Statement of New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento on Passage of the House Tax Plan

Albany, NY -Our Representatives in Washington DC had a choice to make; stand up for low and middle-income taxpayers of New York State or buckle under pressure from big corporations and side with their wealthy donors. Sadly, several of our Representatives turned their backs on working people by voting for the House tax plan that in reality is a tax scam.

Representatives Tom Reed, Chris Collins, Claudia Tenney, and John Katko all showed a blatant disregard for the needs and concerns of all working men and women. They chose to cut taxes for the wealthiest 1 percent of New Yorkers, while eliminating tax breaks for the rest of us causing harm to the very people who entrusted them to do what is right. Their vote punishes working people by eliminating the deduction for state and local income and sales taxes, deductions for student loan interest, tuition expenses, and even deductions educators rely on for out-of-pocket school supplies. To add insult to injury, the plan would be paid for, in part, by drastically cutting Medicaid, Medicare and education. Their betrayal will not be forgotten.

We commend Representatives Dan Donovan, Peter King, Lee Zeldin, John Faso, and Elise Stefanik, as well as the entire Democratic New York Delegation for voting “no” on the plan.

This fight is not over. We will continue to work over the coming weeks to stop tax giveaways to those who need them the least at the expense of hardworking New Yorkers.