What our congressional leaders think of Trump tax plan

 Skepticism and outright hostility are among the local Congressional leaders’ reactions to President Donald Trump’s outline of a tax reform plan, with reactions largely depending on each lawmaker’s political party.

20th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Paul D. Tonko, D-Amsterdam, an outspoken progressive, called the president’s proposal — which so far contains few details — a “slap in the face for New York’s middle class and working families.”

One Republican, 19th Congressional District U.S. Rep. John Faso, of Kinderhook, expressed doubt that the proposal will be successful in its current form, though he expressed support for the goal.

 “We are a little light on details, but the president is looking for making a big impact here; he wants to get the economy going, and one of the ways to do that is to fix the tax code,” Faso said in an interview with WCNY public radio in Syracuse.

The one-page proposal the Trump administration outlined on Wednesday calls for reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent and also proposes cutting individual rates, though it would also eliminate some popular deductions, including deductions for state incomes taxes and local property taxes. What was released does not explain how tax cuts will be paid for, other than the theory that tax cuts will increase economic activity, which will lead to more tax revenue.

“I do think greater economic growth is something that will create more tax revenue for the government, but I don’t know that moving the corporate tax rate down to 15 percent will make sense from a budgetary standpoint,” said Faso, who is on the House Budget Committee.

He noted that even without a tax cut, the national debt is expected to increase from $19 trillion to $29 trillion over the next decade.

“I do think that tax cuts — properly implemented and designed — will spur more economic activity and hence more revenue, but there’s a limit to that equation, and hence, that the tax reductions in and of themselves can pay for themselves,” Faso said in the radio interview Thursday.

Tonko said the income tax cuts would primarily benefit the very wealthy, like Trump.

“The president wants to give huge tax breaks to multinational corporations and exceedingly wealthy individuals like himself, while shifting even more of the nation’s tax burden onto New Yorkers by eliminating critical deductions for our state and local taxpayers,” he said.

Faso said he believes there would be “unintended consequences” for any so-called border adjustment tax on imports, and every deduction being threatened — including the home mortgage tax exemption, property tax exemptions and a deduction for employee-provided health care plans — has its defenders.

“There’s an awful lot that’s going to happen between now and whatever is enacted happens.”

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., criticized the proposal, as has Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

“I believe any true tax reform should accomplish three things: reward work, rebuild the middle class, and stem the tide of economic inequality,” Gillibrand said in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately, the Trump tax plan fails all three tests.”

In the 21st Congressional District,  U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, applauded Trump for making fundamental tax reform a priority.

“While the specifics of President Trump’s tax proposal are still being drafted, she looks forward to working for a bill that delivers fundamental tax reform to the American people and her constituents,” said Stefanik spokesman Tom Flanagin.

Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3086, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.

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