NY lawmakers offer bill to restore state and local tax deduction

A bipartisan pair of House members from New York introduced legislation this week to restore the full state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which is limited by the new tax law that President Trump signed last month.

Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Pete King (R-N.Y.) said on a call with reporters Tuesday that they are offering their bill in order to prevent many of their constituents from seeing their taxes go up. The new tax law caps the deduction at $10,000, which Lowey and King said is insufficient for many residents of their districts.

“This is so negative for our constituents,” said Lowey, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

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Opponents of the SALT deduction argue that the preference largely benefits wealthy taxpayers, but Lowey and King said that middle-class people in their districts, such as teachers and firefighters, will be hurt by the cap.

“These are average, hard-working people,” King said.

King said he expects his and Lowey’s bill to get support from other lawmakers, though not enough to get the bill on the House floor. However, he said there be may be opportunities throughout the year to get the measure included in other legislation, such as a budget or appropriations bills.

The New York lawmakers’ bill comes as elected officials in high-tax states are looking at ways to circumvent the SALT cap. These options include suing the federal government over the tax law, providing a tax credit for charitable contributions to state and local funds and shifting from an income tax system to a payroll tax system.