Five suburban Republican lawmakers in Democrat states are holding their ground, demanding that the Trump “big, beautiful” bill raise the state and local tax deduction.
Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Young Kim (R-CA), and Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) represent higher-income districts near major metropolitan areas, which often have higher property taxes. The lawmakers want to raise the federal deduction for state and local taxes, also known as the SALT deduction, which could serve as a boon for their constituents.
Republicans lowered the SALT deduction to offset some of the cost of the SALT deduction in the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. However, during the fight to reauthorize the Trump tax cuts and more, the lawmakers are standing firm on their desire to have the SALT deduction raised.
“Those are the five of us who are most SALT-y, most resolved to withhold our votes until we get an accommodation from our party,” LaLota said Tuesday.
He added, “Folks who are on the peripheries of that have a voice, but we’re the ones who are willing to vote no if the time requires it.”
“The five of us have discussed our own different needs… but we recognize that our strength is in numbers, and the more we’re able to stick together, the more we’ll be able to answer the call for all of us,” the New York Republican continued.
The SALT deduction is a complicated issue for Republicans, as it mostly benefits wealthy households and would remove revenue Republicans need to offset the cost of continuing many of the Trump tax cuts.
The Hill reported:
Republicans on House committees are meeting this week and next to decide on specific tax provisions and budget cuts that they want as part of their “big, beautiful bill,” to be passed through reconciliation, a procedure that allows a party-line vote and avoids a potential filibuster from Democrats in the Senate.
The most contentious markups — which are set for the Agriculture Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee and the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee — haven’t happened yet.
Garbarino said that the blue-state Republicans do not want to revoke the SALT cap.
“We do agree that a cap is necessary. You don’t need unlimited, because… AMT is going to step in and hit people that would be benefited by unlimited anyway,” Garbarino said, referring to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), another tax that kicks in at a level which renders a SALT deduction unnecessary.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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