SCHUMER, CUOMO: LAST SUPPOSED ‘COMPROMISE’ IN HOUSE BILL WILL STILL TAKE AWAY NEARLY THREE QUARTERS OF DEDUCTIONS IN NY AND HURT HUNDREDS-OF- THOUSANDS OF MIDDLE CLASS RESIDENTS; WILL REMOVE $52 BILLION IN DEDUCTIONS FROM NY’ERS POCKETS; SCHUMER, CUOMO DOUBLE DOWN ON REPS TENNEY, FASO, STEFANIK, KATKO, REED & COLLINS TO VOTE NO ON TAX PLAN THAT REMOVES VITAL STATE & LOCAL TAX DEDUCTION
Middle-Class New Yorkers Still At Risk; Tax Bill Will Damage New York’s Economy & Will Cost Many Families Their Hard Earned Money
Schumer, Cuomo Urge NY House Members To Reject Proposed ‘Compromise’; Even With Proposed Compromise, Nearly ¾ Of Your SALT Deduction Is Taken Away While Experts Warn NY Home Values Will Fall
Schumer, Cuomo Urge NY Reps To Vote With NY, Not Wealthy Special Interests
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, today, continued their campaign against the removal of the State and Local Tax deduction (SALT) and urged New York’s Congressional delegation including Reps. Tenney, Rep. Faso, Rep. Stefanik, Rep. Katko, Rep. Reed & Rep. Collins to stand up for New York’s middle class and oppose any bill that cuts critical vital state and local tax deductions. Schumer and Cuomo warned that even with a supposed ‘compromise,’ the House bill will still take away 71 percent of a SALT deduction and would remove $52 billion in deductions from the pockets of New Yorkers. Schumer and Cuomo said that if the GOP tax plan were to pass, hundreds-of-thousands could lose thousands of dollars and pointed out the review of experts at firms like Price Waterhouse Cooper who say eliminating or reducing the state and local tax deduction would decrease home values in each of these Congressional districts, placing pressure on state and local governments to deliver cuts to education or their local fire and police departments.
“Whether the savings from these deductions becomes money for home repairs, groceries, school supplies or even the yearly vacation, it belongs in the pockets of New Yorkers, period,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “There should be no compromise on these deductions and I urge New York’s congressional delegation to stand against this bill and to end all attempts to eliminate or contract State and Local Deductions. It simply makes no sense for Congress to eliminate these vitals deductions which have helped steady the cost of many middle-class families across Upstate New York – it would be double taxation on the middle class. Without state and local deductions potential homeowners may look elsewhere, which could devastate New York State. So, today, with Governor Cuomo, we are calling on every member of Congress from New York to do the right thing and block this gut-punch to New York’s middle-class. I will do everything in my power here in the U.S Senate to fight this GOP-led effort to end critical mortgage, state and local property tax deductions.”
“The Congress is using the complication and rushing this through because they want to get this done before people realize what it actually does to them. President Trump said this is a Christmas gift—well, New York gets a lump of coal from Santa Trump,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Schumer and Cuomo said Republicans have proposed a slash to state and local deductibility, a bedrock middle-class and upper-middle-class tax deduction. In fact, thousands of Upstate New Yorkers use this deduction every year to make ends meets. Republicans proposed a “compromise” on state and local whereby they don’t eliminate the deduction; they just reduce its value by about 71 percent but Schumer and Cuomo argued that any reduction would hurt New York’s middle class families.
Schumer and Cuomo explained the Republican tax plan would impact 3 million New Yorkers, approximately one-third of New York’s taxpayers. The GOP will say that the loss of these deductions will be balanced by the increase in the standard deduction but even after those changes are factored in, New York is still a net loser. Schumer said this plan hurts New York State.
A breakdown of this impact appears below, by district:
|
Congressional District |
Percentage Of Individuals Using SALT Deduction |
Average Salt Deduction* |
|
1 Rep. Lee Zeldin |
46% |
$17,686 |
|
2 Rep. Peter King |
48% |
$20,111 |
|
3 Rep. Thomas Suozzi |
43% |
$18,386 |
|
4 Rep. Kathleen Rice |
50% |
$23,361 |
|
5 Rep. Gregory Meeks |
40% |
$18,995 |
|
6 Rep. Grace Meng |
30% |
$10,929 |
|
7 Rep. Nydia Velázquez |
34% |
$34,479 |
|
8 Rep. Hakeem Jeffries |
28% |
$12,860 |
|
9 Rep. Yvette Clarke |
27% |
$14,585 |
|
10 Rep. Jerrold Nadler |
36% |
$41,978 |
|
11 Rep. Daniel Donovan Jr. |
36% |
$13,769 |
|
12 Rep. Carolyn Maloney |
34% |
$34,479 |
|
13 Rep. Adriano Espaillat |
34% |
$44,411 |
|
14 Rep. Joe Crowley |
25% |
$9,698 |
|
15 Rep. José Serrano |
21% |
$7,954 |
|
16 Rep. Eliot Engel |
34% |
$24,678 |
|
17 Rep. Nita Lowey |
45% |
$26,243 |
|
18 Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney |
43% |
$21,571 |
|
19 Rep. John Faso |
31% |
$12,501 |
|
20 Rep Paul Tonko |
33% |
$14,384 |
|
21 Rep. Elise Stefanik |
23% |
$11,865 |
|
22 Rep Claudia Tenney |
23% |
$10,766 |
|
23 Rep Tom Reed |
22% |
$11,716 |
|
24 Rep. John Katko |
29% |
$12,140 |
|
25 Rep. Louise Slaughter |
33% |
$12,896 |
|
26 Rep. Brian Higgins |
27% |
$12,083 |
|
27 Rep. Chris Collins |
29% |
$12,125 |
* prepared by the Government Finance Officers Association using 2015 IRS data
Today’s call comes on the heels of Schumer and Cuomo’s visit to the Capital Region where they called on New York’s delegation to vote against a budget that aided in the elimination of the State and local property deduction. Schumer, Cuomo said that the elimination of these deductions would be detrimental to middle-class families in New York. Across New York, the deduction loss would total about $68 billion per year—that’s $68 billion dollars that state residents will no longer be allowed to deduct from their federal tax returns.
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