New York Representative Mike Lawler said Wednesday he is open to negotiating with the Senate to advance President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, but insisted he would not agree to cut a $40,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, or SALT.
“We negotiated,” Lawler told Fox Business of the House version of the bill. “That’s the deal.”
The SALT deduction has been a primary sticking point holding up Trump’s legislative agenda. Lawler, one of a handful of Republicans representing districts in high tax states, previously called the Senate version of the tax bill “dead on arrival” because of its $10,000 cap on SALT.
Republican senators are considering placing a $30,000 cap on SALT as a compromise between current law and the more generous limit in the House tax bill.
The House and Senate have to agree on a plan before it can go to Trump’s desk to become law, giving Lawler and his SALT-focused colleagues leverage to demand their concerns be addressed.
Instead of agreeing that the SALT cap could be lowered, Lawler listed off costly items in the bill, including the child tax credit and cutting taxes on tips and overtime that could be negotiated.
“We’re not giving you the full boat,” Lawler said. “I have negotiated in good faith from day one, and I am still willing to work with my colleagues to get this done, but we are not going to be fleeced in New York.”
There are other variables that could be negotiated besides the cap amount, including length of time it is in place and the phase out for higher income taxpayers.
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