Today, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Suffolk County) highlighted the importance of restoring the SALT deduction, eliminating the marriage penalty, and the unfairness of double taxation at a Small Business Committee hearing on the adverse effects of high taxes and the complex tax code.
“While Albany Democrats must do more to repeal unfunded mandates and lower New Yorkers’ taxes, my constituents know better than to rely on them to make our lives easier. In Washington, I am working on raising the SALT deduction cap to help Long Islanders make ends meet,” said LaLota. “Many of my colleagues, regardless of their party affiliation, claim to support families, lowering the cost of living, and improving the lives of the average American. If that’s the case, every single one of them should support common sense legislation to eliminate the un-American SALT deduction cap marriage penalty. I will always fight to ensure the federal government is working for Long Island families.”
Background:
In January, LaLota voted against the bipartisan Wyden-Smith tax bill because it failed to include an increase on the cap to the SALT deduction.
In February, LaLota led the charge to repeal the SALT marriage penalty with a floor vote on the SALT Marriage Penalty Elimination Act, which would remove the marriage penalty and raise the SALT deduction cap to $20,000 for joint filers and cap adjusted gross income at $500,000. Consideration of this common sense bill was blocked by every House Democrat and a handful of House Conservatives.
Since being sworn into office in January 2023, LaLota has been explicitly clear on his support for restoring the SALT deduction. LaLota joined the bipartisan SALT Caucus and introduced the SALT Fairness and Deficit Reduction Act to effectively bring the deduction to pre-2017 levels for the overwhelming majority of taxpayers while at the same time reducing the federal deficit by raising and extending the SALT deduction cap to $60k for single filers and $120k for joint filers beginning in 2023 and lasting until December 31, 2032.