Pascrell Lauds New Workaround to Restore SALT Deduction

Congressional Review Act resolution would invalidate Trump IRS blockade of New Jersey tax relief measures

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), New Jersey’s only member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, is an original cosponsor of a new measure in the House of Representatives, authored by Reps. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), that would overturn an IRS blockade of critical state tax relief efforts.

“We should use every tool in our toolbox here: this resolution can give our constituents relief at the state level, while I will continue to push our federal fix to restore our cherished SALT cap in full,” said Rep. Pascrell, the leader of House efforts to restore the full federal State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. “The GOP tax scam of 2017 is one of the most destructive laws I’ve ever seen in Congress. Trump and the Republicans stole from the middle class to give a fat tax cut to big business executives. New Jersey and other states did the right thing in seeking to work around the devastating hit and Trump’s IRS blocked us in an act of pure vindictiveness. This measure will give needed tax relief to millions by telling the IRS what it can do with its spiteful regulations. My constituents pay enough. I’m proud to work with Reps. Sherrill and Gottheimer and my colleagues to give them tax fairness.”

The Republican tax scam law in 2017 capped the state and local tax deduction, stripping millions of Americans of a deduction that had existed for generations. In response, New Jersey and several other states enacted so-called workaround measures to blunt the effect of the onerous SALT cap. IRS regulations issued by Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s Treasury Department blocked those laws. Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), Congress has 60 legislative days to override a finalized regulation. This legislation would invoke the CRA to squash the IRS regulations blocking the states’ SALT relief laws.

In January 2018, Pascrell stood with then-Gov.-elect Phil Murphy (D-NJ) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05) in support of state plans to work around the SALT cap. Rep. Pascrell has been a leading a critic in Congress of the Republican tax scam and has repeatedly assailed the capping of the SALT deduction. Pascrell is the lead sponsor of H.R. 1142, the bipartisan Stop the Attack on Local Taxpayers Act of 2019, which would remove the SALT cap. It is currently cosponsored by 45 House members. Companion Senate legislation, S. 437, is sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and currently cosponsored by 13 senators.

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