Reps. Garbarino, LaLota set to press Trump on state and local tax deduction

WASHINGTON — Restoring the state and local tax deduction — SALT — will be at the top of the agenda when New York House Republicans meet Saturday with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Reps. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) are among those invited by Trump to discuss SALT and other issues as the president-elect prepares a new sweeping tax plan he hopes to pass early in his second term.

Garbarino, LaLota and other New York Republicans including Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) and Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River) huddled behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to discuss their SALT sales pitch.

"It would be bad faith to negotiate specific numbers in the press, but rest assured, I’m committed to a reasonable increase on SALT, one that makes life more affordable for my fellow Long Islanders," LaLota told Newsday when asked about what was discussed in the meeting.

The state and local tax deduction was capped at $10,000 in 2018 under a Trump-backed tax plan passed by House and Senate Republicans in November 2017.

In September, ahead of a campaign rally at the Nassau Coliseum, Trump posted on social media that he would "get SALT back," but his advisers are reportedly eyeing only an expansion of the tax cap versus the full repeal New York lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have long argued for.

On Tuesday, Politico, citing sources close to the incoming administration, said it is floating a proposal that would increase the tax deduction cap to $20,000 for married couples. Currently, couples can only deduct up to $10,000, the same as individual taxpayers.

Asked about the report, LaLota said, "it’s not what I’m hearing," and called the proposal "an absolute nonstarter for me and my very salty Republican colleagues."

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said in a post on X he appreciated the Republican lawmakers "going to Mar-a-Lago to hold their colleagues feet to the fire on restoring the SALT deduction."

“$20,000 not acceptable!" Suozzi wrote, linking to the Politico report.

Freshman Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) issued a letter Wednesday to House and Senate leadership urging them to "jump-start bipartisan negotiations to prevent yet another devastating tax hike on families on Long Island and across the country. “

"Restoring the full SALT deduction is a critical, common sense concern in my district," Gillen wrote.

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.