The House is expected to vote this week on a rule for legislation that would raise the cap for state and local tax deductions, known as SALT, for many married couples.

The 2017 tax cut bill passed by Republicans and signed by then-President Donald Trump created a cap of $10,000, leading to higher taxes on some residents in states such as New York, New Jersey and California.

Congressional Democrats, as well as Republicans representing swing districts in those states, have been pushing to repeal the cap ever since. 

The debate came to a head last week when four House Republicans in New York used a procedural maneuver to stall a tax bill that would expand the child tax credit and restore certain tax breaks for businesses. The GOP lawmakers wanted SALT deductions added to the bill, which cleared the House and awaits the Senate. They eventually relented after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., agreed to work with them to continue discussions on SALT relief.

On Thursday, the Rules Committee advanced a rule for floor debate.

The bill introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., would raise the deduction limit from $10,000 to $20,000 for married couples earning up to $500,000 a year. It would apply only to the current tax year and then revert back to $10,000 until it’s set to expire in 2026.

Republicans targeted SALT deductions as a way to help pay for the Trump tax cuts, saying it was an unfair advantage for residents living in high-tax states. The deductions are moot in the vast majority of states. The states most significantly impacted are all blue states.

In 2017, the last year before the Trump tax cuts took effect, SALT deductions cost the federal government $69 billion in tax revenue, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. A nonpartisan estimate by Penn Wharton concluded the proposed $20,000 cap would reduce federal revenue by $12 billion.

“If you have some crazy high taxes in New York or Connecticut, sorry, New Yorkers and people from blue states, I love you, but I don't think people in low-tax states should have to subsidize people in high-tax states just because you guys have a bunch of goons in your state legislatures and on your local governments who want to take more of your money,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said in a livestream last week. 

“The answer is, if you don't want to give more of your money to wasteful government in blue states, you have to pick better leaders,” he continued.

Gaetz urged Florida's entire House delegation "to oppose the efforts to degrade, erode or even take one grain of SALT away from the Trump tax policies."

Some, meanwhile, have called the deductions a “handout to the rich.”

But lawmakers who want to reduce or repeal the deduction limit say it is hurting the middle class in their states. In a handful of states — Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont — the average property taxes alone are at least $8,390 a year, according to data compiled by Rocket Mortgage.

“We know it will make a huge difference here in Jersey for affordability for families,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., said at a news conference Monday. “This is not a 1 percenter issue. This is a middle class family issue in Jersey.”

Lawler said during Thursday’s Rules Committee meeting that firefighters, police officers and teachers are among the people who support lifting the SALT cap.

“Because in areas like mine, where we pay the highest property taxes in America — where we have high income taxes, where we have high business taxes — people are struggling under the weight under the cost of this,” he said. “This is about providing relief to working families, middle class families.”

Some lawmakers argue capping the deductions is effectively a “double tax.” Others have complained that, because the $10,000 cap applies to both single and married tax filers, it amounts to a penalty on the married.

SALT has become a hot issue in congressional races, particularly in the special election to replace ousted Rep. George Santos in New York’s 3rd District. 

Democrat Tom Suozzi, who represented the district from 2017-23, has long vowed to defeat the SALT cap, told reporters last week “it’s not going to get done” with Republicans in charge.

GOP candidate Mazi Pilip says she, too, wants to restore the full deductions and has blamed Suozzi for failing to deliver on his promise while in office.