Hinson, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming highlight GOP tips, overtime tax cuts

ANKENY — U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson and U.S. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming said Saturday that keeping Republicans in control of Congress was needed to ensure Democrats do not reverse changes made through the 2025 “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Act like tax cuts to tips and overtime.

Barrasso joined Hinson, a Republican who is running for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat, at Whiskey River in Ankeny, where they hosted a group of local business owners and workers to talk about the impact of the OBBB Act.

The speakers, who included people in the food and hotel industries, as well healthcare, said they and coworkers have been able to keep more of their income because of the tax law changes made by Republicans in Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Jacob Carnes, a manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in Ankeny, said removing taxes on overtime has helped him pay for expenses as a college student at Des Moines Area Community College and begin to save money for long-term expenses and retirement.

“I’m lucky enough where I’m able to get those hours, those overtime hours, and I’m able to keep all that money for myself,” Carnes said. “And trust me, when that paycheck hits, it’s so much nicer when I know my work is really paying towards helping me in my future. I can hopefully help other people down the road with that as well.”

Barrasso told the group Democrats running for election in 2026 want to reverse these tax law changes.

“What we do see, a number of the Democrats who are running this year, they want to end all of this stuff,” he said. “They want to end it immediately, which we think would be hurtful to the economy, take the money out of your pockets.”

At the event, Hinson repeated claims that her opponent, state Rep. Josh Turek, a Council Bluffs Democrat, would support removing the OBBB tax cuts to tips and overtime if elected. Turek has said he agrees with President Donald Trump that “we should have no tax on tips and overtime,” but has also criticized the measure for making cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Hinson said she supports public assistance programs but wants to ensure the assistance is going to people in need.

“We want some of these safety net programs to be … to be robust, right,” Hinson said. “And they’re for people who need them — keyword, ‘for people who need them,’ right? And if you look at some of the changes we’ve made to ensure the long-term integrity of these programs, including requiring a little bit of work or even volunteer hours every day. … Of course, we know there are people who need them, and that’s why we want them to be there. But we don’t want people gaming the system to the point that we have here.”

A majority of people receiving public assistance are working full-time, according to the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office. Democrats argue that work requirements and other eligibility restrictions serve mostly to cut off qualified recipients due to burdensome red tape.

Other speakers like Kathy Sullivan, a practitioner working in acute dialysis, said she had previously used SNAP for food assistance. When Hinson asked how she felt about people “fraudulently taking these benefits,” Sullivan said the situation was “infuriating.”

“I was a single parent for so long, and when I needed the food stamps, I was so grateful — but I’m also very a little bit prideful, and I did not want to live on the system,” Sullivan said. “… You’re embarrassed that you have to (use) the food stamps, but they came at such a great time for me and the kids. So I got them, I used them, and then immediately was able to go to school and better myself and get off of the system. So,  yes, I’m grateful that it was there, but not to live off of, and that people game the system by living off my hard work.”

Sullivan said she was “worried about socialism” heading into the 2026 election. Hinson said she believed America was facing a problem with increased dependence on government assistance.

“I worked hard, I got to the next thing, I got to the next thing, because I wanted to build that safety and security now for my family, and I did not want to rely on the government to do that,” Hinson said. “I think that’s an Iowa value — I actually think that’s an American value. … I do think that we value hard work, and we value being able to achieve the American dream the right way. Equity is not better than equality. I think it’s about, you know, everybody gets the shot, and that’s what our country is built on, is the shot.”

Barrasso said the Iowans at the event shared the same values as Wyomingites.

“In Wyoming, we have this thing called the Cowboy Code,” Barrasso said. “And by that, you’re all cowboys, which is, you live each day with courage, you take pride in your work, you do what needs to be done. So that’s what that’s what you’re all doing.”