Blue State Dems Sticking to Their Demands on SALT Deduction

Adding to the pile of problems weighing on President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, a key Democratic lawmaker reminded the White House Wednesday that a group of blue-state lawmakers are sticking with their demand that the legislative package include a big increase in the value of the state and local tax deduction.

“We will not go for this agenda, as important as it is, unless we get the state and local tax deduction,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, who represents a suburban district in Long Island, told a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “For me, it’s existential. In the state of New York, it’s existential.”

New Jersey Democrat Tom Malinowski told Bloomberg News that he agreed. “It will certainly be an issue in my race,” he said. “I worked my heart out to restore this deduction.”

The version of the Build Back Better bill passed by the House includes an increase in the SALT deduction to $80,000 per year, up from the current $10,000. The increase has drawn opposition from both left and right, with critics pointing out that the higher deduction cap would provide a substantial windfall to some high-income households.

Suozzi said that despite the criticism, he thought he could make a deal with Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), two key Democratic senators who have held the bill up in the Senate, though it could be tricky given the narrow margin for error. “Manchin’s a really old-school politician and I think that a deal can be made with him,” Suozzi said. “Sinema is not as easy. She has certain positions and she is intractable on those positions.”

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