RELEASE: Gottheimer Fights Against Red Moocher States to Restore SALT Deduction and Lower Taxes

Above: Gottheimer launches new SALT portal as fight gears up with Red Moocher States to restore SALT deduction.

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Today, Monday, September 9, 2024, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced a new effort to fight back against Red ‘Moocher’ States attempting to extend the SALT cap and raise taxes on Jersey families. 

Gottheimer launched a new comment portal (https://gottheimer.house.gov/salt) on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction and urged North Jersey residents to submit their feedback on SALT’s importance. Gottheimer, Co-Chair of the bipartisan SALT Caucus, has worked around-the-clock to lower taxes for Jersey families and restore the SALT deduction, ahead of the 2017 Tax Hike Bill’s expiration in fifteen months.

Video of Gottheimer’s remarks here. 

In 2017, Red State Moochers jammed through the Tax Hike Bill, which capped the SALT deduction at $10,000. Since the cap was instituted, Gottheimer and his colleagues on both sides of the aisle have passed four bills through the House to restore the SALT deduction. Ahead of the Tax Hike Bill’s expiration in 2025, Gottheimer is developing a plan to restore SALT and he needs Jersey residents’ feedback to help underscore the importance of SALT.

Please submit a comment here by October 4, 2024 on the importance of SALT to you, your family, and your community. 

The Importance of the SALT Deduction in North Jersey

• The SALT deduction has been around since 1913, helping Jersey families avoid double taxation for more than a hundred years.
• In 2017, the average SALT deduction taken in New Jersey was $19,000, nearly double the current cap, and $24,000 in Bergen County. The deduction put thousands of dollars back into the pockets of hardworking Jersey’s middle-income families.
• Since the cap was instituted, middle class families in Sussex, Bergen, and Passaic Counties have paid anywhere from $2,500 to $14,000 or more in taxes. 
• Because of increased taxes, Jersey ranks 37th in the country for cost of living and eighth in outmigration, with families and businesses citing affordability and taxes as their chief reasons for departing. 
• Restoring the SALT deduction will help more than three million Jersey families — a third of the state’s residents, eighty percent of whom make less than $218,000 a year.

“As you know, I never back down from a fight and when it comes to restoring SALT, and getting tax cuts for our hardworking Jersey families, the fight isn’t finished just yet. In fact, the starting gun just went off again – and the fight to restore SALT is back front and center,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “Thankfully, we may soon be able to put an end to this SALT nightmare. Please go to my website, ‘Gottheimer.House.Gov/SALT,’ and leave your comments about how the SALT cap has affected you, your family, and your small businesses. We’ll accept comments through October 4, 2024, and make them part of the comprehensive SALT Plan we are preparing to release this fall. I’d love these comments to fill a wheelbarrow, so we can show just how overwhelming a consensus there is behind SALT to those Red Moocher States.”

“We’re here for a very, very important reason. Our Congressman Josh Gottheimer is fighting every day to restore the SALT tax deduction that has hit New Jersey and Ridgewood so especially hard. This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democrat issue. This is a New Jersey issue,” said Ridgewood Mayor Paul Vagianos. “We need Josh to keep fighting for us, and we’re so happy that he does. We are proud of him every day, and we want to support him in everything he does on this because it means so much to every working family in New Jersey.”

“This gentleman is a treasure for the state of New Jersey. I’ve known Josh since he first started in Congress, and I’ve seen what he’s done. We have no higher-profile federal legislator in the state than Congressman Gottheimer. He’s done a lot of great things for the state, the country, as the Mayor said, we are, in his opinion, which I wouldn’t disagree with in the greatest city in New Jersey, but this is the greatest state in the country,” said President and CEO of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce Tom Bracken. “What we do not need is for the federal government to shoot us in the other foot. That’s one of the things the SALT cap does. It penalizes the state. It penalizes the citizens. It drives people and businesses out of the state.”

“Thank you to Congressman Gottheimer. We are so lucky to have him. He is so active, and he cares so much about the state of New Jersey and the people that live here. And then, the next thing that I’m going to talk about is one of the most important things that he’s working on, and it’s something that really affects all of us in a very big way,” said North Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Carol Rausher. “People in North Jersey rely on state and local taxes — and the deduction to make life more affordable. I’m here today to talk about the people that are on a fixed income like myself and people that are going to be on a fixed income. We should be very concerned. They are looking at the money they’re going to have when they retire, and they’re saying, ‘Oh my goodness, look at these taxes in Jew Jersey,’ I can’t live here.”

At today’s event, Gottheimer was joined by Ridgewood Mayor Paul Vagianos, Ridgewood Deputy Mayor Pamela Perron, President and CEO of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce Tom Bracken, President of North Jersey Chamber of Commerce Carol Rausher, President Fair Lawn Chamber of Commerce Stella Lemberg, and Member of the Fair Lawn Chamber of Commerce Ryan Greff.

Below: Gottheimer launches new SALT portal as fight gears up to restore SALT deduction.

Gottheimer’s remarks as prepared for delivery: 

Good morning, everyone. It’s great to be back in Ridgewood with Mayor Vagianos and our stellar local business leaders at the salt shed to discuss, you guessed it, the other SALT, the State and Local Tax Deduction. These are the main two salts we care about here in Jersey with garlic salt and salted bagels as close runners-up.

As you know, I never back down from a fight and when it comes to restoring SALT and getting tax cuts for our hardworking Jersey families, the fight isn’t finished just yet. In fact, the starting gun just went off again – and the fight to restore SALT is back front and center. It’s shirts versus skins. Red States versus Blue States. We want tax cuts, and they want to raise our taxes again and fill up their state coffers. 

In just fifteen months, the 2017 Tax Hike Bill, which capped the SALT deduction at $10,000 will expire. 

The Red Moocher States who stuck us with that bill and raised taxes on hardworking Jersey families are now trying to extend it and keep taxes higher. We won’t allow that, which is why we are here this morning. It’s time to restore the full State and Local Tax Deduction, lower taxes, and let folks deduct their state income and property taxes before paying their federal taxes. We have to bring the full SALT shaker back – and give families a tax cut.  And, when we restore SALT, it will be a massive tax cut for millions of middle-class hardworking Jersey families: for teachers, cops, firefighters, electricians, you name it. No one should get taxed twice on the same deduction. 

But this won’t be easy: We’ve already tried to bring SALT back since 2017, and the Red Moocher States have blocked four bills we’ve passed out of the House.  Now, the Red Moocher States are already in back rooms scheming behind the scenes to extend the SALT cap in 2025. 

They are drafting their battle plans, crafting fake studies, working on their bills. Well, as I always say, don’t mess with Jersey. We will fight fire with fire. As ever, as Co-Chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, I’ll work with anyone to get this done — to ensure that commonsense prevails over extremism. 

Today, as part of that effort and as Co-Chair of the House SALT Caucus, I’m announcing a new online portal, Gottheimer.House.gov/SALT, where Jersey residents can make your voice heard on this critical issue. This will be a critical part of the comprehensive SALT Report we are preparing as part of our fight to restore the State and Local Tax Deduction.  

Let me offer a little history for those just tuning in. The SALT deduction has been around since 1913, helping Jersey families avoid double taxation for more than a hundred years. Before you pay your federal taxes, you can deduct what you paid in state income and local property taxes. For more than a hundred years, you could deduct everything you paid – avoiding double taxation. The average SALT deduction taken in New Jersey was $19,000, nearly double the current cap. The deduction put thousands of dollars back into the pockets of hardworking Jersey’s middle-income families.

That all changed in 2017, when my colleagues from the Red Moocher States jammed the Tax Hike Bill through Congress. As part of that bill, they gutted SALT, putting a $10,000 cap on that deduction – so, instead of being able to deduct all of it, it was capped at $10,000. This bill was a gut punch to Jersey, to our friends across the Hudson in New York, Connecticut, Illinois, California, and more. 

When I voted “No” on that 2017 Tax Hike Bill, we all predicted that it would raise Jersey’s taxes and drive residents and jobs out of our state. And, I’m sad to report that it’s done just that. Middle class families in Sussex, Bergen, and Passaic Counties have paid anywhere from $2,500 to $14,000 or more in taxes. Imagine you’re sitting around the kitchen table, paying bills at the end of the month, and you get another surprise bill out of nowhere for $5,000. It’s downright cruel – and that’s what the Red Moocher States did. 

The SALT cap hasn’t just been bad for families, it’s been bad for our state’s economy. We are losing people and businesses and the jobs and investments that come with them. In fact, Jersey ranks eighth in outmigration in the entire country, with families and businesses citing affordability and taxes as their chief reasons for departing. One-third of the state’s publicly traded companies left over the last decade. We all know Jersey is the best state to live in the nation, with the smartest people, best schools, cops, and firefighters, but right now, it ranks 37^th for cost of living. We need to make life more affordable here, and restoring SALT will definitely help. 

Let’s be clear, the SALT cap was a direct hit on the Blue States by the Moochers — our taxes went up, and our middle class and programs for harder-pressed, lower income families suffered. It’s ironic, of course, considering that Jersey’s tax dollars essentially bankroll their public services. For every dollar Mississippi and West Virginia sent to Washington, they have historically gotten $4.38 and $4.23 back. To compare, Jersey historically has received about 67 cents for every dollar we send.

The median property tax here in Bergen County is more than $15,000. When you add state income taxes, the average SALT deduction in 2017 was more than $24,000 dollars. I mean, this isn’t Oklahoma, thankfully, where the median property tax is around $1,600 — or Alabama, where the median property tax is just $740. We invest in schools, our roads, and our people.  This is a kitchen table issue in our district for cops, teachers, nurses, firefighters, and the men and women of labor who are getting whacked twice by taxes.

Since coming to Congress, I’ve been laser focused on making life in our state more affordable for families and workers. That’s why I’ve fought to lower the cost of childcare, why I worked to kill the commuter-crushing, $4,000-a-year Congestion Tax, and why I’m such an advocate for clawing back federal investment from Washington to Jersey — 357 percent more than my predecessor. When we claw back federal investment for fire, public safety, schools, and infrastructure, including our roads, bridges, tunnels, and clean drinking water, we can reduce the tax burden on our towns and help lower taxes for hardworking families.

But, at the end of the day, so much of this comes back to SALT. Since 2017, I’ve helped pass four bills out of the House to restore SALT, just to watch the Red Moocher States kill it in the Senate every time. 

In 2021, I founded the bipartisan SALT Caucus to apply some pressure in Congress and put an end to this ridiculous cap — and I’m proud to co-chair it with Representatives Tom Suozzi, Andrew Garbarino, and Young Kim. This isn’t a partisan issue for our states because everyone in states like Jersey, New York, and California are getting hit by SALT, regardless of party. 

Thankfully, we may soon be able to put an end to this SALT nightmare. Please 

go to my website, “Gottheimer.House.Gov/SALT,” and leave your comments about how the SALT cap has affected you, your family, and your small businesses. We’ll accept comments through October 4, 2024, and make them part of the comprehensive SALT Plan we are preparing to release this fall. I’d love these comments to fill a wheelbarrow, so we can show just how overwhelming a consensus there is behind SALT to those Red Moocher States.

If we really want SALT back, and want to lower taxes, we need to put Democrats in control this November. Donald Trump and the Red Moocher States have made it clear that they plan to extend the SALT cap and block bipartisan bills like the SALT Deductibility Act. 

Restoring SALT will make a huge difference for our state. Data shows that restoring the deduction will help nearly three million people in Jersey overnight — nearly a third of our population, the vast majority of whom make under $216,000 a year. By rallying behind this single policy, we can give a helping hand to working families up and down New Jersey. 

That’s why I’m dead set on standing up for SALT and getting the full SALT shaker back for our state. 

I’m optimistic that, if we fight hard and work together, we can restore SALT, lower taxes, and ensure that here in the greatest country in the world, our best days will always be ahead of us. And you can bet, we’ll head back here to the salt shed to celebrate.

Thank you. God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

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