[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 29, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H3292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REPEAL UNJUST SALT CAP AND RESTORE FULL DEDUCTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, tonight, over the next hour, I, along with 
my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, will rise to advocate for 
the repeal of the unjust and unfair SALT cap and the full restoration 
of the SALT deduction. There are five basic arguments that I, along 
with my colleagues, will flesh out over the next hour.
  One, the SALT cap was specifically and unjustly targeted against the 
residents of New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Illinois, 
Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, 
Virginia, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and other congressional districts with 
high local and State taxes.
  Two, middle-class families, which in these States can earn between 
$100,000 and $200,000 per year, are disproportionately impacted in a 
negative way.
  Three, these same middle-class families, as well as wealthy families, 
are incentivized by the loss of the SALT deduction to leave States with 
high State and local taxes, thereby leaving a gaping hole in the 
revenues that are used by these same States to fund their programs. 
When wealthy individuals and families leave our States because they 
have been incentivized to leave because of the loss of the SALT 
deduction, it is middle-class and low-income people who are left behind 
to hold the bag. Because of the gap in revenues, they will either face 
higher taxes, which is unacceptable and unsustainable, or reduced 
services, which is unlikely.
  Four, the SALT cap is anti-union because one of the main reasons that 
taxes are higher in SALT States is because we pay our teachers and our 
public safety and our civil servants significantly higher wages than 
our low-tax competitor States.
  Five, many States with high State and local taxes that have been 
negatively affected by the SALT cap are net donors to the Federal 
Government. That is, these States contribute more to the Federal 
Government in income taxes than they receive in Federal programs and 
contracts. They are donor States.
  Why are the taxes higher in New York, California, and other SALT 
States? Why are the taxes lower in Florida, Texas, and other low-tax 
States?
  The reason for our higher taxes is because we insure our children. 
New York State and California have some of the lowest rates of 
uninsured children in the Nation, while Texas and Florida have some of 
the highest rates of uninsured children in our country. We adopted the 
Affordable Care Act; they refused to.
  Our States have the highest rates of union employees. Our low-tax 
competitors don't like unions. In fact, they actively oppose them. They 
have right-to-work laws. They don't pay their teachers well.
  In States like New York, we have one of the greatest mass transit 
systems in the world that delivers the lowest carbon footprint per 
capita of any city in the world. In California, they have been 
implementing policies to address climate change for decades. Yet, in 
low-tax States, they have no mass transit to speak of, and they are 
still debating whether climate change is a hoax.
  Secretary Yellen has said that we need to stop the international race 
to the bottom by creating a global minimum corporate tax. Well, we need 
to discourage a race to the bottom right here in the United States of 
America.
  It is cheaper not to insure your children. It is cheaper to use 
nonunion labor. It is cheaper to have lax environmental regulations, 
unregulated utilities that shut down in cold weather, or septic tanks 
instead of sewers that cause red tide in your waterways.
  Each State, each city, each laboratory of democracy has decided how 
they want to govern, what services they want to provide, and how much 
in taxes they will collect. By removing the SALT deduction, the first 
deduction in the Federal income tax code, a deduction that has been in 
place for over 100 years, by capping this deduction, we are crippling 
the very States, cities, and local municipalities that are the economic 
engines of our Nation.
  By capping the SALT deduction, the long arm of the Federal Government 
is reaching into our States and local governments to try to determine 
what programs they should provide, how much they should collect in 
taxes. They are breaching the covenant of federalism that has been in 
place for over 100 years.
  That is why, tomorrow, will be holding a press conference with the 
U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, and the 
National Association of Counties to showcase how the SALT cap is 
devastating our local governments.
  Last week, we held a press conference with unions to show how they 
are negatively impacted by the SALT cap.
  That is why, tonight, so many of my colleagues are here to join me in 
our call to repeal the unfair and the unjust SALT cap.

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