NEW YORK CITY—On the driveway of a home in Bethlehem, a suburb outside of Albany, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced their statewide push to urge congressional representatives to oppose the repeal or reduction of state and local, including property tax deductions from federal returns.

At Monday's news conference with upstate New York homeowners, Schumer called the Republican tax proposal a “gut-punch to Rochester and Western New York's middle class.” He noted more than 22% of Western New Yorkers used the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, and the average tax payer in the region could lose nearly $12,000 by the elimination of that deduction, alone.

Gov. Cuomo released an analysis by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. It calculated the tax plan would amount to 3.3 million New York taxpayers having their tax burden increase by $17.5 billion. He said under the proposal, New York taxpayers will have to pay on average $5,300 more in federal income taxes.