Representative Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) has reached out to New Jersey Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, urging them to support the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction relief in the upcoming Senate reconciliation package. Kean’s letter emphasizes the importance of restoring the SALT deduction for middle-class families in New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District.
Kean has been advocating for this change for over a year, working across party lines to secure the full restoration of the SALT deduction. The House-passed reconciliation package proposes allowing families to deduct up to $40,000 in state and local taxes. This measure aims to alleviate financial burdens on homeowners in high-cost states like New Jersey.
In 2022, when Democrats controlled Washington, Senator Booker and then-Congressman Kim supported the Inflation Reduction Act, which did not include SALT relief. Last year, both lawmakers voted for the Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act, a bill that Congressman Kean opposed due to its lack of increased SALT deductions.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has announced that the House-passed reconciliation bill with SALT relief will be presented on the Senate floor this summer.
Kean expressed his disappointment with past actions by Senators Booker and Kim regarding SALT: “New Jersey innovators, job creators, students, and working families consistently bear some of the highest tax burden and cost of living in the nation,” he stated. “I have been disappointed by the repeated broken promises from Senators Booker and Kim on SALT.”
He continued by highlighting the potential impact of recent legislative efforts: “I was pleased to see that the Budget Reconciliation bill… would quadruple the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction.” Kean urged Senators Booker and Kim to support this initiative as it approaches a Senate vote.
The full text of Representative Kean’s letter is available online.
