As a Mainer and a college student, I want to applaud Sen. Susan Collins for her work ensuring that Americans get to keep more of their own, hard-earned money.

I have been shocked by the outrage that this bill has gathered from those in the media and politics alike. I never knew that so many people could be infuriated by the principle of the federal government taking less of an individual’s hard-earned money. I am still piecing together how a plan that cuts taxes for nearly all Americans is subsidizing “a giveaway to the rich,” as is so often claimed.

Further, the misrepresentations of the bill have been extreme: I’ve seen friends and Hollywood actresses alike claim that this legislation gets rid of the $250 credit for teachers that Sen. Collins pioneered in 2002. This is simply factually inaccurate, as Collins pointed out in her recent commentary in the Portland Press Herald.

Doubling the child tax credit and standard deductions is going to free many hardworking Mainers and create jobs within the state, bringing constituents who go to school out of state, like myself, back to Maine with a degree in the future. The long-term effects of this within the state economy are incalculable.

In closing, as a college student, I also care significantly about the past fiscal irresponsibility by those on both sides of the aisle in Washington. This bill is extremely unlikely to help the debt issue without spending cuts.

Thus, while I thank Sen. Collins for working hard to ensure a strong economy that will propel the next generation of students into a vibrant workforce with a plethora of available jobs, I also hope she will work with those in Washington to free young people and future generations from our $20 trillion debt by also cutting wasteful spending.

Jacob Small

North Yarmouth

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