Congress excludes strike pay from taxes, boosting union workers' income
H.R. 8816 — Tax Cut for Striking Workers Act of 2026 · Filed by Steven Horsford (D-NV) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced May 14, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the tax code to exclude strike benefits paid by labor unions from workers' taxable income. When a union provides strike pay to replace lost wages during a labor dispute, that payment will no longer count as income for federal tax purposes. The bill also ensures strike benefits are treated the same way as other excluded income for purposes of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a tax exclusion—it removes strike benefits from taxable income. This is a straightforward income-tax provision benefiting individual workers, not a subsidy, carve-out, or regulatory change.
What the text implies
- Strike benefits are already often modest; the tax exclusion's value depends on the worker's marginal tax rate, meaning higher-income workers benefit more in absolute dollars than lower-income strikers.
- The exclusion applies only to union-provided strike benefits from labor organizations under IRC § 501(c)(5), not to strike funds from other sources or informal mutual aid, potentially creating incentives to channel support through formal union structures.
- Effective date is January 1, 2027, so the provision does not apply retroactively to strikes occurring in 2026, limiting immediate impact.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Striking workers receive a direct tax reduction on union strike benefits, increasing their take-home income during labor disputes when they are already experiencing lost wages. The benefit flows directly to individual workers, not intermediaries, and strengthens their financial position during collective bargaining.
Who stands to gain
- striking workers (individual wage earners)
- labor unions (indirectly, by making strike pay more attractive)
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, IRC § 139M (new section), IRC § 32 (Earned Income Tax Credit), IRC § 501(c)(5) (labor organizations), National Labor Relations Act, Railway Labor Act
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Democrats.
- May 14, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 14, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $715,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 43 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Steven Horsford, the sponsor, reported $1,801,734 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — $715,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,613 characters) on Jul 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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