SALT deduction cap: Long Island, other Republicans urge Trump to end it in meeting 

WASHINGTON — New York House Republicans at a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday urged him to lift the cap on state and local tax deductions and to use his presidential authority to end congestion pricing.

Reps. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) were among the lawmakers who met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to discuss the future of the deduction known as SALT, which was capped at $10,000 in 2018 under a Trump-backed tax plan.

LaLota, in a phone interview with Newsday after the meeting, said he couldn’t discuss in detail the proposals presented to Trump and his transition team to “preserve the good-faith negotiations.”

“I left the meeting confident that the president will have our back on this and will fulfill his promise that he made in the campaign to fix SALT,” LaLota said.

Garbarino, who serves as a co-chair of the bipartisan House SALT caucus, said in a statement: "We had a productive meeting tonight and will keep fighting to resolve this critical issue so our constituents can keep more of their hard-earned money."

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River), whose name is often floated as a potential gubernatorial candidate, was also at the meeting. Lawler recently introduced legislation to lift the SALT cap to $100,000 for individual tax filers and $200,000 for married property owners.

Saturday’s meeting came as Trump prepares to take office on Jan. 20. Trump and his transition team are reportedly looking to pass a new sweeping tax plan but recognize they can afford few Republican defections, given the GOP's razor-thin voting majority.

Republicans from New York, New Jersey and California have threatened to withhold their support if SALT is not addressed. LaLota said Saturday's meeting also included some House Republicans from those states.

“The president understood the gravity of the situation, how many Long Islanders are leaving New York because of the high taxes, and he is eager to provide a fix to that problem,” LaLota said.

Trump’s transition press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in September, ahead of a campaign rally at the Nassau Coliseum, Trump posted on social media that he would “get SALT back.” His advisers are reportedly eyeing only an expansion of the tax cap versus the full repeal that New York lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have long argued for.

LaLota said the group also discussed New York’s recently implemented congestion pricing plan and urged him to explore avenues to end the program that charges motorists for entering Manhattan's congestion relief zone south of 60th Street.

Lawler in a post on X said Trump “reiterated his support for lifting the cap on SALT and ending congestion pricing.”

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.