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Representative Nick LaLota, third from left, was among 16 Congressional Republicans to visit President-elect Trump last weekend, where raising the cap on state and local tax deductions was among the topics discussed. LALOTA FOR CONGRESS
U.S. Representative Nick LaLota of New York’s 1st Congressional District said this week that he is confident that the cap on state and local tax deductions will be raised under President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday, January 20.
LaLota and Representative Andrew Garbarino of the state’s 2nd District were among 16 Republicans from the New York, New Jersey and California delegations who visited Trump last weekend at Mar a Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. They discussed issues including the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT.
The deduction was capped at $10,000 in the Republican-led tax overhaul of 2017, during Trump’s first term, amounting to a tax increase for many 1st District residents, where property values and taxes are higher than in many American communities. It is set to expire after this year.
During an hourslong meeting with Trump and staffers on Saturday evening, January 11, “we talked about issues important to the state, including SALT,” LaLota said. “I am very confident there will be an increase in the cap.”
In a January 2 message to constituents, LaLota emphasized his desire to raise the cap, decrying “the disproportionate tax burden on Long Islanders.” In 2025, he wrote, “I will vigorously advocate for a significant increase in the SALT deduction to help alleviate the financial pressure on our families and foster a healthier economic environment.”
According to published reports, the incoming administration has proposed increasing the cap from $10,000 to $20,000 for married couples who, like individual filers, can presently deduct $10,000. LaLota has said that such an increase would be insufficient.
In a January 8 statement, Governor Kathy Hochul blamed state Republicans for inaction on a repeal of the SALT cap.
“The New York Republican delegation owes middle-class New Yorkers a full repeal of the SALT cap,” she said. “This cap has cost New Yorkers as much as $12 billion every year since it took effect in 2018, robbing middle-class families of their hard-earned money.
“Republicans have drained billions directly from the pockets of their own constituents, and now it’s time for them to deliver,” the governor continued. “No excuses. No half measures. It’s all or nothing — New Yorkers deserve a full repeal.”
Following the meeting on Saturday, LaLota took to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, writing that Trump “committed to addressing the high state and local taxes resulting from one-party rule in NY. I remain optimistic that we’ll find affordable solutions for the middle class!”
In a September interview, LaLota said that “some of my red-state colleagues think [SALT] is a subsidy to the largesse of blue states like this, and they’re not totally wrong. We should do better as a state to tighten our belts and ensure that we’re not taxing, spending and regulating as much as we are here.
“But they’re wrong in the sense that New York is a donor state — that New York sends way more to the federal government than we get back. One of the ways that we make that right … is the state and local tax deduction.”
Trump, Lalota said in an interview this week, “did not walk away from his campaign promise to provide a fix for SALT. He recognizes how unaffordable life is for many of my constituents, and we want to be part of the solution.”
