MANSFIELD — Republican Congressman Bob Gibbs addressed the Mansfield Noon Optimist Club on Wednesday at the Holiday Inn in what has become a Thanksgiving tradition.
The representative for Ohio’s 7th District, who has spoken to the group annually for approximately five consecutive years, updated the group on topics like tax reform regulations and addressed audience members’ concerns about healthcare.
“We’ve been in D.C. a lot. It’s been frustrating and challenging at the same time, and one of the biggest frustrations I have and my colleagues have in the house is with the United States Senate,” Gibbs said, reflecting on the past year. “Things go there to die.”
He talked about how the “repeal and replace” bill regarding Obamacare passed in the House of Representatives, but it failed to pass in the Senate earlier this year.
Optimist Club member John Buckingham and another audience member asked about this.
“Where do you see that going,” Buckingham asked. “It’s gone from seeing a minor inconvenience to being a major one. It costs less for me to send my daughter through med school than for my health insurance.”
Gibbs expressed hope the Senate will soon be able to pass a bill that repeals the “individual mandate,” a portion of the Affordable Care Act that requires most of the nation to have health care coverage, meeting certain standards.
“It will be addressed again next year, and it will start to be addressed when we repeal the mandate,” he said. “It’s really hitting people hard at the lower income bracket.”
The repeal of the “individual mandate” is attached to legislation regarding tax reform that Gibbs expects the senate will vote on soon.
“If you remember, the Supreme Court ruled the mandate is a tax, so it’s appropriate to have that in there,” Gibbs said.
The House of Represenatives passed a bill on tax reform earlier this month. It is outlined in this story by the Washington Post. Gibbs hopes once the Senate votes, the two bodies can take the “best” from both bills.
“When you lower the rates significantly, you change behavior and you create economic growth because you keep money in people’s pockets,” Gibbs said of tax reform.
He also discussed plans to “beef up the defense budget,” and expanding infrastructure.
