Congressman Gonzalez Votes Against Misguided Tax Reform Legislation in U.S. House of Representatives

WASHINGTON—Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) voted against H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which would reduce the number of individual income rates from seven to four, while raising taxes on 36 million middle class families and adding anywhere from $1.5 to $2 trillion dollars to the national deficit over the next decade.

While the congressman supports comprehensive tax reform, he voted against the measure citing concerns with the drastic roll back of various deductions that benefit millions of hard working families, veterans, seniors, and students.

"When I arrived in Congress, I saw an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to work together to modernize our nation's tax code and grow our economy," Congressman Gonzalez said. "Today, I am disappointed to see such a deeply flawed proposal come up for a vote. I cannot support legislation that would harm the hard-working families, students, teachers, service members, and seniors that rely on a number of deductions and credits that this plan seeks to repeal. I cannot support putting a tab on our nation's credit card that future generations will ultimately be forced to repay. That is not responsible in terms of family economics or in terms of our nation's economics."

H.R. 1 would repeal the deduction for state and local income and sales taxes, which would amount to a $900 billion tax increase on American families. Taxpayers in every bracket benefit from the state and local tax deduction. Almost 40 percent of taxpayers with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 claim the deduction, and more than 70 percent of those making between $100,000 and $200,000 claim it. The state and local tax deduction supports investments in local law enforcement, first-responders, infrastructure, and a wide range of other services.

The legislation would also slash the medical expense deduction, which allows individuals with high healthcare costs to deduct medical expenses, above a certain threshold, from their taxes. The current threshold is for medical expenses that exceed 10 percent of adjusted gross income. Almost 9 million tax filers use the medical expense deduction each year, and it is especially important to Americans age 50 and over. About 73 percent of those claiming the deduction reported income of $75,000 or less, and 52 percent of those claiming the deduction reported income of $50,000 or less.

Congressman Gonzalez is committed to making higher education affordable and accessible for all. H.R. 1 eliminates the student loan interest deduction, raising taxes and putting the burden of student loans on current students and recent graduates. Currently, eligible individuals can claim up to $25,00 of what they paid toward their student loans. It is available to middle class families with an adjusted gross income of less than $80,000. Almost 12 million tax filers claim the student loan interest deduction every year.

H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a vote of 227 in favor and 205 against the legislation.