House Republicans from New York, California and New Jersey unhappy with a cap on state and local tax deductions cast talks on the issue with Donald Trump as "positive" but described no firm commitments from the president-elect.
"He really communicated that he feels for how unaffordable the taxes are for our constituents," Representative Nick LaLota of New York, who attended the gathering of about 16 House Republicans with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, said in an interview late Saturday. Trump "is willing to engage in a solution."
"It was a productive meeting and the president is fully supportive of raising the cap," Representative Mike Lawler of New York, who also attended, said Saturday. Trump "agrees that the cap on SALT needs to be lifted," he said on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures.
Trump has expressed interest in reviewing options for adjusting the SALT cap but is not currently advocating for a specific fix, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
The main focus of the face-to-face meeting was the $10,000 cap on the so-called SALT deduction that was a feature of Trump's 2017 tax cut bill, set to expire for tax years after 2025. The group wants to see the cap raised or eliminated, softening the burden on constituents who live in states like New York and California where the combination of high tax rates and expensive property values make a write-off especially valuable.
Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York
Lawler wants to raise the cap to $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for married couples. The current cap is the same for both single and married taxpayers.
Lawler said Saturday that no exact level or approach was determined or agreed upon. "The president wants us to come back with a number," he said.
Trump's economic advisors have discussed
Lifting the cap is unpopular among some conservative Republicans from lower-tax states and nonpartisan analysts, who say the change would benefit mostly high-income households in largely Democratic states.
"Why should people in South Carolina subsidize California and New York tax policy? You're going to have a hard time with me on that," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said last week on Sunday Morning Futures.
Lawler countered that attitude on Sunday, saying that states like New York and California already contribute more dollars to the federal government that can go to smaller states.
"If you look at South Carolina, for instance, they are one of the biggest recipients of federal dollars in comparison to other states by a percentage," he told Fox News.
Significant expansion of the SALT deduction cap is emerging as a potential demand by some Republicans, including Lawler, in return for their support of any larger tax-related package.
The new House GOP majority is razor-thin, meaning Speaker Mike Johnson can only absorb a few GOP-vote holdouts or defections to pass any party-line legislation.
