Malliotakis: Failure to Pass Tax Bill ‘Not An Option'

Bloomberg

20-05-2025

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00:00Look, I can't speak for my colleagues. I know that those who are in Long Island, Westchester County, they face higher property taxes than we do in my district. So, you know, I think, though, at some point you need to know what the best deal is and just take it. I think that it's not just the 30,000 that my constituents are going to benefit from. You know, a $30,000 deduction on salt not only covers 98% of my district, but it will put thousands of dollars into the pockets of my constituents, allowing them to keep more of their hard earned money. And then on top of that, you have the child tax credit, which doubled under Tcja, and we're going to add another $500, making it a 20 $500 per child tax credit for families with children. And if you're a senior citizen, $4,000 additional deduction, which will be roughly $6,000 total per senior citizen. So if you're a married couple, you're talking about $12,000 deduction. If you earn up to $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a married couple. And then it phases down when you're when you're up until when your salary gets to 175,000. Individual three 54,000 for a married couple. So it's a significant tax relief we're talking about for the middle class. And we need to get this bill done because not only would you see none of this stuff happen, the standard deduction will be cut in half. The child tax credit would be cut in half. All of these lower income tax brackets that every single American benefited from would actually then go back up, which, you know, we're talking about trillions of dollars in taxes, not just for individuals, but for businesses as well. And so it is it is critical that we come together and unite and pass this one beautiful bill, which, you know, is not just about the tax cuts, it's about border security, giving our agents the tools they need to do their job. The president said an amazing job securing our border and deporting criminals since he's taken office. But they need more resources. They need more manpower. And so this bill would also address that. And then also, really, when it comes to domestic energy, significant production, we'll see as a result of this bill as well. So it really is incredibly important for our economy that we get this done. Cannot allow a tax cut to expire or, by the way, a debt default, which would happen if we don't get the job done. Well, so congressman or Congresswoman, would it be correct to characterize your view here is it's more important for these members who come from swing districts to take advantage of the majority that Republicans currently have to get this bill passed rather than worry about extending that majority beyond 2026? Because that's their argument there in swing districts, if you want to hold onto the majority, they need to make sure they get a higher number here. Is that the wrong way to think about it now? Look, I think I think tripling the salt deduction is a huge win. If they can get it to quadruple to a $40,000 deduction, that is really significant and that is saving constituents across New York thousands of dollars. And so people will see this the result of this in 2026 when they do their taxes. They'll see that they're saving money not just because of a salt deduction or an increase in the standard deduction if they choose that. But because of the child tax credit, because of the senior bonus deduction and because of all the other job creating pro-growth policies and and in tax policy that will be in this bill. Look, bonus depreciation, interest deductibility, research and development 199 A these are all significant, incredibly significant provisions for our economy, for small businesses and large businesses alike. The corporate rate that is also very critical to our economy. Look at the tcja people know it was millions of jobs were created. You had millions of people lifted out of poverty. You're the lowest unemployment among African-Americans and Hispanics. It was significant. We never even saw the full potential, sadly, because of the COVID pandemic. But we can't let any of this expire. We need to not only extend it, make as many provisions as we can permanent, and then add the new the new provisions that President Trump promised on the campaign trail. And that's what this bill does. I don't know if you think the president's visit to Capitol Hill today will actually change minds, Congresswoman, but he was quoted in that meeting is to say, if you lose because of salt, you were going to lose anyway. And I wonder if you actually agree with the principle of that statement. Look, I don't think an election comes down to the salt deduction. And if you are tripling the deduction, you are winning for your constituents, you are delivering relief, you're delivering results. And that's that's what needs to be messaged out there. When you go back home again. I go back home and I'm I'm telling my constituents that not only are we tripling the deduction, 98% of our district will be covered if we're able to quadruple it, I'm sure all of my district will be covered. But I've always been focused in the middle class here. I've never been focused on, you know, the billionaires or the millionaires. And I think a majority of Congress has been focused on these middle class tax cuts. And that's what this that's what this bill does. And I think it may change. And I think what the next the next offer that comes out of the speaker's offer should be the one that is accepted because we need to move forward. We need to pass this bill before Memorial Day. We need to deliver these wins. Because if people see, look, if we do nothing, constituents will see a tax hike. That's the bottom line, and then you will lose an election. I say let's do what we can here. Significant relief for state and local taxes. And also let's hold our mayor and governor accountable. Let's remember the reason we need salt relief to begin with. We need it because our mayor, our governor, Kathy Hochul, the state legislature, the Democrats that run New York, are taxing New Yorkers to death. They could easily cut personal income tax rates just like President Trump did in 2017. They choose not to. They can easily cap property taxes. New York City is the only county. It's the only city municipality in New York that does not have a property tax cap. They choose not to. Instead, our mayor and the city council keep increasing the property tax levy year after year after year, hammering New Yorkers to waste their money on things like, you know, 12 billions of dollars for migrant shelters so criminals can wreak havoc on our streets. It is ludicrous. And so, you know, we as a community, as a city, have to also take responsibility and vote for people who don't do that to us. Congresswoman, of course, you are now satisfied on the salt issue, but that is one of the only outs or isn't the only outstanding issue still in these negotiations. You much earlier in this process. We're also one of the lawmakers who were raising concerns about cuts to Medicaid being too steep, going beyond waste, fraud and abuse to knowing there are still conservative holdouts who are pushing for changes, for example, to the federal share of Medicaid payments. Other changes, if the speaker were to acquiesce to some of those desires in order to secure those votes, does he risk losing yours? He'll lose a lot of votes if they choose to lower the percentage that New York or any other state receives in matching funds for our traditional Medicaid population. Right now, New York receives 50%. I made it very clear from the beginning that I will not support that being lowered and also the per capita caps on the traditional Medicaid. That is incredibly important, where New York could potentially kick in a little more, have a little more skin in the game is on the expansion where New York only pays 10%. The federal government picks 90% of the share. That I don't think is going to change. It could change, but that is very different than saying we're going to cut the 50% match that New York receives on the Medicaid. I fought very hard to make sure that that provision was left out, and many other members also want to see that out. So I don't I can't imagine that that would go in at this point. In this stage. I think we have the proper balance here on the Medicaid. We are focused on the fraud, waste and abuse. We're focused on making sure that the illegal immigrants do not benefit from our Medicaid dollars, and we are ensuring that there are work requirements for able bodied individuals without dependents who are of working age. That is very reasonable. It is supported by 75% or more of the country. So let's stick to the plan here. Let's focus on what we need to do. Let's get the job done this week and let's deliver this victory for not just the Republicans and President Trump, but for the entire country moving this ball forward. Well, you've framed this as an awfully important day here, Congresswoman. And if things are going to stay on track, it will need to be whether we get a deal on salt or some of the other concerns that we've talked about. I wonder if you've received any assurances from your colleagues who are members of the Freedom Caucus, a couple of them who serve on the Rules Committee. Any assurances that things are going to go smoothly at 1:00 in the morning when this bill hits rules and that anybody with some protest might use their time on the floor as opposed to committee, what's going to happen in the wee hours of the morning? Look, I hope I hope the bill gets passed and I would tell my colleagues is let's focus on incremental wins here. We're not going to get get everything we want all in this one bill. But this is significant. We're saving the American taxpayers money, making sure their money is being spent appropriately, not on waste, fraud and abuse. We're rooting that out. We're going to allow these these economy to thrive and build on the successes of the tax cut and jobs up to 2017, which we know is successful and was responsible for lifting wages and bringing people out of poverty and giving them jobs. And we cannot afford a $4 trillion tax hike on America. We have to get this done. And what I would also say is, look, we have a $37 trillion debt. Yes, we all want to address that, but we need to do it incrementally. This was created over four decades. Right. We're going to change it overnight. But whatever we can accomplish as a team, as a Republican United team, will be much better than if you have to work with the Democrats across the aisle. It'll be much more watered down and you won't get the wins that we have here because they don't believe in the tax cuts that we believe for the middle class. They have made it very clear that they would allow all these tax provisions to expire if they had control or they had their way. So let's work together. Let's do the best we can, fight as hard as you can for your district. But when it comes time to vote, you have to vote for it because we need to move this ball forward. And failure is just simply not an option.