In local meeting, freshman Anthony D’Esposito blasts congestion pricing and promises action on hate in schools.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito told a West Hempstead audience Monday night (5/20) he’ll continue fighting to revoke a key provision of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act that adversely affects millions of Americans in high-tax states.
“We will continue to put legislation on the floor,” to revoke the measure, which limits deduction of state and local taxes (SALT) to $10,000 on federal returns, said the freshman Republican.
Passed under President Donald Trump as a means of offsetting cuts to corporate and other taxes, the measure is particularly onerous in counties like Nassau, where property taxes alone average higher than $10,000. He called the cap “a political hot potato.” If not renewed by legislation, the provision is set to sunset in 2025.
In the meantime, D’Esposito has cosponsored a bill that would raise the cap to $20,000 for married couples filing jointly and is vice chair of a bipartisan caucus working on the issue. “We have made it very clear that in New York and for those in high-tax states it is a priority,” said D’Esposito. “We were able to convince Republicans even in low-tax states that they should support this, though some did state their belief that in places like New York you have to make sure the state doesn’t spend so much money, and make our tax burden less …. But that is not going to happen very quickly.”
He noted that when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and the White House in 2021 and 2022, there was no movement in repealing the cap.
D’Esposito also discussed his efforts to block the MTA’s Manhattan congestion pricing plan, set to begin next month. He is backing a lawsuit by Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald Clavin to halt the unpopular program, which will impact nearly all drivers entering Manhattan from the suburbs.
“The MTA has used Long Island as their ATM for far too long,” the congressman said. He blamed fare evasion for rising costs and said the transit agency should focus on improving mass transit to ease the congestion, rather than implement the pricing plan.
”This is a money grab that will put millions in their coffers to do God-knows-what,” he said.
D’Esposito, 42, a former NYPD cop born and raised in Island Park, where he still lives, was elected in 2022 to succeed Democrat Kathleen Rice, who did not seek re-election. He previously served as a Town of Hempstead Council member beginning in 2016.
He spoke at a private home to address the topic of rising anti-Semitism and his work with authorities and other officials to stop the spread of hate.
D’Esposito spoke of his strong support for Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, “one of the greatest atrocities we have ever seen,” and called for full US support for Israel – including arms that have been paused by the Biden Administration – in the Jewish state’s campaign to destroy Hamas. “I will not back down,” he said. “They don’t just hate Jews and Israel, they hate America.”
D’Esposito said he had recently visited the campus of Columbia University, where pro-Palestinian protests have disrupted classes and caused some Jewish students to feel threatened, including a visit with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) The Jewish students “were in tears,” he said. “They were happy to see elected officials, including the person second in line to the presidency.”
D’Esposito said he is part of a working group with Israeli officials to counter anti-Israel sentiment here, and said in response to a question that blocking foreign contributions to American universities should be decided “on a case-by-case basis.
“There are places that have become hotbeds of hate, and that needs to be addressed, but there are also cases that will come down to a program at a certain school that [amounts to] a minor part of the curriculum,” said D’Esposito. “Right now the message we want to send is ‘be on your best behavior.’ “
He called on local Holocaust resource centers to provide additional education materials to local schools, and said residents should contact their statewide elected officials to express concern about hate in classrooms. Speaking on the eve of West Hempstead’s vote for school board, D’Esposito also cited the critical need for full community involvement in the local school system to ensure proper lessons for tolerance, saying schools could easily become “Petri dishes for hate.”
He added that even as anti-Semitic hate crime statistics rise, he is being told by police contacts that the true numbers are “probably higher because they are not being reported.”
