Tensions Rise Btwn Cuomo & Schumer Over Repeal of State & Local Deductions

By: Jared Evan

With NY Senator Chuck Schumer becoming the Senate majority leader, after the January 5th Georgia runoffs brought the Democrat Party a narrow majority, Cuomo is expecting some action from his fellow NY lawmaker and has his agenda set.

Last week at Cuomo’s annual budget message the governor included a demand that the White House and Congress, repeal Trump’s changes to SALT, as the state and local tax deductions are known. NY state officials claim removing the change to the Trump era SALT rules would return $12.3 billion annually to New Yorkers.

In carefully parsed words Cuomo called on Schumer to work on repealing the Trump changes to the SALT deductions. Cuomo said, “I believe Washington will be fair,” and later called Schumer “not just a friend of New York; a New Yorker.”.

At the end of Cuomo’s presentation, he praised former NY Senator D’Amato for blocking the proposed SALT deduction by the Reagan administration in the 1980’s. The governor said “then, Republican Senator Al D’Amato stopped it because he thought it was unfair.”

D’Amato was defeated by Schumer in 1998 after serving for 3 terms and almost 20 years.

The state and local tax (SALT) deduction previously was one of the largest federal tax expenditures, with an estimated revenue cost of $100.9 billion in fiscal year 2017. The estimated revenue cost for fiscal year 2019 dropped to $21.2 billion because the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) significantly increased standard deduction amounts (thereby reducing the number of taxpayers who will itemize deductions) and capped the total SALT deduction at $10,000, according to Tax Policy Center. The law changed for the 2018 tax season.

Upper Middle Class and the wealthy benefit most from the SALT deduction.

In 2017, 76 percent for tax filers with income between $100,000 and $200,000 and over 90 percent of tax filers with income above $200,000, claimed the SALT deductions. Tax filers with income above $100,000 were 18 percent of all tax filers but accounted for about 78 percent of the total dollar amount of SALT deductions reported. The average claim in this group was of about $22,000, according to IRS data.

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Both Schumer and Cuomo opposed the SALT restriction, but the senate majority leader is now on the spot to try to undo it, the NY Post reported. NY Newsday reported that while Schumer agrees with the governor but has said repealing the loss of the SALT deduction – “won’t be easy.”

The NY Post reported:

The Cuomo and Schumer camps sought to downplay any tensions.

“We each have our role to play and perform to deliver for the people of New York,” said Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi.

Schumer spokesman Angelo Roefaro said, “Senator Schumer and Governor Cuomo are working very closely together to deliver additional aid to New York.”