Rice University Kelly Senior Fellow at the Baker Institute John W. Diamond, who worked on the bill, says the financial-related aspects of the bill helps move the economy toward consumption taxes
The bill is, "in terms of reform, shifting more toward a consumption tax or a cash flow tax has been a goal for some time, and definitely things like expensing and R&D deductions move you closer to that goal."
It's good for the economy to work toward increased cash flow, he says.
"As the government run big deficit it crowds out private investment, and when private investment slows down the economy slows down."
At Texas Values, though, President and attorney Jonathan Saenz praises the bill as it dovetails with recent Texas initiatives for school choice.
"A lot of other states are way ahead of us on this, so it's encouraging to see support at the state level and at the federal level on a freedom issue."