Menendez, Watson Coleman and New Jersey Democrats Release New Report on the Impact of President Trump’s Tax Law on New Jersey Homeowners
Today, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ-06), Donald Payne Jr. (NJ-10), Bill Pascrell Jr. (NJ-09), Albio Sires (NJ-08), and Donald Norcross (NJ-01) released a new report from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee documenting the tremendous financial burden of the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on current and prospective New Jersey homeowners. According to the report, approximately 2,035,000 homeowners currently living in New Jersey will lose the ability to claim deductions for interest on home equity loans they use for any purposes other than home improvement. Meanwhile, the law’s significant tax breaks for commercial real estate developers will hand them more than $66.7 billion over the next year, totaling $3.7 billion in lost tax revenue in 2019 alone.
“This report underscores what we have known all along,” said Sen. Menendez. “The Trump tax scheme has never been anything but a big, fat giveaway to corporations and millionaires at the expense of New Jersey’s middle class homeowners. It’s shameful how Republicans have aided and abetted this president in taking a wrecking ball to the financial security of working families, driving up the debt and handing the bill to our children and grandchildren.”
“This report demonstrates exactly what we have known, what we have said over and over, and why not a single Democrat voted for this bill — it is a terrible deal, a scam in the truest sense of the word, for the people of our state and well beyond,” said Watson Coleman. “The tax law was a thinly veiled giveaway to the millionaire friends of this president that will do permanent damage to the financial stability of working families, and only makes worse the growing economic inequality paralyzing this country.”
“This report once again confirms that the GOP tax scam has been a disaster for New Jersey,” said Pallone. “By limiting deductions linked to homeownership, 75,000 of my constituents will find it more difficult to make ends meet because they can no longer fully deduct their property taxes. We should be striving to help working families and make it easier for them to achieve the dream of home ownership, instead Republicans are giving huge tax breaks to the wealthiest of Americans and large corporations.”
“The Trump tax scam was an attack on New Jersey,” said Payne, Jr. “New Jersey homeowners and aspiring homeowners deserve a tax plan that puts their interests ahead of big corporations.”
“In case we need any more evidence the GOP Tax Scam was designed to hurt middle-class New Jerseyans, here it is,” said Pascrell, New Jersey’s only member on the tax writing House Ways and Means Committee. “In addition to stealing the state and local tax deductions New Jerseyans have used for years to foot medical bills, tuition payments and family vacations, here are the numbers proving the GOP Tax Scam harmed New Jersey homeowners too. It’s no wonder Republicans are sprinting away from their so-called signature achievement. This scam was jammed into law to enrich House Republicans’ corporate donors and executives – paid for by tens of millions of middle-class New Jerseyans. It was supported by some congressmen from the Northeast and even our own state for reasons I can’t comprehend, as these members voted to hurt their own constituents and states. Thank you Bonnie Watson Coleman and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings for your work in helping expose the thievery of the GOP Tax Scam.”
“The consequences of the GOP tax law continue to grow even more outrageous. As this report points out, New Jersey homeowners have used deductions for home equity and mortgages for years to stabilize their family’s finances and prepare for the future,” said Sires. “Eliminating these financial tools for average Americans and heaping rewards on real estate developers and golf course owners amounts to a punishment for the middle class. Congress must act fast to provide real relief for middle-class homeowners, not a deceitful attack.”
“It’s clear Republicans in Congress chose to reward their billionaire buddies at the expense of New Jersey homeowners, and now nearly 80,000 people in the first district alone are losing the full tax deductions they rely on,” said Norcross. “While Republicans keep voting to screw hardworking Americans, Trump golf clubs and other corporations get to keep their full deductions. The hypocrisy is outrageous. Trump and Republicans added trillions to the debt and had the middle class foot the bill, when what we need is more jobs, higher wages and real tax relief for New Jersey families.”
The report finds that:
- Beginning this year, approximately 322,000 homeowners in New Jersey with existing home equity loans will not be allowed to claim the full home equity interest deductions they were previously eligible for; and
- Although 1,618,000 homeowners in New Jersey used to be able to deduct their full property taxes, more than half – a total of 945,000 – will no longer be allowed to do so.
The full report is available for download here.