“Do we have the clout we once had?” said the executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “That’s a very difficult question.”
WASHINGTON — The sweeping tax bill Republicans in Congress sent to President Trump this week marks a year-end defeat for groups that fought unsuccessfully on behalf of governors, mayors, cities and counties to fully preserve a federal deduction for state and local taxes.
There are straightforward explanations for why tax-writers chose to cap the deduction for the state and local property, income and sales taxes households pay at $10,000 in the final legislation. One is that doing so provided a huge sum to help offset rate reductions and other changes GOP members of Congress wanted to make to the tax code.
“We were just a number on a spreadsheet,” said Matthew Chase, the executive director of the National Association of Counties.
But the battle over the SALT deduction, and other aspects of the tax bill, also offers a look at how dynamics have changed during recent years when it comes to state and local government groups lobbying for their priorities on Capitol Hill.
ROUTE FIFTY
By Bill LUCIA
DECEMBER 22, 2017