The SALT deduction cap here to stay and Democratic meddling in GOP primaries
The fate of the $10,000 cap the deductibility of state and local taxes on your federal income taxes has long served as rallying cry for New York Democrats. Since the cap of instituted by Congress in 2017 as part of the Republican tax reform bill, they often called for its repeal or to raise it substantially to address concerns of homeowners in high-tax states like New York who saw their tax bills go up.
Remember the workarounds proposed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale? Cuomo’s was ruled unconstitutional. And the attempt by the village of Scarsdale and the town of Rye as part of the Coalition for the Charitable Deduction, to sue the IRS over an IRS that barred municipalities from setting up nonprofit charitable foundations to get around the cap, has yet to win approval.
Sen. Chuck Schumer twice came to Westchester to hold press conferences on the front lawns of Westchester homeowners who complained about the cap.
I revisited the issue in my recent column on the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which was actually a slimmed down repackaging of the Build Back Better bill, which had failed to muster enough voters in the U.S. Senate to pass.
Hopes for any relief were dashed in the IRA, which imposed a minimum tax of 15% on profits of companies reporting more than $1 billion in profits annually as well as a 1% tax on how much corporations spent to buy back their own stock, in a way to boost the stock price.
Five years later, the SALT cap repeal is no longer a priority. Schumer this summer was more focused on swaying Senators Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia and Krysten Sinema, D-Arizona, to get them on board so that all 50 senators would vote for the bill, and allow it to pass, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the deadlock.
Now the bill will come to the House of Representatives. No word yet from Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-Nassau, who vowed to vote against any tax bill that failed to address the SALT cap. Eliminating the cap was a centerpiece of Suozzi's run for governor in a race that he finished fourth in the four-candidate race.
From my perch, it looks the SALT cap is here to stay.
Maloney and Biaggi
The race for the Democratic nomination in the 17th Congressional District has vaulted onto the national stage, with Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, facing criticism for his role as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Maloney’s opponent, state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, D-Bedford, along with moderate Republicans and some Democrats have criticized the DCCC’s meddling in Republican primaries. The DCCC and other Democratic political committees have launched ad campaigns to play up the conservative bona fides of right-wing candidates, to appeal to conservative GOP voters in hopes of the most conservative Republican winning the primary, and providing an easier candidate to defeat in November.
My column this week explored the issue, with Biaggi howling that Maloney shouldn't be using donations from Democrats to provide a boost to far-right election deniers who oppose abortion rights. But Maloney, who knows how to play political hardball, said the DCCC was doing what it had to do to retain the slim House Democratic majority in the upcoming mid-terms.
Pocantico Lake Park addition?
The Westchester Parks board has taken the lead in a bid to add 37 acres to Westchester County's Pocantico Lake Park. It would be done to stop the development of 29 single-family homes in a cluster development. County Executive George Latimer says he'll take a look at the proposal. But Latimer seems more interested in spending county money on improvements to the county's extensive park system than expanding it with a new purchase.
Thanks for reading,
David McKay Wilson, columnist
Email: dwilson3@lohud.com
Twitter: @davidmckay415
Mobile: 914-217-5600
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: SALT deduction cap here to stay and Democrat meddling in GOP primaries
