Gottheimer and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce stand united to fight to restore the SALT deduction, invest in infrastructure
RIDGEWOOD, NJ (Bergen County) – U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Tom Bracken Monday joined together to announce support for passing a robust, bipartisan infrastructure investment package in Congress that also repeals the cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction.
To secure this desperately-needed investment, Gottheimer is proposing the federal government address the “tax gap” — the $1 trillion per year difference between taxes legally owed and taxes actually paid. Gottheimer is cosponsoring the Stop CHEATERS Act (H.R.1200), which would invest in tax enforcement to generate $1.2 trillion in revenue for the federal government.
“Any infrastructure legislation we pass in Washington must include a reinstatement of the State and Local Tax deduction and a strong investment in our crumbling infrastructure and transportation. In a letter that I will be sending to the Treasury Secretary this week, we can pay for both by closing tax loopholes and going after all those tax cheats who don’t pay what they should,” Gottheimer said. “I’m focused on finding a bipartisan path forward to, once and for all, getting an infrastructure bill passed and signed into law. Let’s reinstate SALT and fix our infrastructure, and we can do that by filling the tax gap and getting the federal investment we need. But if there are changes to the tax code that impact our families without reinstating SALT, my view is simple: No SALT? No Dice.”
“We are in total support of the Congressman’s initiative to stop the SALT penalty hurting our New Jersey citizens in this time of economic distress. Linking the elimination to the President’s infrastructure bill is a very strategic move that we endorse. Additional infrastructure money is key to our state’s economic recovery, so accomplishing that, while eliminating the SALT penalty, is a mission we are glad the Congressman is leading,” said New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Tom Bracken.
Gottheimer is fighting for a bipartisan infrastructure package because New Jersey has the third worst roads in the nation, as of 2020; a third of New Jersey’s bridges need repairs; New Jersey’s public transit has had the worst on-time record; the Gateway Project has been stalled for years; lead water continues to threaten New Jersey children’s drinking water in schools; and many rural New Jersey residents do not have basic broadband connectivity.
In 2017, the partisan Tax Hike Bill gutted the SALT deduction by putting a disastrous $10,000 cap on the deduction nationwide, which hit North Jersey especially hard. Prior to the Tax Hike Bill, the average SALT deduction in each Fifth District county was several thousand dollars above the new $10,000 cap — meaning families throughout North Jersey are now paying thousands more in taxes each year.
Gottheimer helped introduce the SALT Deductibility Act, a bipartisan bill to fully restore the SALT deduction. Gottheimer is also the founding Co-Chair of the new bipartisan SALT Caucus in Congress.
Gottheimer was also joined today by Bergen County Commissioner Mary Amoroso, Ridgewood Mayor Susan Knudsen, and Ridgewood Councilmembers Pamela Perron and Lorraine Reynolds.
