Democratic governors and legislative leaders in New York, California, and other states are looking at making possible legal challenges to the newly passed Republican tax bill, The New York Times is reporting.
The move is aimed at blunting the tax reform package, according to the newspaper. Democrats say it unfairly singles out high-cost and high-tax states.
Attorney Miles Zaremski, in a column for HuffPost, wrote those states most impacted also include New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland, and Oregon.
And the Times reported state Democrats are looking at ways of raising revenue that are not penalized.
One proposal includes replacing state income taxes, which are not fully deductible under the new law, the newspaper said. The income taxes would be replaced by payroll taxes on employers, which would be deductible. Also under consideration is a proposal to use tax deductible charitable contributions for state governments in place of state income tax payments.
But some Republicans accuse the Democrats of waging an assault on the tax bill in traditional blue states. Democrats, however, defend the moves.
"The game has changed," said Stephen Sweeney, the Democratic president of New Jersey's Senate. "They've completely turned the tables against us."
And Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expects to have a plan ready when he presents his state budget in mid-January.
"They want to target us for certain provisions?" Mr. Cuomo asked at a recent news conference. "Well, let's see if we can redesign our tax code to get out of the federal trap that they set."
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