Zeldin: I Had to Oppose the Tax Bill Because Too Many People in My District Would Pay More

EXCERPT:

RUHLE: "Man, Ali, this thing. To help us break it down, we’re joined now by Congressman Lee Zeldin, a Republican from New York who sits on the House Financial Services Committee. Lee, you've said you want to continue negotiating the details of this bill. We know you voted no in the House. What do you really want to see change here?"
ZELDIN: "Well as I look at the situation for my home district, for my home state, and I’m approaching this as someone representing a congressional district on Long Island in New York, when I looked at all of the dynamics of the House bill, while there were good components to the bill, no doubt for my district and my home state, I just had too many people who were going to have to pay more. One of the biggest reasons is because of the proposal to eliminate the state and local tax deduction. The Senate proposes to entirely eliminate the state and local tax deduction. The House made progress in having a $10,000 property tax deduction cap. It’s certainly a progress for my area. It’s not enough progress. Senator Johnson wants to work on pass through rules. That is important for people on the personal service space, no doubt. There are people who utilize the medical expense deduction. On the Senate side, they propose to keep the medical expense deduction. But when I look at the House bill, and I added and I’m giving you a few different examples."
VELSHI: "Sure."
ZELDIN: "When I added it up for my district, I just had too many people who'd actually be paying for and I had to oppose it."