Latest news with #NickLaLota
Wall Street Journal
27-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
How SALT Pits the Rich vs. Poor in New York
In your editorial 'The GOP's SALT Deal Folly' (May 22), you rightly criticize House Republicans from New York for securing an increase in the state-and-local tax deduction. The giveaway, you note, will subsidize 'profligate Democratic-run states.' But SALT isn't merely a red vs. blue issue; it also pits the poor against the rich. New York is a perfect example. Internal Revenue Service data for 2022 shows that New York is home to five of the top 50 congressional districts with the most taxpayers affected by SALT. Rep. Mike Lawler's district ranks 29th, and Rep. Nick LaLota's 39th. But New York also has four poor districts that have among the fewest taxpayers affected by SALT. Ranking 422nd is Rep. Ritchie Torres's district in the Bronx, which had an average income of $36,265 in 2022. The average income in Mr. Lawler's district was $144,270.
E&E News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
‘Lot of folks jockeying': House rushes to finalize megabill
Hard-line House conservatives have spent days calling for a more aggressive repeal of the Democrats' 2022 climate law, trying to stiff-arm a bloc of moderates who have spent months signaling an interest in saving a range of clean energy incentives. Everyone is about to find out which camp will claim victory. 'There are a lot of folks jockeying for a position right now,' said moderate Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), noting recent meetings between House leaders and the far-right House Freedom Caucus. 'And I think the details of some of those discussions are being floated amongst folks who might not see the world in the same way.' Advertisement He said he had seen some potential changes to more aggressively scrap the Inflation Reduction Act — worth hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy tax breaks in all — but declined to opine on language that's not yet public.
Fox News
19-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Conservative rips blue state Republican's proposal to raise taxes on wealthy in SALT debate
EXCLUSIVE: A conservative Republican said he's opposed to his moderate colleague's proposal for a modest tax hike on high-income earners, as GOP lawmakers continue to navigate divisions over President Donald Trump's "one big, beautiful bill." "Well, think about that — higher taxes to pay for something that is pretty much self-inflicted by all the states that don't have their financials in order," Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Fox News Digital on Sunday. It comes as various House Republican factions are locked in high-stakes debates on taxes, Medicaid, and green energy subsidies while crafting Trump's wide-ranging bill. Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., suggested over the weekend that increasing the top tax bracket to a 39.6% income tax rate rather than 37% could help pay for higher deduction caps for state and local taxes (SALT). The 39.6% rate refers to the top income tax bracket before it was lowered by Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). SALT deduction caps primarily benefit people living in high-cost-of-living areas like New York City, Los Angeles, and their surrounding suburbs. Republicans representing those areas, including LaLota, have argued that raising the SALT deduction cap is an existential issue — and that a failure to address it could cost the GOP the House majority in the 2026 midterms. Several of the Republicans vying for higher SALT deduction caps have pointed out that their victories are critical to the party retaining control of the House in 2024. SALT deduction caps did not exist before TCJA, which notably instilled a $10,000 ceiling for married and single tax filers. "The One Big Beautiful Bill has stalled—and it needs wind in its sails. Allowing the top tax rate to expire—returning from 37% to 39.6% for individuals earning over $609,350 and married couples earning over $731,200—breathes $300 billion of new life into the effort," LaLota wrote on X. "It's a fiscally responsible move that reflects the priorities of the new Republican Party: protect working families, address the deficit, fix the unfair SALT cap, and safeguard programs like Medicaid and SNAP—without raising taxes on the middle class." But Republicans in lower-tax states are largely wary of significant increases to those caps, believing them to incentivize blue states' high-tax policies. "People with money invest, and to tax them more — history has been, when you tax the other upper 1% more, you know, the economy does worse," Norman argued. "More taxes don't make sense to me." The current legislation would increase the SALT deduction cap from $10,000 to $30,000, but a majority of Republicans in the House SALT Caucus rejected the deal. LaLota and others have contended it's not enough for middle-class families in their districts. "My party's $30K cap proposal only makes 4 in 5 households whole. That's not enough. On [Long Island], $250K isn't rich—it barely covers the basics. Too many families pay over $15K in property taxes & get left out. I'm fighting for a higher cap. Wish me luck," he said on X. But while tax hike proposals targeting wealthy Americans were part of Republicans' negotiations at an earlier point, any such effort appears to have been all but definitively stamped out. House GOP leadership aides signaled to reporters on Monday morning that such a tax hike would not be in the final bill, pointing to Speaker Mike Johnson's comments on the matter. Johnson, R-La., said on The Will Cain Show late last month that he was "not in favor of raising the tax rates, because our party is the group that stands against that, traditionally." But nevertheless, the differing viewpoints underscore the divisions that Republicans still have to navigate ahead of their planned House-wide vote on Trump's bill later this week. Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process to advance Trump's priorities on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt via one massive bill. Budget reconciliation lowers the Senate's threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, thereby allowing the party in power to skirt the minority — in this case, Democrats — to pass sweeping pieces of legislation, provided they deal with the federal budget, taxation or the national debt. Republican leaders want to have a final bill on the president's desk by Fourth of July. Fox News Digital reached out to LaLota's office for comment on Norman's remarks but did not immediately hear back.
Wall Street Journal
18-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
How SALT Republicans Help Big Taxers
The SALT Republicans are getting more outrageous. Their latest gambit is to propose higher tax rates across the country, so they can extort a bigger state and local tax deduction for Democrats who run New York state. 'The One Big Beautiful Bill has stalled—and it needs wind in its sails. Allowing the top tax rate to expire—returning from 37% to 39.6% for individuals earning over $609,350 and married couples earning over $731,200—breathes $300 billion of new life into the effort,' tweeted Rep. Nick LaLota, who represents Long Island, on Saturday. The bill has stalled because conservatives for good reason want more spending restraint, including more substantive Medicaid reforms and a faster phase-out of green energy tax credits. Meantime, blue-state Republicans like Mr. LaLota are threatening to hold the bill hostage for a bigger SALT payday. Mr. LaLota wants to raise taxes on high earners in places like Florida and Texas, which don't impose a state income tax, to subsidize high tax-and-spending states like his own. The House Ways and Means bill lifts the SALT cap to $30,000 from $10,000 for couples earning up to $400,000. But Mr. LaLota and sidekick Mike Lawler want an even bigger SALT deduction to help the affluent whacked by Andrew Cuomo's 2021 tax hikes on earners making more than $1,077,550. Mr. Cuomo may have felt free to soak his state's rich because he expected the tax pain to be mitigated by Democrats in Congress who promised to restore the deduction in full. 'I want to tell you this: If I become majority leader, one of the first things I will do is we will eliminate it forever,' New York Sen. Chuck Schumer promised in 2020. 'It will be dead, gone and buried.' So much for that. Despite controlling Washington for two years, Democrats preserved the $10,000 SALT cap. It's bizarre that Mr. LaLota and company want to enable profligate tax-and-spending by Democrats in Albany. The state's recently enacted budget includes checks up to $400 for some eight million residents, an increase in the maximum child tax credit to $1,000 from $330, and many other vote-buying subsidies. Albany Democrats say they are giving tax relief with these handouts even while they extended the Cuomo tax rates and refused to adjust income tax brackets for inflation, which is an annual stealth tax increase. They also increased payroll taxes on employers to fund the state's broken mass transit. Why should Americans in fiscally responsible states subsidize irresponsible ones like New York?
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A GOP congressman says raising taxes on top earners would help push Trump's 'big beautiful bill' forward
GOP Rep. Nick LaLota wants to see top earners pay a higher tax rate. LaLota said Saturday that the idea would help push Trump's "big beautiful bill" forward. The GOP-led tax and immigration package — if it passes — could define Trump's second term. A GOP congressman said on Saturday that raising the top tax rate for high earners could help President Donald Trump's massive tax and immigration package get the votes it needs. "The One Big Beautiful Bill has stalled — and it needs wind in its sails," Rep. Nick LaLota said on X. "Allowing the top tax rate to expire — returning from 37% to 39.6% for individuals earning over $609,350 and married couples earning over $731,200 — breathes $300 billion of new life into the effort." LaLota said that his proposal would be fiscally prudent and could be done "without raising taxes on the middle class." The New York congressman has suggested that the money generated from raising taxes on high earners could protect Medicaid and "fix" the cap on the so-called SALT deduction. A SALT deduction allows taxpayers to deduct their state and local tax payments. Since 2018, however, there's been a $10,000 limit on those deductions. LaLota is among several New York Republicans who are seeking a higher limit so taxpayers can deduct more. The GOP-led bill proposes raising the cap to $30,000 for taxpayers who earn $400,000 or less. LaLota wants to see the SALT cap set at $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers. Hardline conservatives on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, believe the tax bill should include more spending reductions, arguing that it doesn't go far enough in cutting into the nation's budget deficit. On Friday, five Republicans on the House Budget Committee joined Democrats to tank a procedural vote that would have advanced the "one big beautiful bill." House GOP leaders are working through the weekend to put together a deal that could pass in a Sunday night committee vote. They're still aiming to pass the bill on the House floor by Memorial Day, but the failed vote was a big setback for both Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson. On Friday, Trump urged GOP unity on the bill in a post on TruthSocial. "Republicans MUST UNITE behind, 'THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!'" he said. "We don't need 'GRANDSTANDERS' in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!" Conservatives have long advocated for tax cuts for higher earners. However, in recent weeks, Trump has seemingly opened the door to raising taxes on rich Americans to help fund the tax bill, a significant development for a GOP president. Earlier in May, Trump said on Truth Social that he'd "graciously accept" a small increase on the top tax rate for millionaires but conceded it would present risks for his party. "Republicans should probably not do it, but I'm OK if they do!!!" he said. Read the original article on Business Insider
