Rep. Frelinghuysen Only NJ Congressman To Vote Yes To Tax Reform

WAYNE, NJ — Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is the only New Jersey congressman who voted in favor of the Republican-backed budget plan working its way through Congress.

The 10-year, $1.5 trillion tax cut legislation is President Donald Trump's highest priority. The Senate passed the measure last week, and the House endorsed it without any changes, a move designed to allow Republicans to move quickly to the tax measure in hopes of passing it into law this year with just a simple majority, rather than a two-thirds vote.

"I voted for the budget resolution in the House to get my Appropriations bills done. My 12 bills are complete and through the House. Every member got their vote on them and I'll get mine on tax reform," Frelinghuysen, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement issued Friday. "The reality is that passage of the budget resolution was procedurally necessary to allow the House and the Senate to complete the Fiscal year 2018 Appropriations process."

At the center of the debate is the provision that eliminates people's ability to deduct their state and local taxes (SALT) from the income taxes — a move that has garnered significant criticism from New Jerseyans as they are some of the people who could be hurt the most by the legislation, Bloomberg reported.

Frelinghuysen said tax reform is "long overdue," but also acknowledged that many New Jerseyans depend on the SALT deductions, which are "critical for New Jersey."

"I will carefully evaluate any potential changes to SALT, along with other deductions, before I vote on any tax reform legislation," Frelinghuysen said.

The budget plan calls for $5 trillion in spending cuts over the decade, including cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and the Obama-era health care law, though Republicans have no plans to actually impose those cuts with follow-up legislation. Some Democrats criticized the measure for ruthless spending cuts; others took the opposite approach, failing it for tackling the deficit.

Frelinghuysen was quick to point the finger across the political aisle about the plan.

“The Democrats want to stop the debate on tax reform because they don't want to lower tax rates for families or for businesses," Frelinghuysen said. "They want bigger government and more spending."

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Photo: Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen/Official congressional picture