A New Jersey Democrat running for Congress in a swing House district opposed State and Local Tax (SALT) relief — before reversing course and backing additional deductions while seeking public office
Sue Altman was in favor of income, estate, sales and other tax hikes while serving as state director of the progressive Working Families Party between 2019 and 2023.
In 2022, Altman lashed out at Garden State Democratic Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer for trying to eliminate a cap on SALT deductions for their constituents’ federal tax bill.
“Disappointing – the [Working Families] party gave @MikieSherrill & @RepJoshG bluer districts and still- such a sharp turn away from the party and Biden/Pelosi,” she posted on X in July 2022.
However, the Democrat’s current campaign platform pledges to “lower taxes for Jersey families” by “repealing the unfair and punitive Trump-era SALT deduction cap.”
It’s the latest position that Altman has flipped on in her bid to unseat GOP Rep. Tom Kean in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District — a race that is currently rated as a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
An internal poll conducted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Oct. 8-9 found likely voters narrowly prefer Kean to Altman, 50% to 48%.
Sherrill, Gottheimer and other blue state Democrats were long opposed to the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions — a feature of former President Donald Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Before a massive rally last month in Long Island, Trump surprised New York and New Jersey residents by vowing to return their SALT deductions to pre-2017 norms.
“I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your Taxes, and so much more. I’ll work with the Democrat Governor and Mayor, and make sure the funding is there to bring New York State back to levels it hasn’t seen for 50 years,” he posted on Truth Social before an event at the Nassau Coliseum.
Residents in high-tax states were previously allowed to deduct all property, sales or income taxes at the state and local level from what they owed to the IRS.
New Jerseyans have the fifth-highest tax burden in the nation at 13.2% and pay the highest in property taxes of any state (2.23%), according to Tax Foundation analyses.
Moderate congressional Democrats tried to tuck the SALT cap elimination into large spending bills like the Inflation Reduction Act during President Biden’s term, but were unsuccessful in passing the tax relief through both chambers of Congress.
The SALT deductions would have partially hindered Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar legislative agenda, with the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimating a federal revenue decrease of $88.7 billion in 2021.
All of the 2017 tax law’s provisions are set to expire in December 2025, if not renewed in the next presidential administration.
While Trump has pledged to make all the tax cuts permanent, Harris has only promised to extend the cuts for Americans making less than $400,000 per year.
Whoever wins the contest for New Jersey’s 7th District is likely to influence the next big tax bill in Congress.
As Working Families Party boss, Altman advocated for raising corporate tax rates, income tax rates for New Jerseyans making more than $250,000 and a universal tax on estates valued at $1 million or more.
“Sue Altman has never met a tax increase she didn’t like,” said National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Savannah Viar in a statement. “If she had it her way, she would be taxing hard–working Americans even more to help fund lavish lifestyles for illegal immigrants.”
An Altman campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
