New York Republican slams GOP tax plan

Rep. Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.) in an interview on Sunday slammed his party’s tax reform plan, saying residents in his state could lose their homes.

“What they’re proposing, John, is to eliminate a deduction from your federal tax return that’s very important to every New Yorker.… to deduct your state and local income tax and your property taxes,” Donovan said in an interview with John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York.

“That’s essential for hard-working New Yorkers,” he added. “It’s been in the tax code since 1913.”

{mosads}Donovan said eliminating the deduction would mean that people in New York “couldn’t buy homes anymore, couldn’t pay their mortgages, couldn’t pay their children’s tuitions.”

Lawmakers have argued that the GOP proposal would hit high-tax states like New York, New Jersey and California especially hard.

Donovan said on Sunday that he and fellow New York lawmakers such as Rep. Pete King (R) are fighting “tooth and nail” to save the deduction.

“There are some people in Washington who believe this is a subsidy for New York, “ he said “That’s not true… New York is a donor state. For every dollar New York sends down to Washington we only get 79 cents back in federal resources.”

Donovan said he can’t support tax reform for the rest on the country “on the backs of my neighbors and friends.”

“I will go down to Washington… to make sure we get the fair share and the deductions we’re entitled to,” he added.

Donovan and 19 other House Republicans voted against the budget, which clears the way for the House to begin work on passing tax reform legislation by a simple majority.

GOP leaders have laid out a goal of passing the tax code overhaul by Thanksgiving.