U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, was at the Bay Ridge Center for Older Adults, 15 Bay Ridge Avenue, to discuss legislation that would support tax relief for seniors on May 12.
“I wanted to tell everyone the good news that we are working hard to deliver tax relief for our senior citizens,” she said inside the center. “For those of you that are on social security, if you earn less than $75,000 for an individual or $150,000 for married couples, we believe you are going to get some significant savings when we pass our bill.
“My legislation to increase the deduction to seniors to $4,000, or $8,000 if you’re married, I think is going to pass. We are going to get it done and we’re going to deliver it to seniors in Staten Island and Brooklyn.”
She also said that the bill would also increase the state and local tax deduction (SALT).
“If we triple it, it will actually cover 98 percent of the people in our district,” she said. “Families that make less than $400,000 will see that deduction triple. It’s going to cover the seniors and middle-class families. That is also making its way in the bill.”
According to the New York Daily News, Malliotakis supports the GOP leadership proposal to increase the SALT cap to $30,000 from the current $10,000, even though some Republican lawmakers oppose it.
“We are doing what we can with the savings that we are finding to give it back to you, the taxpayers,” Malliotakis said to the seniors. “The people that work hard your whole lives. You pay taxes. You deserve to be able to keep your money. It’s important to point out that while we do it, we are going to do it while protecting social security, protecting Medicare and Medicare for the seniors, the disabled children with disabilities and their programs.”
Several protests have been held outside of Malliotakis’s offices on Staten Island and Bay Ridge
to oppose her vote for a budget resolution some say would cut health care coverage and give tax cuts to the wealthy.
“Don’t listen to any fake news out there saying we are going to do anything else,” she said. “I’ve been out there pushing back on any proposals that would lower New York’s reimbursement in Medicaid. You receive 50 percent right now from the federal government. We successfully defeated proposals that a few people supported that would have lowered that amount, and that’s going to be very important to protecting the people.
“We are going to root out fraud, waste and abuse. Because the reality is that’s what is endangering these programs. The people that aren’t supposed to be on it. We are going to make sure those programs go to the people like you who deserve them.”
Man arrested after hit-and-run killed two in Sunset Park 
Sunset Park residents look to form new mural at 54th Street