New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for Congress to include in a federal stimulus bill a provision that repeals the $10,000 state and local tax deduction cap.
Speaking during an April 11 briefing on the pandemic, Cuomo said repealing the SALT cap enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would help New York and the other states most affected by revenue shortfalls related to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also noted that reopening the nation’s economy would be improbable without “the engine of the New York metropolitan area.”
According to a March 17 letter to Cuomo, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli (D) estimated that tax revenue in fiscal 2021 will be at least $4 billion below the $87.9 billion projections included in the executive budget.
Cuomo called the SALT cap “gratuitous, offensive, and illegal” during the briefing and said the provision targeted particular states, including New York, California, and Michigan.
Cuomo also criticized the SALT cap during his January 8 State of the State address and urged the U.S. Senate to overturn it.
Cuomo’s office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in late March floated the idea of retroactively lifting the SALT cap, but the idea was met with criticism that it would mostly benefit the highest-income earners.