March 27, 2018. A measure to crack down on sexual harassment in government and the private sector appeared to remain in the 2018-19 budget package on Monday, while several other high-profile initiatives may be put aside and addressed after the April 1 deadline, according to legislative staffers and others close to the budget talks.
Also staying in place is a wide-ranging plan to allow employers to increase payroll taxes they pay – which would help employees deal with the new $10,000 limit on federal deductibility of state and local taxes. While complicated, supporters said the plan is voluntary.
Some questioned the need to keep the state and local tax plan, or SALT, in the budget due to its complexity.
“This is something that could potentially have some unintended consequences,” said Ron Deutsch, executive director of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute. “If the goal here is to re-imagine our tax structure we don’t need to rush it.”
Deutsch noted that the plan could cause lots of complications for union labor contracts, for example, since it involves lowering gross salaries in some instance – although workers could net more since they wouldn’t have to pay state income taxes.
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