Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Suffolk County, NY) released a statement after voting NO on the Wyden-Smith tax bill because it failed to include an increase of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. LaLota also introduced H.R. 7160, the SALT Marriage Penalty Elimination Act. The bill would raise the SALT deduction cap to $20,000 for only joint filers and cap adjusted gross income at $500,000. Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Andy Harris (R-MD), Mike Garcia (R-CA), and Young Kim (R-CA) joined LaLota in introducing this legislation.
“For months, I promised Long Islanders I would vote against the Wyden-Smith tax package if it did not have a reasonable increase in the SALT deduction cap. Tonight I kept my promise by voting against the SALT-less Wyden-Smith tax bill,” said LaLota. “But our fight is not over. And while even getting a vote on increasing the SALT deduction seemed like an impossibility several weeks ago, I am thankful that my party’s leadership has agreed to expedite a vote on the SALT Marriage Penalty Elimination Act as early as next week. Finally, representatives from New York to California and Texas to North Dakota will be able to weigh in on this important issue. Then, I hope my colleagues from both sides of the aisle who have campaigned on being pro-family and for lower taxes join me in supporting the SALT Marriage Penalty Elimination Act.”
Background:
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 31st, 2032.
