Republicans demanded TV stations stop airing a political ad that praises Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi for expanding state and local tax deductions — even though he voted against the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
The hubbub started from a pro-Suozzi Super PAC ad that shows a Huntington man identifying himself as “Bob the Baker” bid praising Suozzi for expanding SALT on federal income tax returns from $10,000 to $40,000 for households making under $500,000.
“As a small business guy, I always look at the fine print, and let me tell you, Tom Suozzi’s plan is the real deal,” the baker says in the clip, which was paid for by the Effective Governing Coalition, which supports moderate Democrats.
“When Washington politicians raised our taxes by taking away our fair share of the state and local tax deduction, Suozzi said, ‘No way,’” the man adds in the 30-second ad.
“Suozzi fought like hell to lower our taxes and increased the SALT deduction, meaning more money back in our pockets. Tell Tom Suozzi to keep fighting.”
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The National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee said it won’t let the fib go unchallenged after Suozzi rejected the federal spending bill, HR 1, that included expanding SALT.
“Tom Suozzi is misleading Long Islanders to believe he fought for a tax break that he voted against, not once, but twice,” NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said. “If he has to rewrite his record to win reelection, it’s because he knows voters don’t like the real one.”
Suozzi faces off in a rematch against former Republican state Assemblyman Michael LiPetri, whom he defeated by only 3-percentage points in 2024 in the Third Congressional District, which includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk County and Queens.
The NRCC sent a letter to cable networks Spectrum and Optimum demanding they immediately take down the Suozzi ad because it peddles false information.
“[The Super PAC’s] advertisement features a small business owner falsely misrepresenting Rep. Suozzi’s voting record on reducing federal taxes for New York voters in the budget bill, H.R. 1– which despite what the ad says, Rep. Suozzi categorically did not support,” NRCC attorney Ryan Dollar wrote in the letter.
The SALT deduction was capped at $10,000 in 2017 during the first Trump administration. The cap became a major issue for homeowners on Long Island and other downstate suburbs where property taxes are among the highest in the nation.
Critics pushed for an expansion of SALT because squeezed homeowners complained they paid higher income taxes as a result.
Suozzi last year defended his decision to vote against even though there were things in it he supported, such as expanding SALT — saying the spending plan extended tax cuts to the wealthy, which he opposed, and that it trimmed Medicaid spending.
The Suozzi camp claimed he consistently pushed to eliminate the SALT cap even though he didn’t ultimately vote on the bill.
The Republicans incorporated Suozzi’s work on SALT and passed it even though the GOP plan didn’t go as far as he would have liked, a Suozzi source said.
