Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was salty about a plan by moderate New York Republicans on Thursday to boost the SALT federal income tax deduction, which is largely a blue-state tax giveaway.
SALT stands for “state and local taxes.” And until the tax cuts enacted by former President Donald Trump, people in high-tax states, usually run by Democrats, could claim their state and local tax payments as offsets against their federal tax bill.
New York Republicans seek to reinstate the SALT exemption for married couples, according to Gaetz.
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Their proposal would double the $10,000 SALT exemption imposed by Trump to $20,000.
On his “Firebrand” podcast on Thursday, Gaetz said he would oppose such a measure and called on all Sunshine State lawmakers to reject it as well.
“I call on all Florida representatives to oppose the efforts to degrade, erode, or even take one grain of salt away from the Trump tax policies,” said Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican.
The Panhandle congressman argued that people in low-tax states, such as Florida, should not be forced to subsidize blue-staters stuck with huge tax bills, just because those blue-staters “have a bunch of goons in your state legislatures and on your local governments that want to take all your money.”
“If you don’t want to give more of your money to wasteful government in blue states, you have to pick better leaders,” said Gaetz. “You can’t expect people in Arizona, Florida, South Carolina to subsidize the high taxes you people are paying.”
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Gaetz added that it is the “obligation” of every Florida lawmaker to defend Trump’s policies regarding SALT.
“If Floridians vote for the advancement of this type of legislation, then they are betraying the people of the Sunshine State,” Gaetz said. “It’s that simple.”
The New York Post reported on Thursday that the plan was voted out of committee and will likely get a floor vote next week.
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