Long Island reps vow fight after Senate committee recommends sticking with $10G cap on SALT deduction

WASHINGTON — The $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions would remain unchanged in the massive tax bill making its way through Congress, under a proposal released Monday by the Republican-led Senate Finance Committee.

The proposal calls for "permanently" extending the $10,000 cap on so-called SALT deductions, first passed by Congress in 2017 and signed into law by President Donald Trump during his first term. Before 2017, there was no limit on the amount of state and local tax deductions a homeowner could write off when filing their federal income taxes.

Long Island’s two House Republicans — Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) and Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) — immediately spoke out against the proposal, which comes after the Republican House majority voted last month for a version of the tax bill that would raise the current SALT cap to $40,000.

The $40,000 cap was negotiated by a group of blue-state Republicans, including Garbarino and LaLota, with House Speaker Mike Johnson after the group threatened to vote against the bill if a larger deduction on state and local taxes was not included. The lawmakers had previously rejected a $30,000 cap offer and have leveraged their numbers in a narrowly split chamber, where three Republican defections can tank a bill.

"Instead of undermining the deal already in place and putting the entire bill at risk, the Senate should work with us to keep our promise of historic tax relief and deliver on our Republican agenda," Garbarino wrote in a statement.

LaLota, speaking to reporters on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Monday, noted that the coalition of five blue-state Republicans had enough votes to ensure any version of the bill passed by the Senate and returned to the House for a final vote would be rejected if it reduces the $40,000 cap.

"That was a hard-fought negotiation that happened for four months, and $40,000 was the compromise number, not the starting point for where the Senate could then whittle it down," LaLota said. "If they send it back $1 less, we're going to vote no on it, and our five votes will help take that bill down."

Senate Republicans have largely opposed increasing the cap, arguing that the deductions only favor wealthy homeowners in high-tax Democrat-run states, but New York lawmakers have long argued the deductions prevent homeowners from being double-taxed on their income.

The $10,000 cap is seen as an opening offer to continue negotiations. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) in a post on X noted the need for the House Republican votes.

"SALT doesn't affect [Senate Republicans], but it impacts a few blue-state Republicans in the slim [House] majority," Mullin wrote. "We have to negotiate a MAGA bill for President Trump that can PASS." 

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.