This past weekend, I had the opportunity to meet with President-elect Donald Trump and fellow members of Congress from states like California, New York and New Jersey to discuss the importance of lifting or repealing the SALT cap, the unfair limit on state and local taxes that can be deducted from our federal income-tax bills.
We had a productive discussion, during which the president reiterated his support for raising the cap — but also expressed the need for states like New York to lower their out-of-control spending.
He’s right.
Since 2015, when Kathy Hochul first took statewide office, New York’s state spending has increased by almost $90 billion.
Yes, you read that correctly: $90 billion — a 59% spending increase in just nine years.
During her tenure as governor, that rate has exploded even more. Spending under Hochul soared by more than $61 billion from FY2021 to FY2025 alone.
That’s why New York state ranks No. 1 for residents’ combined state and local tax burden. On average, New Yorkers pay 12% of their income in state and local taxes.
And it’s folks in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island, in particular, who have been hosed by state and MTA spending increases.
Back in 2022, Hochul and the Democrats in Albany raised the payroll mobility tax to cover for the MTA’s budgetary malaise.
Now, they’re planning on doing so yet again, increasing taxes on small businesses when so many are struggling to get by.
But the taxes don’t stop there.
New York is also in the top 10 for state and local sales taxes, taking, on average, around 8.5% of most purchases you make.
So every time you stop by the convenience store for a soda or a pack of gum, you’re forking over more money to Albany.
Use a cell phone? There’s a tax for that, too! New York has the fourth-highest state and local tax and fee burden on wireless services.
Throw a few bucks on the Bills, Jets or Giants in a parlay with an online sportsbook? Well, if you bet on the Jets and Giants this year, my condolences — but should you have won, New York would have taxed your winnings at a 51% clip, the highest rate in the nation.
Make a shrewd trade on the stock market a couple years ago, like Nancy Pelosi always seems to do? If you sell that asset, New York will take 10.9% of your earnings.
New York is taxing the living daylights out of us everywhere we turn.
This is precisely why we need to get a handle on the out-of-control taxation regime operated by Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats.
It needs reform, it needs it now, and in 2026, I’m hopeful we can deliver it — by electing a new governor.
But in the meantime, Hochul’s extravagance should not stop President Trump and our Republican majorities in the House and Senate from agreeing to reasonable increases to the cap on SALT.
I’ve proposed legislation to lift the cap to $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married couples.
That would cover the vast majority of New Yorkers and make a real difference for middle-class families in my district, across the Hudson Valley and beyond.
Hochul is seemingly opposed to this measure — jumping on X to call my bill, and the immediate tax relief it would provide to over 90% of New Yorkers, a “failure.”
No, Governor, the only failure here is you, sitting in the executive offices in Albany as Nero did in Rome — watching the state go up in flames and adding fuel to the fire.
In 2026, New York’s voters will demand real accountability for Hochul’s mismanagement of our state, its budget, its MTA and more.
And that day can’t come soon enough.
Republican Mike Lawler represents New York’s 17th Congressional District.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
