OLEAN — For manufacturers like Cutco Cutlery Corp., overtime is an important part of doing business — experienced, proven workers taking on extra hours can be preferable to hiring additional employees while, for workers, OT boosts income.

James M. Stitt, president and CEO of Cutco, said overtime is there for workers, although Cutco tries to balance the needs of the company with the preference of individual employees. And he said that a provision in the U.S. House’s huge tax and immigration package that passed earlier this month — President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” — eliminating taxes on overtime would definitely be an incentive for more employees to take on extra hours.

U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy visited Cutco Friday, in part to tout the no tax on overtime provision in the House bill, which is now being reviewed by the U.S. Senate. Langworthy called the provision a key part of the bill, benefiting workers as well as benefiting American manufacturers that are finding it hard to maintain staff.

“This bill says loud and clear: we stand with the workers,” Langworthy said in comments given in the shipping department after he toured much of Cutco’s operations Friday afternoon. “We value sweat, sacrifice and the American spirit, and we’re done letting the tax code punish the very people who make this country go.”

The congressman said no tax on OT will provide a boost in workplace participation, helping to address labor shortages. A worker might be willing to take on an extra shift if he or she knows the extra effort won’t be taxed heavily, he said.

“More overtime hours could lead to increased output for businesses, particularly in sectors that rely on hourly labor,” Langworthy said. “This will be helpful as companies are facing obstacles to meet demand, and are waiting for the talent and training pipelines to catch up to their need to bring on new staff.”

While noting “it’s tough to do business in New York state” — the Tax Foundation ranks the state 50th overall on the 2025 State Tax Competitive Index — the congressman commended the leadership at Cutco for their commitment to the region and its workforce.

Langworthy met with James M. and John Stitt, CEO of KA-BAR, which is owned by Cutco, as well as the Stitts’ father, James E. Stitt, Cutco chairman. The Stitts led the congressman on a tour of the cutlery maker’s manufacturing floor at its East State Street plant, stopping and chatting with workers and explaining different processes in the making of the brand’s fine cutlery.

The congressman stopped and remarked on a wall that features the photo portraits of numerous long-time Cutco employees. “People stay here a long time,” the elder Stitt agreed.

Cutco, which employs approximately 600 people in total, has close to 400 hourly workers. Kathleen Donovan, senior marketing, social media and public relations coordinator, said the company’s signature cutlery sets remain its biggest seller and, while Cutco has about a dozen store locations and offers mail order sales, direct sales remain the dominant way Cutco knives make it into America’s kitchens and dining rooms.

Langworthy called Cutco “a hallmark brand and a generational manufacturer with deep roots here in Cattaraugus County.” He added, “These are exactly the kind of businesses we need to make sure continue to succeed because they are integral to the fabric of our community.”

To that end, the congressman again stressed the importance of passage of the “big beautiful bill,” which also renews Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which would expire at the end of December. Citing the House Budget Committee, Langworthy said if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act alone is allowed to expire:

• Average taxpayers would see a 22% tax hike and 40 million families would see their household’s Child Tax Credit cut in half.

• 91% of all taxpayers would see their guaranteed deduction reduced by half and 2 million family-owned farms would have their Death Tax Exemption cut in half.

• 26 million small businesses would be hit with a more than 43% top tax increase; a family of four making $80,610, the median income in the U.S., would see a nearly $1,695 tax increase; and 6 million jobs would be lost.

“These are consequential figures and with the big, beautiful bill passing the House just last week, we are now well on our way to securing stability in the tax code and tax relief for families and workers across the country,” the congressman said.

He said he hopes the Senate, in which the GOP can lose three Republican votes, passes its version of the bill before the end of the summer legislative session in August, although another deadline on the nation’s debt default looms as well.

For their part, several Republican senators have said the House’s multi-trillion-dollar tax package doesn’t have enough savings, while the Associated Press reported Senate Republicans are generally in favor of stricter work requirements for some Medicaid recipients that make up much of the bill’s $700 billion savings from the program — something which Langworthy definitely supported in the House version — but some senators voiced concerns about other changes in the bill that could potentially cut funding to rural hospitals or increase copays and other healthcare costs for recipients.

Trump also frequently said he doesn’t want cuts to Medicaid, even as he endorsed the House bill, while some GOP senators have also expressed concerns over the House bill’s effort to shift some costs of the food stamp program to states.

Democrats, including New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have excoriated the Republicans tax package, saying it cuts aid and programs that benefit the most vulnerable Americans.