By Jimmy Vielkind
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi has taken a leading role in fighting to
restore a tax deduction that is important to people who live in and
around New York City, and in doing so might be laying the
groundwork for another gubernatorial run.
Mr. Suozzi, a Democrat who represents parts of Queens and Long
Island, has said he won't support President Biden's planned
infrastructure and tax package unless it contains language that
would restore the full deductibility of state and local income and
property taxes, or SALT.
That deduction -- which Mr. Suozzi and other state officials say
is critical for people in high-cost, high-tax states such as New
York -- was limited to $10,000 by the 2017 federal tax overhaul.
While a majority of state residents pay lower federal income taxes
as a result of the 2017 law, the new limits forced about a million
New Yorkers to pay an additional $12 billion a year to the federal
government, state officials estimate.
"SALT is an existential issue for us," Mr. Suozzi said in an
interview. He said higher-income people will either leave the state
or, if they have started working remotely since the pandemic, won't
return. Mr. Suozzi said tax increases on millionaires enacted in
last week's state budget were a bad idea -- especially at this time
-- that could drive them out of New York.
The 58-year-old congressman has been making his case about SALT
since 2017, but recently started reaching beyond his district. He
appeared at a March 26 event in White Plains with freshman Rep.
Mondaire Jones, a Democrat from Rockland County, and Westchester
County Executive George Latimer.
Mr. Suozzi has also reached out to officials in upstate counties
about holding similar events pushing for the removal of the SALT
cap, people familiar with the talks said. A spokesman for the
congressman said nothing has been scheduled. Mr. Suozzi attended a
virtual fundraiser for Democrats in Erie County, which includes
Buffalo, and last week endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Eric
Adams's bid to be mayor of New York City.
Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for
Suburban Studies at Hofstra University in Hempstead, remembered Mr.
Suozzi complaining about the effect of high property taxes as the
Nassau County executive during his unsuccessful 2006 campaign for
governor.
"It's one of these issues that is absolutely perfect: If you
win, you win big on behalf of not only your constituents but also
your future prospects," Mr. Levy said. "Good government is the best
politics. The question is, can he ride this to the
governorship?"
Mr. Suozzi said during the interview that he was happy in
Congress but, "obviously I've run for governor in the past and I
think I'd be a good governor." He said he hasn't taken any formal
steps to launch a campaign, adding: "Whenever I've tried to plan
ahead, it never worked out ever. And the things I didn't plan are
the things I ended up being successful at."
The congressman is stepping into the spotlight as Democratic
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's candidacy for a fourth term is being questioned
by some lawmakers and political observers. Mr. Cuomo faces multiple
investigations into allegations that he sexually harassed women on
his staff and over his administration's handling of Covid-19 in
nursing homes.
The governor has said he is cooperating with the probes and said
the nursing-home policies were crafted to preserve hospital
capacity. He has denied touching anyone inappropriately and
apologized if his behavior made anyone uncomfortable.
Sixteen Democratic members of the state's congressional
delegation, as well as U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten
Gillibrand, have called on Mr. Cuomo to resign. Mr. Suozzi hasn't
and said he believes the governor should be afforded due
process.
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, who has rejected calls for his
resignation, declined to comment for this column. Mr. Cuomo signed
a letter with six governors asking Mr. Biden to repeal the SALT cap
and said at a Wednesday press conference that doing so would blunt
the impact of the newly enacted state tax increases.
Jeanne Zaino, a professor of political science at Iona College
in New Rochelle, said Mr. Suozzi would occupy a similar political
lane as Mr. Cuomo, who is also a moderate, Italian-American
man.
"And there's another fight to be had," she said. "Progressives
feel they had to put up with Cuomo for so long, they are itching to
have one of their own in office."
HOCHUL SPEAKS: Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul faced the press corps
Friday for the first time since the investigations into Mr. Cuomo's
conduct were announced, and said she was waiting to see what they
would yield before commenting further.
"There are a lot of answers that will be resolved in the
impending months. There's a number of investigations under way --
I'm going to leave it at that," Ms. Hochul said on the Coney Island
boardwalk in Brooklyn, where she joined other politicians to
celebrate its reopening.
Ms. Hochul, a Democrat from Buffalo, has been treading lightly
on Mr. Cuomo's situation for more than a month. She would become
governor if Mr. Cuomo is impeached.
THE QUESTION: Who was the last sitting member of Congress to win
the Democratic nomination for governor?
-- Know the answer? Send me an email.
THE LAST ANSWER: Mr. Cuomo was flanked by former President Bill
Clinton and U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel when he ended his campaign for
governor in 2002.
Katie Honan contributed to this article.
Write to Jimmy Vielkind at Jimmy.Vielkind@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 11, 2021 19:14 ET (23:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.