[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 178 (Thursday, November 2, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H8424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPORTING THE STATE AND LOCAL TAX DEDUCTION
(Ms. ESTY of Connecticut asked and was given permission to address
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. ESTY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, for weeks we have heard that
the partisan tax plan crafted behind closed doors might include the
elimination of the deduction for families' State and local income
taxes. Today the rumors became reality. The tax plan announced today
would drastically reduce the State and local tax deduction.
Let me be as clear as I can be. This proposal is a tax increase on
middle class families, and I oppose it. Working people in my State
already send more dollars to the Federal Government in taxes than they
receive back in support. For every dollar we send to Washington from
Connecticut, we receive back just 83 cents. By attacking the State and
local deduction, this tax plan would make life even harder for real
people in my district.
A senior citizen in Simsbury, Connecticut, called me to say that she
might lose her home if this tax deduction is taken away from her.
Seniors who live on a fixed income shouldn't have to risk losing a roof
over their head just so that Congress can cut the corporate tax rate.
Families who are already struggling to pay their bills, put their
kids through college, and buy their first home shouldn't have to suffer
in order to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans.
The President promised that tax reform would help our middle class
and would bring jobs back. It is doing neither.
I urge my colleagues to support keeping the State and local
deduction.
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