Re-launched SALT caucus, with lots of New York faces, pushes for big tax overhaul

A bipartisan coalition with newly elected Congressmen from the Hudson Valley has renewed its push to lift the $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes from federal tax returns.

Originally formed in 2021, the group of federal lawmakers dubbed the SALT Caucus has added new faces from both sides of the aisle in its efforts to lift the cap. They include Democrat Pat Ryan and Republicans Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro. Republicans Anthony D'Esposito and Nick LaLota, both from Long Island, are also new members from New York.

This time, the group of nearly three dozen U.S. representatives will try with a Republican-led House and Democrats leading the Senate and White House in the new two-year congressional session.

The so-called SALT deduction was enacted in 2017 as part of then-President Donald Trump’s federal tax cuts. It’s mostly impacted higher-income property owners in states such as California, New Jersey and New York.

It expires in 2025, and analysts in Washington have warned that the new conservative majority in the House of Representatives is sure to block efforts to undue one of former President Donald Trump’s cornerstone achievements, that being his federal tax cuts.

“I came to Congress to deliver relief for middle class New Yorkers who are struggling to afford everything from housing to healthcare, heating their home to fueling their car,” Ryan said in a statement.

“The SALT deduction cap is blatant double taxation and unjustly punishes hard working families across the Hudson Valley. I'm proud to stand and fight with colleagues from both parties to reinstate this deduction and put dollars back in the pockets of Hudson Valley families.”

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One of the co-chairs of the caucus, Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, said it's "high time that Congress restores the SALT deduction." His fellow co-chairs include New York 2nd Congressional District Rep. Andrew Garbarino and California Reps. Young Kim, a Republican, and Anna Eschoo, a Democrat.

“These are not millionaires, these are working class people, and every year, they get screwed,” said Garbarino, a Republican.

Other New York caucus members are Democratic Reps. Brian Higgins, Gregory Meeks and Jerry Nadler, and Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat from New Jersey and caucus vice-chair, is co-sponsoring a bill lifting the limit from $10,000 per household to $100,000 per single filer and $200,000 for married couples, she said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether the caucus would back this legislation. Lawler, of New York's 17th Congressional District, is co-sponsoring the bill.

Lawler recently expressed optimism for such a path in the new congress with bipartisan members of the heavily populated states of New York and California.

“We are a formidable voting bloc that can move or not move legislation,” he said. “For the purposes of getting something done on SALT, that is an avenue we may pursue.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: SALT Caucus relaunches with Hudson Valley freshmen to lift tax cap