“It needs to be part of the larger tax package,” Porter said. “It was a serious hit to a lot of homeowners and a lot of California families.”
Maloney has a blunt pitch in mind for voters in such districts: “If you want your state and local deductions back, you have to vote for Democrats. Republicans screwed you last time, and they’ll do it again.”
Democrats in the Senate were haggling over how to handle the SALT cap even before Manchin publicly rejected the House legislation. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is seeking to limit the SALT deduction for higher-earning taxpayers. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez wants to allow single filers making up to $550,000 and couples making up to roughly $950,000 to write off all their state and local taxes.
The House legislation would raise the cap to $80,000 for all taxpayers. Defenders of lifting the cap say the deduction, which dates back to the original income tax code passed in 1913, protects against double taxation.
Not all Democrats in competitive districts favor restoring the break. Maine’s Representative Jared Golden, who also ousted a Republican in 2018, was the only House Democrat to vote against Biden’s Build Back Better legislation and cited the SALT provision in explaining his vote. Only 4% of residents in his heavily rural district take the deduction.
“The current House version of SALT gives millionaires thousands in cash, while people who make less than ~$100,000/year get less than $20 on avg.,” Golden tweeted. “Why would we do that?”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.