125,000 Disney Employees Will Receive $1,000 Bonus Due to Tax Reform

Who couldn’t use an extra thousand dollars?  Recently, I wrote about how some JetBlue crew members would receive $1000 According to Market Watch, because of the Trump tax breaks:

JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU, +0.46% said late Thursday that it plans to give a $1,000 bonus to its 21,000 employees except the chief executive, and its executive vice presidents. JetBlue stock is flat at $21.69 after hours.

The company cited the federal tax reform legislation and the company said it will dole out the cash by the end of February. “In the months ahead, we look forward to working with our Values Committees and directly with you on other ideas for how we can use tax reform benefits to make JetBlue even stronger,” the company said.

The good news keeps on coming.  Now, 125,000 Disney employees will receive $1000 too. CNBC has the details:

Disney announced Tuesday it will pay over 125,000 employees a one-time cash bonus of $1,000, as well as make a new $50 million investment into education program for employees.

“We are directing approximately $125 million to our cast members and employees across the country and making higher education more accessible with the launch of this new program,” CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.

Disney says both initiatives are due to recent tax reform.

Anyone else remember how apoplectic Democrats were over this bill? Nancy Pelosi’s famously said it was the “worst bill” in the history of Congress. Tim Delaney, National Council of Nonprofits President and CEO, roasted the Republicans tax plan this way:

“The deal … will prove disastrous to the work of charitable nonprofits in communities across America. … If enacted, the bill would, among other things: damage charitable giving by $13 billion or more annually; destroy more than 220,000 nonprofit jobs; and impair the ability of nonprofits to address community needs. … Simplifying the tax code could have been a noble exercise, but this bill would do much more harm than good.” 

More harm than good?  Tell that to all the JetBlue and Disney employees who will be $1000 richer in 2018 due to the new plan.  And they aren’t the only ones. IJR reports:

First, AT&T offered $1,000 bonuses to its employees. Then, Fifth ThirdBancorp did the same thing for its 13,500 employees. The pattern followed with Comcast deciding to divvy out $1,000 bonuses to its 100,000 team members. In fact, according to the Washington Times, over 100 companies have responded to the tax bill with rewards for their staffs.

I’ve said it all along.  The tax plan isn’t perfect.  However, it’s gratifying to see the government actually working in ways that give the American taxpayer a break.

Image Credit: Max Pixels