In this opinion piece, Wisconsin resident Maura Jonas discusses the impact of Trump’s proposed trillion-dollar tax breaks.

Since former President Donald Trump’s tax law was passed in 2017, major corporations and the wealthiest Americans have benefited from massive handouts that have increased our budget deficit, helped the rich get richer, and put a greater share of the burden on working families. Now, as some of these disastrous policies expire, Republicans are fighting to extend them permanently. This is wrong, and we cannot afford it.

Many of the most burdensome provisions of Trump’s tax giveaways – jokingly called the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” – expire in 2025. For years, the super-rich and corporations have exploited them to avoid their fair share of taxes – including using a new Pass-through business tax deduction The main beneficiaries were the wealthy owners of large, successful companies, including oil and gas companies.

But Republicans in Congress are fighting not only to extend many of these provisions, but to make some of them permanent. They include Congressmen Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, who have co-sponsored a bill aimed at retaining tax breaks. An invoice co-sponsored by Steil is so outrageous that it requires a Tax cut worth $44 billion among the richest 1 percent of Americans in 2026 alone.

You don’t have to be an economist to realize that extending this law beyond 2025 won’t be cheap. But the actual costs are shocking and rising rapidly.

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, extending parts of the Trump tax law through 2034 would cost taxpayers $4 trillion – an increase of almost 50 percent compared to previous estimates. These projections take inflation and other variables into account to give a more accurate picture of how expensive and unaffordable these extensions would be. Four trillion dollars to extend tax provisions that primarily benefit the super-rich and large corporations is something no member of Congress can justify.

The push to extend these provisions comes at a time when many working families are still grappling with rising costs, including higher prices at the grocery store, difficulty finding affordable child care, and more. That’s why Congress should now focus its energies on supporting policies that will help our economy thrive and strengthen the middle class by supporting working families.

That starts with supporting proposals like those in President Biden’s budget proposal. Under his plan, taxes would be cut for working families and the child tax credit and earned income tax credit would give them more opportunities to make their mark. Billionaires and major corporations would finally be held accountable and forced to pay their fair share.

It’s time to phase out the failed economic policies of the Trump era and find solutions that strengthen our families, communities and our nation. The people of Wisconsin are counting on our members of Congress to do the right thing.