State and Local Tax (SALT) Relief

Fighting for Long Island's Biggest Tax Victory in Years

Long Island Families Deserved Tax Relief. I Refused to Take "No" for an Answer.

When I first asked Long Islanders for their vote in 2022, I made a promise to fight for meaningful State and Local Tax (SALT) relief. Leaders in both parties said it couldn't be done.

They were wrong.

I helped lead a small coalition of lawmakers that forced congressional leaders to agree to quadruple the SALT deduction from $10,000 to $40,000. We refused to back down—even voting against our own party's tax bill until it included a real SALT fix.

Because we stood our ground, Suffolk County families paid an average of $2,860 less in federal taxes this year, making it more affordable to live on Long Island.*

That's not just a legislative victory. It's real money back in the pockets of hardworking Long Island families.

Why SALT Relief Matters

Long Island families already shoulder some of the highest property taxes and state income taxes in America. At the same time, New York ranks 50th out of 50 for tax affordability under Governor Hochul, whose policies burden taxpayers with billions in spending on illegal migrants, New York City bailouts, and costly unfunded mandates.**

You feel it every day: higher housing costs, rising taxes, and an ever-increasing cost of living.

SALT relief doesn't solve every affordability challenge facing New York, but it does help hardworking families keep more of what they've earned instead of sending even more of it to Washington.

Standing Up to Both Parties

For years, politicians in both parties promised to fix the unfair SALT cap but failed to deliver.

Some Republicans dismissed SALT relief as a "blue-state bailout." Democrats attacked it as "welfare for the wealthy." Even when Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and White House in 2021 and 2022, they never lifted the cap.

I refused to accept the status quo.

I joined Reps. Andrew Garbarino, Mike Lawler, Tom Kean Jr., and Young Kim to form a negotiating bloc that made meaningful SALT relief non-negotiable.

Because the House majority was so narrow, our coalition had the votes needed to determine whether the tax bill would pass. We made it clear that without meaningful SALT relief, there would be no bill. We even voted against our own party's proposal until congressional leaders returned to the negotiating table.

We took plenty of criticism from both sides—including from the President himself—but we stayed united, and it worked.

But we stayed united, and it worked.

Together, we secured what neither party had accomplished in nearly a decade: the largest expansion of SALT relief since the deduction was capped in 2017.

Along the way, every House Democrat voted against my SALT Marriage Penalty Elimination Act, and every House Democrat—including Long Island's delegation—voted against the legislation that ultimately delivered SALT relief.

Delivering Real Tax Relief

The law quadrupled the SALT deduction from $10,000 to $40,000 for households earning under $500,000, with annual inflation adjustments.

For many Long Island families, that translated into thousands of dollars in federal tax savings.

A household earning roughly $225,000 and paying $14,000 in property taxes, for example, saved approximately $3,820 this year.***

More importantly, the average Suffolk County family paid about $2,860 less in federal taxes because we refused to give up on this fight.

That's exactly why I came to Congress: to deliver real results that make life more affordable for Long Islanders.

The Fight Isn't Over

The five-year expanded SALT deduction is scheduled to expire after 2029.

I didn't fight this hard just to let Long Island families lose this tax relief. I'm already working to make the higher deduction permanent because Long Islanders deserve lasting tax fairness—not another temporary fix.

But permanent SALT relief is only part of the solution.

New York also needs leaders committed to addressing the root cause of the problem: some of the highest taxes in America. Families shouldn't have to rely on federal tax relief simply to offset the high taxes imposed by Albany's failed policies.

When Washington said meaningful SALT relief couldn't be done, I refused to accept that answer.

I'll keep fighting—for permanent SALT relief, lower taxes in New York, and a more affordable future for Long Island families.

*https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/tax-trump-bill-iiraj7p2

**https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/2026-state-tax-competitiveness-index/

***https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-salt-tax-deduction-calculator/