House panel advances bill raising SALT cap

WASHINGTON — A bill that would provide additional state and local tax deduction (SALT) relief to married couples is expected to come before the U.S. House for a floor vote next week after receiving the green light from a key committee on Thursday.

The House Rules Committee, in an 8-5 vote, advanced a measure that would allow the full chamber to consider a bill to increase the SALT deduction cap from $10,000 to $20,000 for married couples making less than $500,000 a year. Co-sponsored by Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park), Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) and Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), the bill advanced days after they threatened to block legislative action ahead of a vote on a separate $78 billion tax plan that excluded SALT relief.

D’Esposito, Garbarino, LaLota and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Suffern) signaled Tuesday they would use their votes in the narrowly divided chamber to freeze floor activity ahead of Wednesday's vote on the $78 billion tax bill. The sweeping tax package increases the Child Tax Credit and some corporate tax breaks. 

GOP leadership then met with the New York lawmakers to negotiate a plan that would allow them to bring their SALT proposal to the floor.

LaLota in a phone interview Thursday said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “promised us New Yorkers a process by which a bill could get to the floor, and he has delivered on that promise by expediting it through the Rules Committee and allowing it to come to the floor which we expect next week."

The SALT cap was implemented in 2017 under a tax plan signed into law by President Donald Trump and passed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate. The plan lowered the corporate tax rate and expanded tax deductions for businesses.

Blue-state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have tried unsuccessfully since to pass legislation repealing the SALT cap, arguing that it amounts to a double tax on property owners.

Republican supporters of the SALT cap — generally hailing from states with lower state and local taxes — contend the cap mainly impacts wealthy property owners who they say already benefit from other write-offs. It is set to expire in 2025.

The Long Island Republicans said they will continue lobbying their colleagues to pass their bill, which advanced with some bipartisan pushback.

Democrats on the House Rules Committee criticized the move to push for a floor vote without vetting the bill through the House Ways and Means Committee, which sets tax policy.

Two conservative Republicans on the committee, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), also raised concerns about foregoing the traditional committee process. Roy voted against advancing the measure.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.