Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) reiterated his commitment to raise the maximum state and local taxes that can be deducted from federal taxes.
Currently, the SALT cap allows a maximum of $10,000 to be deducted from federal taxes. At the moment, Republicans in the House have proposed a $30,000 cap for those with incomes less than $400,000. However, Lawler is proposing an even larger maximum, which he explained on Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria.
“That’s why I’m fighting to lift the cap on SALT. It is not about the rich, it is very much about the cop and the teacher who have extremely high property taxes here in New York that we want to provide tax relief to,” Lawler said Monday. “In my district, three of the four counties that I represent, Maria, are three of the top 16 highest property-taxed counties in America. So when you take property taxes combined with state income taxes, it blows well past the $30,000 cap, which is why this matters so much. And my point at the end of the day is if no bill passes, the SALT cap goes to unlimited.”
However, Lawler’s constituents have already received tax benefits in recent memory. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act resulted in tax cuts for every income bracket in Lawler’s district in 2017. Still, the representative called for further relief.
“There’s got to be real relief to the middle class. That’s what we’re negotiating on. We’re trying to stop the bill from proceeding. We’re trying to make sure that our constituents get real tax relief,” Lawler continued.
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Lawler is joined by his Republican colleagues in New York and other allies in California and New Jersey for an increased SALT cap. This last election saw ten seats in New York and California, previously held by Democratic members, flip Republican. As the Republican Party has a five-seat majority in the House, Lawler claimed that “it was New York and California that delivered the majority.”
The House Rules Committee is slated to vote on the budget reconciliation bill, including the SALT item, on Tuesday.