On the recordDecember 19, 2019
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, there are many issues with the Republican tax scheme, but the $10,000 State and local tax deduction cap is one of the most egregious. The SALT deduction has been a fixture of the United States tax code since the introduction of the Federal income tax in 1913 to acknowledge that State and local taxes are paid for services that the Federal Government does not provide. When State and local governments lost part of that deduction, they were taxed twice, so this is an issue, which has been said many times in the committee, of tax fairness. While this legislation was a team effort under the direction of Mike Thompson, head of the working group, the persistence of Members Bill Pascrell and Tom Suozzi, who made their persistence with clarity and insistence on fairness for their constituents, inspired all of us to fight to defend that same fairness for ours. This is a good bill. I urge its support.
