Dear East Texas,

In this week’s newsletter, I want to highlight some of the major investments and pieces of legislation that Congress has worked to pass these last two years, which have made a huge impact in our local communities and across this great nation. I look forward to communicating with you next week after the midterm election. We should never take for granted the privilege we have to cast our ballots in this great Republic.

Your Money Stays in Your Pocket

The biggest win in the Working Families Tax Cuts (WFTC) is one you never saw, because it never happened. We stopped the largest tax increase in American history before it reached your household. On top of that, 97% of tax filers received a cut, and $82 billion in relief has gone out to American families. In Texas, the average refund this year was $4,344, the second highest in the nation, and four million Texas seniors no longer pay tax on their Social Security.

Those numbers have faces in the First District:

Clayton and his wife run a farm-to-table meat ranch on more than 300 acres in Troup. Before this law, their estate tax exemption stood at $10 million. Today it stands at $30 million for a married couple, which protects their ranch from a 40% inheritance tax. This exemption will allow them to  hand it down to their kids, keep the family businesses in the family, and just as importantly, keep the government out of their pockets.

Carol in Queen City recently began receiving Social Security. Because of No Tax on Social Security, more of her hard-earned money stays with her.

Jonathan and his wife can deduct up to $25,000 of overtime pay when they file jointly. They are investing that money back into their future while they balance school and work.

Thirty years ago, I waited tables at Mercado’s in Tyler to pay for college. This summer I went back and worked a shift. Tiffany has spent ten years in the restaurant business and is raising four children. No Tax on Tips means she keeps more of what she earns.

Texas now produces $3 trillion in economic output, up $214.2 billion since President Trump took office. Real Gross State Product has grown at a 2% annualized rate. The White House Council of Economic Advisors estimates that without these tax policies, Texas growth would have averaged negative 0.7% over the same period. The law also protected 547,000 Texas jobs, preserved $107 billion in economic activity, and preserved $51 billion in wages for Texas workers.

Employers are investing BIG in Texas:

• SpaceX announced a $55 billion chip factory in Grimes County.
• America First Refining and Reliance announced a $300 billion refinery in Brownsville, the first new refinery in the United States in nearly half a century.
• Toyota announced a $3.6 billion investment in San Antonio, building the Tacoma pickup in America instead of Mexico, with 2,000 jobs.
• Saronic Technologies announced a $3.2 billion shipyard building autonomous vessels for the Navy.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $684 million Dallas hub with more than 3,800 jobs.
• MP Materials announced a $1.25 billion rare-earth magnet campus in Northlake, with more than 1,500 jobs.

Every one of those announcements means a paycheck for a Texas family. Our own backyard feels it too. When I toured AAON in Longview, the county’s largest employer, I saw the new 250,000-square-foot facility, built with the help of restored 100% bonus depreciation.

Texas saw a 13% drop in its violent crime rate in 2025. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter fell 13%, robbery 18%, aggravated assault 12%, and rape 11%. Commercial sex trafficking offenses fell 33% and involuntary servitude offenses fell 53%. Motor vehicle theft dropped 25%, and burglary dropped 14%. Plano, Laredo, and Arlington are all ranked among the 20 safest cities in the country.

Behind those numbers are deputies and officers who show up every day. Harrison County Sheriff BJ Fletcher told me the investments in public safety are making a real difference for his department and his county.

No Tax on Overtime puts more money in the pockets of the people who work the extra hours.

At Smith Sawmill Service, workers told me how it increases their take-home pay, and the law’s expensing provisions let the company write off equipment immediately, so East Texas manufacturing keeps growing.

On the farm, USDA has delivered $827 million to more than 33,000 Texas farmers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, and more than $832 million in Farmer Bridge Assistance payments.

In rural health, the Administration announced $78 million in Rural Health Transformation funding for 216 Texas rural providers to fight chronic disease, recruit doctors and EMS workers, and upgrade equipment. Texas hospitals in small towns are keeping their doors open, which matters to every family in East Texas.

East Texans are tough-minded, hard-working, service-oriented, and freedom-loving. This record belongs to you. It reflects your work, your businesses, and your families, and it is what increasing liberty and abundancy of life look like in practice. I look forward to the important work we have ahead of us as we wrap up the 119th Congress. While the midterm election determines the makeup of Congress over the next two years, there is still work to be done before the new year, and I look forward to sharing more about that work over the coming weeks.

October 26, 1881: The famous Shootout at the O.K. Corral took place in Tombstone, Arizona. Despite the name, the actual fight did not happen inside the O.K. Corral itself. It occurred in a narrow vacant lot next to C.S. Fly’s Photography Studio on Fremont Street.

Dealing with federal agencies can be complicated, and my office is here to help. If you need help with Social Security, the IRS, passport renewals, the VA, or other federal agencies, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office by calling (903) 561-6349 or visiting my website.

It is an honor to be your voice in Congress.

With gratitude,

Nathaniel Moran

Member of Congress