Representative Ron Estes

Headline: Remembering the Victims of Flight 5342

.Last week, the House passed my resolution honoring the victims of the Jan. 29 collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and Black Hawk PAT (Priority Air Transport) 25 and commending the heroic actions of those who aided with the recovery efforts. The resolution had more than 90 cosponsors and was passed unanimously. I spoke on the House floor before the resolution was passed, along with some of my colleagues from Kansas and across the country, to express my condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims. The 67 victims were known and loved by their communities, and they will continue to be missed and remembered.

Headline: America First Budget Resolution Passes House

.The House achieved a milestone last month when we passed the fiscal year 2025 budget resolution. This is the key first step to unlocking President Trump’s America First policy agenda that so many Kansans and Americans voted for in November. After four years of an open border, crippling inflation, massive federal spending and burdensome regulations we need a change. Passing the budget resolution moves us further into the reconciliation process that will give us the tools to restore and secure our nation, both physically and financially.

One priority the budget resolution paves the way for is an extension of the Trump Tax Cuts. Here in the Sunflower State, Kansans will see an average increase of $2,200 in their taxes if we let these provisions expire. These provisions aren’t just for millionaires and billionaires – these are for everyday Americans. In fact, The New York Times reported that most middle-class Americans benefitted from TCJA, and the Washington Post wrote that “The tax bill has been in place for more than three years and it’s clear from the available data that the top 1 percent did not end up with most of the tax benefits.” And despite the wild claims from the left, revenues into the Treasury are up since we passed TCJA in 2017 – almost 50%.

Some have also made false claims that the budget resolution will cut Social Security. As the Chairman of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, I want to emphasize in the strongest terms possible that the budget resolution does not do a single thing to cut Social Security. In fact, Social Security cannot be amended through the reconciliation process since a technical rule, known as the Byrd Rule, prevents the consideration of any reconciliation measure in the Senate that changes the Social Security program.

Finally, I’ve heard from so many people throughout the 4th District that they are concerned about our ballooning national debt. The harsh reality is that our nation is more than $36.2 trillion in debt, but the budget framework we passed takes important steps to address this crisis. This budget resolution sets a floor of $1.5 trillion in mandatory savings with a goal of $2 trillion over 10 years. This is almost 5 times as much as has ever been done.

It’s important to remember that this is just a framework, and now the committees will work to rightsize our federal budget. Republicans and President Trump are committed to rooting out waste, fraud and abuse so we can ensure programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are maintained for those who need them.

The next phase of work begins now as we coordinate with the Senate to align our plans and move forward on implementing the America First policy agenda so many Kansans want to see.

.Kansans should be aware of several recent scams that appear to be from the Social Security Administration and the Kansas Turnpike Authority. The Social Security scam is an email aimed at potential retirement applicants that includes links to “Claim SSA Benefits” which redirect to a fraudulent site. Stay vigilant and look for ".gov" in the email address and URL, which government agencies always use. The Kansas Turnpike scam involves text messages claiming that recipients have unpaid Kansas turnpike tolls. Do not click the links in the scam text messages as they lead to illegitimate payment services. Learn more about how to protect your information at ssa.gov/scam and ksturnpike.com/information-security.

Headline: Corrected Social Security Benefits for Kansans

.Earlier this year, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) and I sent a letter to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) then Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin requesting clear guidance on how SSA planned to deliver relief to those who have been impacted by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which have been repealed by the Social Security Fairness Act.

We’ve recently learned that SSA is moving to implement the Social Security Fairness Act and provide retroactive benefits to those affected by WEP and GPO as early as this month, and changes to monthly benefits will begin as soon as April. As the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman, I'm committed to ensuring that SSA does its work for the American people efficiently, effectively and accurately. You can learn more at estes.house.gov.