New York GOP Lawmakers Fail to Amend SALT Cap in U.S. Debt Ceiling Agreement

WASHINGTON—If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again. A group of Republican Congressmen submitted an amendment to the federal debt ceiling agreement before the House Rules Committee to raise the SALT Cap from $10,000 to $60,000 for individual tax filers. However, Real Estate In-Depth has learned that the amendment failed to pass the House Rules Committee, which approved the debt ceiling agreement by a 7-6 margin last evening (May 30).

The measure marked the third time so far this year area Republican lawmakers have attempted to revise or repeal the $10,000 SALT Cap imposed by the 2017 Trump Tax Act. To date, none of those efforts have resulted in either the repeal or any revision of the SALT Cap.

The “SALT Fairness and Deficit Reduction Act” amendment would have raised the cap for married couples to $120,000. The “SALT Fairness and Deficit Reduction Act” amendment was offered by Reps. Mike Lawler (NY-17), Nick LaLota (NY-01), and Anthony D’Esposito (NY-04). The 17th Congressional District covers all or parts of all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester counties. The 1st and 4th Congressional Districts cover sections of Long Island.

“The arbitrary cap on SALT coupled with record inflation has made the affordability crisis even worse for Hudson Valley families, and I have said from the beginning that it needs to be lifted,” said Rep. Lawler. “I’m proud to co-sponsor Rep. LaLota’s amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility Act (debt ceiling agreement) that lifts the cap to $60,000 for individual filers and to $120,000 for married couples filing a joint return. This amendment would eliminate the unfair penalty for the vast majority of Hudson Valley families and is a critical part of solving New York’s affordability crisis.”

The amendment would have raised the cap beginning after Dec. 31, 2022 and would increase the cap beginning after 2023 by the cost of living for that calendar tax year.

“I came to Congress promising to take every opportunity I could to restore the SALT deduction and support Long Island families. My amendment would insert the text of my SALT Fairness and Deficit Reduction Act into the Fiscal Responsibility Act, providing more tax relief for Americans and doing even more to address our federal deficit,” said Rep. LaLota. “The bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act already provides much-needed support to the American people while addressing spending, adding my legislation would take it another step in the right direction. I am hopeful that the House Rules Committee will allow my amendment to be considered on the House Floor to give Long Islanders tax relief while cutting costs down the road.”

“My Long Island neighbors sent me to Congress to provide meaningful tax relief to local families, and one way I have been fighting to deliver that relief is by removing the current SALT cap,” said Rep. D’Esposito. “I am proud to join my colleague, Congressman Nick LaLota, in introducing an amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility Act that would effectively restore the SALT cap to pre-2017 levels for the vast majority of Americans. Including the text of the SALT Fairness and Deficit Reduction Act as an amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility Act strengthens this sweeping bipartisan deficit reducing legislation and provides added financial relief to Americans.”

Rep. Lawler, shortly after first taking office in January, began efforts to amend or repeal the SALT Cap. In late January, Rep. Lawler and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), a Democrat, announced they had introduced the “Middle-Class Tax Relief Act,” that they said would provide significant relief from the unfair double taxation of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap to millions of families and eliminate one of the most significant marriage penalties in the tax code.

The legislation would have raised the cap on SALT deductions from $10,000/household to $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married couples.

In April, 2023, Rep. Lawler was one of the “co-leads” of a bill introduced by Rep. Andrew R. Garbarino (NY-02) entitled “The Securing Access to Lower Taxes by ensuring (SALT) Deductibility Act” announced at a press conference on Long Island alongside fellow New York members and co-sponsors of the legislation, Representatives Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY-04) and Nick Lalota (R-NY-01).

The bipartisan bill would have allowed taxpayers to fully deduct their state and local taxes on their federal income returns. Other co-leads of the legislation were: Rep. Lawler and Representatives Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Young Kim (R-CA-40), Anna Eshoo (D-CA-16), Chris Smith (R-NJ-04), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) and Rob Menendez (D-NJ-08).

In addition to the co-leads, original cosponsors of the bill include Representatives Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY-04), Marc Molinaro (R-NY-19), Pat Ryan (D-NY-18), Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ-07), Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14), Grace Meng (D-NY-06), Joe Morelle (D-NY-25), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Dean Phillips (D-MN-03), Paul Tonko (D-NY-20), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-18), Betty McCollum (D-MN-04), Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-04), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), Linda Sanchez (D-CA-38), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11), Andy Kim (D-NJ-03), Nick LaLota (R-NY-01), Mike Levin (D-CA-49), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34), Judy Chu (D-CA-28), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC- At-Large), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19), Julia Brownley (D-CA-26), and Jerry Nadler (D-NY-12).