The bipartisan SALT Caucus is back for the 118th Congressional term.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer will co-chair the caucus with Reps. Young Kim (R-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) to do away with the deduction cap on state and local taxes (SALT).
Lawmakers noted that since 2019, the House has passed legislation three times to restore the SALT deduction, and the U.S. Senate did not act. The 2017 legislation, approved by Republicans and then President Donald Trump, imposed the $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction that opponents noted violated 150 years of precedent in federal tax law.
Fighting Party Extremes
Gottheimer said that despite arguments from the extremes of both parties, restoring SALT will get more dollars back into the pockets of hard-working families who are already struggling with high costs.
“But what they miss every time is that restoring the SALT deduction will lower taxes for millions of real, everyday, middle-class families who we represent,” said the Bergen County lawmaker. “I literally hear about it every single time I’m out in Jersey. At the grocery store, at the post office, at our schools from parents, when I’m visiting a police station: people are always asking about SALT.”
North Jersey Members
The 33 members caucus has five members of the North Jersey House delegation as members: vice chairs Tom Kean, Jr., Bill Pascrell and Mikie Sherrill as well as freshman Rob Menendez
Kean, who defeated former former caucus member Tom Malinowski last Fall, offered that fully restoring the SALT deduction is crucial to making a more affordable state and country.
“Affordability is top of mind for families across New Jersey who are still getting crushed by out-of-control inflation, compounded with sky-high taxes,” said the Republican freshman lawmaker. “Now more than ever, it is important for families to keep more of their hard-earned money. I’m proud to join both Republican and Democrat colleagues in the effort to get this done.”
Pascrell Promise
Pascrell said that any path to relief runs through Ways and Means Committee and “as New Jersey’s only member of our tax-writing committee, I will not rest until we get this done.”
“This has been my number one priority from the moment the GOP tax scam robbed middle class families of this crucial lifeline they relied on,” said Pascrell. “I’m far from alone. We are joining together to make abundantly clear to our colleagues that the SALT cap brutalizing our constituents needs to go yesterday.”
A founding member of the bipartisan group, Sherrill noted the cap targets the states that drive the country’s innovation and competitiveness as a result of strong investments in public schools and workforce.
Bipartisan Coalition
“Each year, the SALT deduction cap imposes an unfair double tax that raises the cost of living for New Jersey families by thousands of dollars, making it more difficult to afford to live in our state and stay here for generations,” said Sherrill.
The caucus includes members from California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and New York, states that lawmakers believe were targeted because they voted against Trump when he ran for President. Co-Chair Kim, a California Republican, said that “many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from states across the country whose constituents are unfairly hurt by the current cap on SALT deductions.”
“Californians in my district and across my state have been burdened enough by high state taxes and rising costs of living and housing. They shouldn’t be hurt even more for state and local tax costs at the federal level,” said Kim. “There are many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from states across the country whose constituents are unfairly hurt by the current cap on SALT deductions.”
Helping the Middle Class
“Middle class Californians are counting on Congress to deliver tax fairness,” added Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), SALT Caucus vice-chair. “The Trump Administration’s reckless political games poisoned our tax code and hurt millions of families living in high cost-of-living areas. Lifting the SALT cap will put money back into families’ pockets.”
New York’s Garbarino, whose district is located in Long Island, said that “in my community there are teachers, firefighters, and police officers whose property taxes alone far exceed the $10,000 cap. These are hard-working, middle-class Americans who are being double taxed and penalized for living in a high cost, high productivity area.”
“We on the SALT Caucus stand together, united and committed to finding a bipartisan fix to an injustice that affects working class Americans across the country.”
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