Rep. Frelinghuysen Votes Against Tax Reform Bill

NORTH JERSEY, NJ — In a somewhat stunning reversal, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11th) voted against the controversial tax reform bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as it is formally called, passed the U.S. House of Representatives 227 to 205, C-SPAN reported. All but 13 Republican representatives voted in favor of the legislation. Every Democrat say for two voted against it.

"I simply could not support the legislation due to very negative impacts it would have on so many of my fellow New Jerseyans," Frelinghuysen said.

Frelinghuysen, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, voted in favor of a budget resolution last month that paved the way for the legislation to be passed, along with its proposal to ax the state and local tax deduction (SALT) that saves the average New Jersey family thousands of dollars a year. He was the only Republican New Jersey member of Congress to do so.

"This measure unfairly limited the SALT deduction, which is vital to many families," Frelinghuysen said in a statement Thursday afternoon. "These changes will certainly erode property values, one of the most important financial assets for many New Jerseyans. These provisions alone could do much damage to the business climate in our state, a trend we must never tolerate, let alone encourage."

Some experts said that cutting the SALT deduction would cost the average New Jersey resident thousands of dollars a year.

The 11-term congressman said he is also opposed to the elimination of the medical expense deduction the legislation proposes.

Last month he said he voted in favor of the budget plan to get his Appropriations bills "done," something he said was "procedurally necessary" to allow the House and Senate to complete the Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriations process.

The 10-year 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.

RELATED: Frelinghuysen's Vote On Tax Reform Sparks Outrage In New Jersey
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Photo: Republican Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11th)/Image courtesy of Congressman Frelinghuysen, background image via Shutterstock