Suburban Chicago congressman vows SALT deduction battle

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

The congressman who represents the northern suburbs got what he wanted from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—a seat on the tax-writing House Ways & Means Committee—and at the top of his bucket list in the new post is fully restoring the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes, generally known as SALT.

In a statement and follow-up interview, Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Deerfield, noted that the committee has significant influence over many matters of interest to voters, including health care, Medicare and Social Security. But clearly a priority for him, and perhaps his top priority, is working to undo the $10,000 cap that Republicans imposed on SALT deductions in the tax bill passed last year, a cap Republicans argue will make the tax system fairer but that Schneider and others say will clobber residents in higher-tax states such as Illinois.

The SALT limit “is punitive,” designed to “punish” residents of states such as New York, California and Illinois, said Schneider, indirectly referencing the fact that all of those states tend to vote for Democrats. The cap has hit residents of his 10th District “particularly hard,” Schneider said, with both incomes and local property taxes there higher than average and higher than in some states Republicans dominate.

Schneider said he won’t know how fast a repeal effort will proceed until next week when he finds out which subcommittees he’s on. And given that Republicans have a majority in the Senate and Donald Trump is president, it may take “more than one try” to get anywhere, he said. But the goal is clear: lift the cap so taxpayers can fully deduct local taxes as they had for many decades.

It appears the modern day Democrat party wants tax deduction for the well to do.