PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Tom MacArthur of New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District was the only Garden State federal legislator — Republican or Democrat — to vote for last year’s historic tax cut package.
If Jay Webber had made it to Congress one cycle earlier? He would’ve had company.
Now, notwithstanding mixed reviews of the Trump tax cuts, the LD26 Republican Assemblyman and GOP nominee for the 11th Congressional District is courageously standing by the much-maligned tax relief legislation, touting the benefits for his would-be constituents and taking Democrat opponent Mikie Sherrill to task for choosing politics over giving the people their money back.
“I own a small business and write the monthly mortgage check here in North Jersey, so I understand acutely how high taxes strangle the growth of our economy and make it even harder for families to get ahead,” said Webber in a statement released Tuesday. “After years of rapidly rising state and federal taxes, it’s good to see the Congress letting us keep more of our hard-earned money, to the tune of six thousand dollars for the average family here in NJ-11. Dissapointingly, Mikie Sherrill wants to take that six thousand dollars away from us. If elected, I’ll fight to preserve and extend lower taxes for all Americans, unlike Mikie Sherrill.”
The House Ways and Means Committee reports the average savings for a four-person household in Webber’s district comes in at $6,040. Democrats have nevertheless criticized the Trump tax cuts for capping the federal SALT deduction at $10,000, a relatively low number for North Jerseyans — especially NJ-11 taxpayers, who are among the nation’s wealthiest — grappling with highest-in-the-nation property taxes. The same Democrats (including Sherrill) have proved less vocal advocating for actual property tax relief which would make the federal SALT deduction less consequential for New Jersey taxpayers.
A recent Monmouth University poll found NJ-11 voters split on the Trump tax cuts — 40% approve and 43% disapprove.
Webber and Sherrill are competing to succeed retiring long-time Republican Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen.
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