Congressman Tom Suozzi, who represents New Yorkers from eastern Queens across the northern half of Nassau County into the western sections of Suffolk, is absolutely right to stick to his “No SALT, no deal” demand in refusing to support any changes to the federal tax code unless the horrendously unfair limitation on deduction of state and local taxes is repealed.
Since every Republican is certain to oppose President Biden’s $3.5 billion American Families Plan and since the margin in the narrowly divided House is so close, the defection of just three Democrats is enough to sink the battleship. Suozzi is confident that he easily has more than three.
When President Trump and Republican majorities in the Senate and the House in 2017 pushed through the $10,000 cap on deduction of property taxes and income taxes imposed on the state and local level, there was not a single Democrat voting with them.
That law, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, did cut taxes for some, but increased taxes on many not rich homeowners in certain states, notably New York, where it costs people an extra $12 billion a year. It was the Democrats, like Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, leading the fight against it.
Now that they are Senate majority leader and House speaker, they seem less animated by the injustice. The same for Biden. But don’t worry, Suozzi hasn’t forgotten and is making his stand. As he said Monday about the repeal of the SALT cap, “If it doesn’t happen, I will look like an idiot.” Not in these quarters: At least he’s trying.
The deduction cap should be fully eliminated, but Hill haggling may just raise it to a higher number, say $15,000 or $20,000. And while it’s presently due to sunset in 2025, Suozzi should not consent to any agreement unless the cap is permanently dead, the way it was going back to the Civil War, when it was the first federal deduction allowed.
