Brindisi Says GOP Tax Plan Would Hurt Local Teachers

Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi was joined by teachers at General Herkimer Elementary School in North Utica on Monday.

Brindisi announced a major push and legislative plan to protect the federal tax deduction for teachers who buy school supplies for the classroom with their own money.

The current tax law allows teachers in the Mohawk Valley to deduct $250 each year and up to $750 this year for supplies.

Brindisi says the new GOP tax plan would eliminate the teacher tax credit entirely.

“There are several reasons to be worried about the GOP tax plan cruising through Congress without any bipartisan input, but one of the reasons that is less talked about hits our local teachers: the teacher expense deduction,” said Brindisi. “Our teachers give it their all to make the lives and educations of our kids so much better, and many of them dig into their own pockets throughout the year to buy extra supplies for the classroom. That’s why I am ringing the bell, today, to protect this tax deduction—because to a teacher, a few hundred dollars is a lot—it’s a student loan payment.”

The Assemblyman says if Congress does fully pass the tax plan and kills the teacher deduction, he'll draft legislation to restore the teacher tax credit in New York.