MADISON, Wis., — Today, PolitiFact gave a “True” rating to the claim that the provision Ron Johnson muscled into the 2017 GOP tax bill disproportionately benefited the ultra wealthy like himself and his two biggest donors.

See below for a full breakdown of their rating against Johnson. 

POLITIFACT: Yes, a tax break Ron Johnson pushed for in 2017 has benefited America’s wealthiest more

Key Facts:

  • In a news release, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin honed in on an action Johnson took at the beginning of his second term: He withheld his yes vote on the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act unless the bill included a tax break for companies called “pass-throughs” — those that pass all their income on to the owners or investors. Companies structured this way (often small, family owned businesses) are not subject to corporate income tax.

  • “Multiple independent studies found that the tax carve out Johnson spearheaded overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest, over small businesses,” the April 29, 2022 release said

  • That small group of the ultra-wealthy — made up of Republicans like Dick and Liz Uihlein, whose shipping supply company Uline is headquartered in Wisconsin, and Democrats like former presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg — received close to $25 billion in total tax savings in 2018 as a result of the pass-through tax break benefits, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research study.

  • The rest of the top 10% of Americans by income received a little over $12 billion in total, and everyone else in the country, about $6 billion.

  • Our Ruling: The Democratic Party of Wisconsin claimed that the pass-through tax break Johnson advocated for in 2017 “overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest, over small businesses.” Multiple analyses show America’s millionaires and billionaires are receiving large chunks of those benefits.

  • We rate their claim True

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