Blue State Democrats call for SALT relief in Biden’s next big bill



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Four House Democrats – Suozzi and Representatives. Mikie Sherrill, Josh Gottheimer and Bill Pascrell from New Jersey – have gone public so far with their insistence on reinstating SALT in the next package. Privately, however, several other lawmakers are in discussions about the effort and plan to officially join in the coming days, according to several members and assistants. And for now, President Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team can only afford to lose three Democratic votes as she prepares to lead a Biden infrastructure package that, despite the potential bipartisan issue, might not. attract GOP support.

Sherrill cast a positive note on the group’s prospects of winning, although she called the SALT deduction a staple in any infrastructure deal paid for by reversing part of the 2017 GOP tax cuts.

“Any changes to the disastrous Republican tax bill of 2017 must address the SALT deduction cap,” Sherrill said in a statement. “I have been working to get rid of the SALT cap since my first day in office and I have no doubts that we can find common ground with the Biden administration.”

Biden had plenty of warnings that some Democratic lawmakers would be looking at overturning Trump’s changes to the SALT deduction. 11 Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to the president late last month, calling for the deduction to be added to the next infrastructure package. The 11 said they chose not to raise the issue earlier to avoid interfering with Biden’s Covid aid bill, but now is the time to act on an “extremely tax priority. important ”.

“We were prepared to briefly postpone discussions on this topic,” the group wrote in the previously unpublished letter, which was obtained by POLITICO. “Given the seriousness of this problem for our constituents, however, we must ask to immediately open a dialogue with you on including SALT aid in the next infrastructure package.”

The pressure to review SALT – which comes as Biden unveils his multibillion-dollar infrastructure proposal on Wednesday – comes at a steep price: $ 88.7 billion for 2021 alone, and far more for a permanent repeal of the cap than it does. former President Donald Trump and Republicans imposed four years ago. Some liberal groups opposed repealing or changing the deduction, noting that a return to unlimited SALT deregistration would mainly benefit the wealthier families.

But the grassroots Democrats speaking out this week aren’t the only ones calling for a return to the past SALT deduction. The GOP cap, imposed as part of a tax bill passed without a Democratic vote, prompted vocal complaints from Blue State Democrats of all ideological convictions, especially in areas where the value land tenure is the highest. The restoration of the SALT deduction has won support in the past from moderate frontliners such as Rep. Tom Malinowski in New Jersey as well as senior progressives like Reps Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Jackie Speier of California.

It is too early to know how many House Democrats would be willing to oppose a future infrastructure package on the tax issue, which would disagree with their own president. Still, the four who have made their positions known constitute a notable coalition of Democrats ready to set an early marker for the next major point on Biden’s agenda after nearly all party members lined up behind the draft. $ 1.9 trillion presidential law on coronavirus response.

The demand to expand state and local tax benefits further illustrates the tightrope that Democrats must travel when crafting their next package – which is likely to pay for new roads, bridges and other employment programs in using a complex set of tax increases and other income. breeders – while trying to keep the party together on the ground.

one of the first things i will do»If he is elected to his current management position. But Schumer has not indicated how he will deal with the problem in the infrastructure package.

“When it comes to taxes that affect families, my line in the sand is SALT,” Gottheimer said in an interview. “And I think others share that point of view.”

House Democrats have attempted to reverse the GOP limit on the deduction several times since the majority resumed. The House passed a stand-alone bill to temporarily repeal the cap at the end of 2019 and again as part of the Democratic Coronavirus Massive Relief Bill in the spring of 2020. Both attempts were rejected by the Senate controlled by the GOP, although some of their own members are in favor of the change.

Despite the rejection of the Liberals who see the deduction as primarily useful to richer taxpayers, Democrats in high tax states argue that it is also a middle class problem. Some of the most prominent progressives in Congress have already supported the repeal of the SALT cap, including Representative Katie Porter of California and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

“There are members who are very attached to this,” Progressive Congressional Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) Told reporters on Tuesday when asked. Nonetheless, she added, “I’m not sure our members will see this as one of the fundamental reforms to the tax system that would make the system fairer.

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