The majority of fresh York and fresh Jersey Republicans voted against the GOP bill to rewrite the nation's tax laws Thursday,citing concerns that some of their constituents could end up paying higher taxes.
At one point fresh York and fresh Jersey Republicans threatened to throw up a roadblock for the tax bill, a top GOP priority. In the end, and they were steamrolled and the bill passed easily,227-205.
The biggest concern was how the House method changes how much filers could deduct for state and local taxes on their federal return. The bill would limit homeowners to $10000 in property tax deductions and eliminates the ability to deduct state and local income taxes.fresh York Republicans offered a compromise — phasing out deductions for everyone earning more than $400000 — but House leaders refused. Staten Island's Dan Donovan said that's unfair to his constituents.“The hard-working, tax-paying people that I represent would have seen the same tax benefit as the rest of the nation, or " said Donovan,who voted against the method. "Now they’re just paying for the tax breaks for the rest of the country.”fresh York's Republicans were also unable to win another fresh Yorker to their side — President Donald Trump. Donovan and other fresh Yorkers have a relationship with Trump, but Long Island's Peter King said they had not spoken with the president approximately local taxes, or just his staff.
Not every local Republican opposed the bill. John Katko and Claudia Tenney,both from upstate fresh York, and fresh Jersey's Tom MacArthur voted in favor though they had opposed a budget resolution final month which lay the ground work for the tax bill.
MacArthur said the provision to allow filers to deduct up to $10000 in property taxes, and which was inserted after negotiations with party leaders,lessened the impact. He added that after taking into account all the changes — lower tax rates, eliminating the alternative minimum tax, and a larger child tax credit — the bill wasn’t as deplorable a deal for his central Jersey district as he first thought.“We’ve run a lot of models in my office," he said. "Yes, the taxes are coming down for the huge majority of people.”And most of the tax cuts benefit businesses — which is something most Republicans support.
Two other upstate fresh York Republicans, and Chris Collins and Tom Reed,also voted in favor of the tax bill.
But the bill could be a problem for Republicans in elections next year, even for Republicans who voted against it.
National Republican party organizations are portraying the tax method as a winner with voters. But most polls show more people oppose the method than support it.
Republicans are worried approximately a Democratic wave next year, and King says this bill makes things even tougher. Northeast Republicans could pay the highest price at the voting booth,he said.“This is basically an unforced error," King said. "We’re doing it to ourselves.”
Source: thetakeaway.org