Providing for Consideration of H.R. Salt Marriage Penalty Elimination Act; and Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Denouncing the Harmful, Anti-American Energy Policies of the Biden Administration

Floor Speech

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Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Speaker, let's add some honesty to the SALT conversation. I am from a blue State, and I am willing to concede to my red State colleagues especially that an increase in the SALT cap benefits blue States more than red States. There; I said it.

After all, it is the blue States with the highest State income taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. At 10.9 percent, my State, New York, has the dubious distinction of having the highest taxes in this great Nation of ours.

As bloated and out of control as my State's spending and taxes are under one-party Democrat rule, it cannot be said truthfully that red States are subsidizing the blue States. The data demonstrates the opposite actually, that blue States like mine are giving far more to Washington than we get back. The opposite is true, that many red States get far more from Washington than they give.

As you can see from this chart, the home States of many of my Republican colleagues shown in red, who say SALT is a subsidy to blue States, are, in fact, the States that get much more from Washington than they give, Mr. Speaker.

Here in this chart, you can see that New York gets one of the worst returns on investment of our Federal dollars. It is the blue line down there. Yet, many red States are at the top of this list whose taxpayers are getting much more from Washington than they are giving.

Mr. Speaker, States like New York are not asking for a bailout. We are simply asking to break even. Many of my colleagues are correct to say a large part of the problem starts in Albany. Sadly, I live in that reality, and I know better than to rely on Albany Democrats to try and improve the lives of the average New Yorker. Why do you think so many are fleeing my State for States like Texas and Florida? It is not just for the weather, Mr. Speaker.

Second, I want to address some serious intellectual dishonesty and rewriting of history by my Democrat colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats had complete control of Washington for 2 years, the House, the Senate, and the White House, yet they have never signed any SALT relief into law, even though they passed several massive omnibus and reconciliation bills. They failed their constituents and mine and embarrassed themselves and are now trying to blame blue State Republicans, even though we are clearly fighting tooth and nail to deliver some sort of relief.

When they had majorities and the White House, why didn't Speaker Pelosi and New York's own Leader Schumer take action to deal with this issue?

Mr. Speaker, this is a political talking point for Democrats but a serious policy item for me and my fellow New York Republicans. Restoring the SALT deduction is not just a matter of tax policy for Long Island families. It is a crucial step toward ensuring economic fairness, supporting the middle class, and sustaining vibrant communities. The lack of a meaningful SALT deduction hurts my constituents, and we must address this injustice.

Since so many of my Democrat colleagues have been so passionate about this issue, I am sure they will have no issue, Mr. Speaker, voting to advance this legislation and voting in favor of the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support the combined rule.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ.

Give me a break, really. Republicans caused this problem. When Republicans were in complete control, they created the problem that that chart just highlighted. Everybody is paying for that. They created a problem where the middle class--I don't use that kind of language, but you know what I would have said--where the middle class really did not benefit, because they were prioritizing the rich. Now they are scolding us? You have to be kidding.

In 2019, when Democrats took control of the House, what did they do? They passed a fix to the SALT problem. It went over to the Senate, and Mitch McConnell killed it. The Senate, remember, was 50/50, so we needed 10 Republican votes to get things across. We needed 9 Republican votes. We needed Republican votes to get things over. Republicans were not willing to fix things over there.

Our priorities have always been the middle class. Their priorities were the rich, and that is why we have this problem in the first place.

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