Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY-01) has announced a five-member coalition that pledges to block any federal deal on a tax bill unless it increases the cap on state and local tax deductions, or SALT.
The current $10,000 cap is the limit taxpayers can deduct from their federal tax bill. The limit was part of the first Trump administration's tax overhaul in 2017.
LaLota said the cap is a financial burden for middle-class families.
“There are five very salty Republicans who have committed, like me, to block our own party's bill unless it has a reasonable increase in that SALT cap,” LaLota said at a news conference Thursday at the Suffolk County Legislature.
He named fellow Long Island Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-02), Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY-17), Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-NJ-07) and Rep. Young Kim (R-CA-40).
According to LaLota, those five can hold up the federal tax bill, which will likely be introduced this spring.
"I promise, and I'm reaffirming my promise again here today, I will fight anybody, including those in my own party, who would seek to extend this onerous gap on us middle-class Long Islanders,” LaLota said.
He would not elaborate on exactly how much a “reasonable increase" is over concerns that could harm ongoing negotiations.
Some Democrats, like Senate Minority Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have suggested that Republicans in Congress could simply allow the cap to expire as planned later this year, restoring unlimited SALT deductions.
LaLota ruled that out.
"We would get unlimited SALT back, but at the same time, we would have the most massive tax increase the nation's ever known."
