King Introduces Bill To Restore Property Tax Deductions

Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Seaford, teamed up with Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey, from Rye, to put forward a bill that would restore the State And Local Tax (SALT) deductions that were severely cut back in the Republican tax plan that passed in December.

Both King and Lowey voted against the Republican tax plan. King made it clear before the vote that the plan, which reduced the SALT deduction to $10,000, was a non-starter for him because of how it would hurt his constituents.

"Losing so much of the deduction for state income tax and local property taxes (SALT) will hurt many Long Island residents," King posted on Facebook. "We must keep up the fight. That is why yesterday I cosponsored bipartisan legislation with Congresswoman Nita Lowey to fully restore the full SALT deduction."

On Monday, King and Lowey proposed the Securing Access to Lower Taxes by Ensuring Deductibility Act, or the SALT Deductability Act. The bill would repeal the limitation that was placed on SALT deductions, and allow homeowners to deduct more of their property taxes again.

In a call with reporters, King acknowledged that the bill was a long shot and unlikely to be passed, Newsday reported. "There is not enough right now to pass this or get it to the House floor," King said. "But we’ll build whatever support we can, and then we can manage to move when we think it’s opportune to do so."

And even though the bill is unlikely to make it onto the House floor for a vote, let alone get passed, right now, the two Representatives still received praised for putting the bill forward.

"I often say that we are Democrats and we are Republicans, but we are New Yorkers first," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "Today Representatives Nita Lowey and Peter King came together in a bipartisan fashion and introduced legislation to fully restore the deductibility of state and local taxes. These members are doing what they were elected to do — protect New Yorkers. They showed that New York won't take this assault sitting down, and I will continue to do everything possible to right this economic injustice."

Photo: Peter King's Office