Menendez Says Restoration of NJ SALT Tax Deduction a Non-Negotiable Item
Standing outside Newark Penn Station this morning, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) called restoration of the State and Local Tax deduction for New Jersey a non-negotiable item.
Menendez noted that the SALT tax cap, imposed by the Trump Tax Law of 2017, disproportionately impacted New Jersey and amounted to a tax hike on thousands of middle class families. The senior member of the Senate Finance Committee that and his colleague, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)subsequently introduced the Securing Access to Lower Taxes by ensuring Deductibility Act or “SALT Deductibility Act” that would repeal the $10,000 federal cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions.
Today, Menendez, who stood with Booker outside Penn Station, doubled down on restoring the tax deduction.
“New Jersey is a blue chip state,” said New Jersey’s senior senator. “It’s a maker state. It gives more to the federal treasury than it receives. Other states, including the state represented by the leader in the senate, is a moocher state, which gets billions more than they give the federal treasury. So why do you attack states like New Jersey and eliminate the deduction of state and local property taxes?”
He referred to the state’s transportation and education systems.
“That costs money,” Menendez said. “We should have the deductibility. We have one of the oldest deductions in the federal code. Trump and the Republicans took it away so they could give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
“I don’t think that’s fair,” the senator added. “We believe in restoring the totality of the state and local property tax deduction. … We don’t see this as an negotiable item.
Menendez made his comments as part of a larger argument for federal infrastructure dollars.
He and Booker held a news conference outside Newark Penn Station to lay out their transportation priorities as the Senate begins work on President Biden’s American Jobs Plan to deliver the nation’s largest federal infrastructure investment in nearly a century. Joined by State Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti and NJ TRANSIT President and CEO Kevin Corbett, the senators discussed how approximately $2 billion in COVID relief funding they secured in the American Rescue Plan for NJ TRANSIT is being used to avoid mass layoffs and keep the trains and buses rolling for commuters.
Democrats never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. – Frank Luntz
The SALT Cap is probably the most PROGRESSIVE legislation passed under Trump’s administration. Albeit his intentions wasn’t out of concern for the bottom 90% of working Americans but rather, to shove a big (ʘ言ʘ╬) up the rears of the .1% & their affluent donors which are prominently virtue signaling liberals much like Mendez & Booker.
Pelosi, Schumer & their lackies both legislative & legacy media are framing this as an assault on the working class threatening to stonewall Bidens “Rescue America infrastructure Bill” unless there’s a repeal of the SALT Cap, but not JUST a repeal, but a restructuring that would grant even more deductions to the wealthy thus sticking the 90% of working class earners with either a tax increase or austerity assaults on the few public programs provided.
All you have to do is look at the Republicans response to this SALT Cap repeal campaign to know who it benefits. If it benefited the people & hurt the corporate, career & managerial class they’d be knees deep in cultural war push back, but so far there’s been crickets, not a word, mention or whisper. And why would they when they stand to gain everything either way this goes for the midterm campaign messaging. Stonewalled the American Rescue Bill? Win. Repealed & Replaced the SALT Cap? Win, Win both in tax deductions for themselves & their donors as well as picture perfect framing for the midterm messaging.
This is all just too painful to watch both the narrow-minded narrative to the informed voter, the hallow-headed regurgitation from the misinformed voter & the bobble head stares from the uninformed voter.