The Stefanik factor in the SALT deal

Politico

22-05-2025

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With help from Cris Seda Chabrier
NEW YORK MINUTE: Mayoral contender Adrienne Adams is delivering a major campaign speech this morning at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.
The address will be dubbed 'a speech for my father' to honor the City Council speaker's father, who died of Covid. It comes a day after she announced she expects to qualify for matching funds — something that must be determined by the city's Campaign Finance Board.
Frontrunner Andrew Cuomo ran his first TV ad this week on his handling of Covid — a saga is being probed by the Department of Justice. On the campaign trail, Adams has criticized Cuomo's management of the pandemic. — Jeff Coltin
UPSALT NEW YORK: Rep. Elise Stefanik has had a foot in each camp mired in the tense talks over raising the state and local tax deduction limit — and advancing President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.'
What came next was the late Tuesday deal quadrupling the current SALT limit, the $40,000 number she had been pitching. The revised megabill cleared a procedural hurdle overnight in Congress and was gliding to a final House vote early this morning.
She's a SALT Republican, one of the blue-state House members withholding their votes in exchange for a significantly increased cap. She's in House leadership and has Speaker Mike Johnson's ear. And she's closely allied with Trump, staying loyal even after he yanked her nomination to be his ambassador to the United Nations.
Additionally, the North County lawmaker is an 'OG SALT Republican,' one of the few members still in Congress who voted against Trump's sweeping 2017 legislation capping the deduction at $10,000.
And so, Stefanik worked all the sides to help get them onboard the $40,000 limit now at the center of the SALT agreement.
She met with Trump Tuesday at the White House after the president visited the U.S. Capitol to demand progress on his megabill — and lace into SALT holdout Rep. Mike Lawler. (Stefanik and Lawler are potential candidates for New York governor next year, with a new poll showing she's competitive against Gov. Kathy Hochul.)
Stefanik then declined to sign a post-meeting statement by moderates Lawler, Reps. Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino and others saying they respect the president but want more SALT relief for blue 'donor states' that offset 'so-called fiscally responsible red states.'
What came next was the late Tuesday deal quadrupling the current SALT limit, the $40,000 number she had been pitching.
'Chairwoman Elise Stefanik's leadership was critical in helping to lead negotiations with the New York Republican delegation, the White House and House Republicans to pass significant tax cuts to hardworking New Yorkers,' her senior adviser Alex deGrasse told Playbook in a statement.
It's also a relative victory for Lawler, LaLota and Garbarino, the faces of the long-running fight and the core New York Republicans who held their ground. The proposal also limits the new cap to taxpayers making less than $500,000.
But New York Democrats aren't letting SALT Republicans forget that they sought a much, much higher deduction cap, including $100,000 in January.
Hochul slammed the GOP on X, saying they 'caved again,' then scoffed Wednesday when reporters asked about Stefanik's leadership in the talks.
Lawler and Stefanik hit back at the governor they may seek to unseat, both blaming her party for high taxes in the state.
'Albany Democrats must reduce spending,' Lawler posted on X, 'or else there might be new leadership in town in 2026.'
DeGrasse said, 'Because of Kathy Hochul and New York Democrats' failed tax-and-spend policies, Elise Stefanik and fellow New York Republican colleagues stepped up to do what Democrats have failed to do: actually cut taxes for New Yorkers.' — Emily Ngo
IT'S THURSDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
WHERE'S KATHY? In Albany and New York City with no public schedule.
WHERE'S ERIC? Public schedule unavailable as of 10 p.m. Wednesday.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'Say my name, say my name. It's Letitia James, and my candidate is Adrienne Adams.' — State Attorney General Letitia James after her nemesis Andrew Cuomo included her in a campaign ad that highlighted their shared plight of being under investigation by the Trump administration.
ABOVE THE FOLD
HER FIRST ENDORSEMENT: First in Playbook, Hochul has received the endorsement of EMILY's List a year before she'll run for a second term.
The group is not yet committing fundraising or resources to Hochul a year before a potential Democratic primary. The backing is the first formal endorsement of the cycle for the governor, whose race next year will be shaped by Trump 2.0 politics.
'As Trump and his billionaire cronies work overtime to wreak havoc on the economy and working families, her steady, trailblazing leadership has put money back in New Yorkers' pockets,' EMILY's List President Jessica Mackler said. 'We know she'll continue putting New Yorkers first — and we're proud to stand with her in this fight.'
The group backs Democratic women who support abortion rights — substantially narrowing the field of potential candidates in the New York governor's race. Two men, Rep. Ritchie Torres and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, are eyeing a primary challenge. They both support abortion rights.
Hochul made abortion a central issue when she ran for a full term in 2022, following the Supreme Court overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Her Republican opponent, Rep. Lee Zeldin, ran almost exclusively on a public safety platform, a message that polls showed resonated with voters. Zeldin came within 6 points of unseating Hochul that year.
The calculus will be different next year for the governor, who has middling approval ratings.
Next year is shaping up to be a Trump backlash year in deep blue New York. The Republican president has a 59 percent unfavorable rating with New York voters, a Siena College poll this week found.
That sets up Hochul to run on a more unabashedly on an anti-Trump platform, one that will likely include a defense of abortion rights. But she's also nodded to those crime concerns, tackling several high-profile public safety issues in her budget this year. — Nick Reisman
CITY HALL: THE LATEST
COMPTROLLER COASTER: City Council Member Justin Brannan brags about standing up to Mayor Eric Adams in his first TV ads in the primary for comptroller. When he's not talking tough, he takes a spin on the carousel at Coney Island too.
First in Playbook, the Brookyln Democrat has booked $120,000 worth of airtime during Knicks games for a pair of 30-second ads and has committed to spending more than $500,000 on broadcast, cable and digital platforms in just the first week, Brannan's campaign said in a press release.
One ad featuring the Wonder Wheel, the Cyclone and other Coney Island icons in Brannan's southern Brooklyn district presents him as the brash, 'working class,' tattooed guy who 'said 'hell no!' to (Adams') school cuts' as Council finance chair. It's a stark contrast from the first TV ad from Brannan's top opponent Mark Levine, presenting as an erudite family man speaking five languages.
The second ad has iconically-accented New Yorkers stumping in a taxi, a diner and a bodega saying 'bulldog Brannan' is 'the only in the race that took on Eric Adams' cuts.'
Levine 'has consistently and effectively opposed Mayor Adams' harmful budget cuts' his spokesperson Annabel Lassally said, sharing a list of times the Manhattan borough president too pushed back. — Jeff Coltin
TRANS EQUITY: LGBTQ advocates are calling on Eric Adams and the Council to triple funding for organizations serving transgender New Yorkers from $3.25 million to $10 million, and to devote $15 million to gender-affirming care.
The New York City Trans & Queer Provider Advocacy Coalition is rallying on the City Hall steps today ahead of the Council's budget hearing on hospitals, and a week before the beginning of a Pride Month. Corporate donors have been reducing involvement, fearing retribution from the Trump administration, The New York Times reports. — Jeff Coltin
More from the city:
— The fed's files on Eric Adams revealed an alleged influence campaign by Uzbekistan that yielded election cash. (THE CITY)
— Thirteen City Council members denounced the cancellation of SummerStage shows by R&B singer Kehlani and rapper Noname as a 'blatant act of artistic censorship.' (amNewYork)
— Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani trashed Barack Obama as 'pretty damn evil' in a series of resurfaced tweets in 2013 when he was in college. (New York Post)
NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY
PRISON PLATFORM: State Inspector General Lucy Lang will host a panel discussion next month on the 10-year anniversary of the infamous Dannemora prison break.
The June 11 talk at the Rockefeller Institute of Government — which will feature former State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico, ex-Corrections Commissioner Anthony Annucci and reporter Keshia Clukey — comes at a fragile moment for the state prison system.
A month-long wildcat strike by corrections officers and inmate deaths have spurred calls for reform. Hochul has pledged unspecified changes, and will close three prisons this year. Lefty criminal justice advocates are pressing her to back bills that would expand parole.
The 2015 prison break of convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat led to a three-week manhunt that captivated the country. Lang's predecessor wrote a 150-page report documenting the multiple internal failures at the prison, which ultimately became the premise for a Showtime miniseries. — Nick Reisman
More from Albany:
— State lawmakers are targeting Zyn's loyalty reward programs after failing to ban the product. (City & State)
— A long-shot GOP bill for colleges to combat antisemitism was blocked. (New York Post)
— Hochul unveiled the next steps for the $200 million infusion of state money for the city of Albany. (Times Union)
KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION
NEUTRAL ON NODS: Reps. Tom Suozzi and George Latimer represent small portions of New York City, but neither plans to endorse in the Democratic primary for mayor, they told Playbook.
Latimer, who represents parts of Westchester County and the Bronx, said no candidates reached out seeking his nod. Suozzi, whose district includes Nassau County and eastern Queens, said he 'probably' won't back a candidate for mayor. They both live in the suburban sides of their districts.
Latimer's predecessor, Jamaal Bowman, backed Scott Stringer in 2021, then rescinded his endorsement and later expressed regret about it. Bowman, voted out of office last year, is now with Zohran Mamdani.
Suozzi backed Eric Adams in 2021 and was even floated as a potential deputy mayor. He was among those in the New York congressional delegation who urged Cuomo to resign as governor in 2021, though that hasn't stopped others who joined the call — Reps. Ritchie Torres, Greg Meeks and Adriano Espaillat — from endorsing the frontrunner this cycle.
Among the House members who do plan to endorse in the primary, Reps. Yvette Clarke, Grace Meng and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are still weighing who they'll back. — Emily Ngo
More from Congress:
— How the Republican megabill goes after state Medicaid. (POLITICO)
— Senate Republicans blocked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's bill taking aim at Trump's deal with Qatar to accept a luxury jet as the next Air Force One. (The Hill)
— Ocasio-Cortez is reintroducing her bill to provide civil recourse for survivors of nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes. (Rolling Stone)
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
— A small deer wandered around the Upper West Side. (New York Post)
— A former state trooper accused of purposefully shooting himself pleaded guilty to multiple charges. (Newsday)
— State lawmakers and Hochul are clashing over a legislative fix to a popular Medicaid homecare program. (Spectrum News)
SOCIAL DATA
MEDIAWATCH: Amanda Hayes Roarkis now a booking producer for Bloomberg Television's 'Balance of Power.' She previously was a booking producer for MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.'
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Assemblymember Harry Bronson … Dan Slippen of the American Museum of Natural History … former state Sen. Kenneth LaValle … former Assemblymember Ronald Canestrari … Families Against Mandatory Minimums's Daniel Landsman … Sarah Sanchala … Airbnb's Jay Carney … Treasury's Jillian Lane Wyant … Julie Orsini of Prosek Partners … former Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) … Richard Keil ... Joe Pompeo … Jon Ward … Lauryn Higgins … Stephanie Anderson … Hallie Golden … (WAS WEDNESDAY): Seth Klarman ... Thomas Allon ... Amy Waldman ... Rabbi Yehuda Sarna
Missed Wednesday's New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.