May 8, 2025 • 7 mins
Nicole Malliotakis speaks with Mendte in the Morning about what her and other New York representatives are doing to make sure New Yorkers are being protected when national laws are being proposed.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, there's been a lot of speculation about the big
beautiful bill that's going to have Trump's agenda, that's supposed
to pass through the House and then through the Senate
and finally we'll have the text cuts and many many
other things in the bill that are part of what
Donald Trump ran on. But everybody's been wondering what's happening
(00:21):
with the bill, Why hasn't it come in front of
the House just yet? And apparently there's some things in
it that even Trump's supporters don't like. And with that,
we bring in Representative Nicole Malatakis, who represents New York's
eleventh congressional district, which is Staten Island and part of
southern Brooklyn. Good morning, Congresswoman, Good morning, good to be
(00:44):
with you.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Larry.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, tell us about this bill and the hold up
and if you have a problem with it.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Well, so far, the bill has not been held up.
It's still on schedule. We have not blown past any
particular deadline. I mean, obviously, a bill of this magnet
that is going to have trillions in tax cuts, is
going to work to protect our borders, and is going
to address some of the fraud and abuse in the
(01:11):
in the Medicaid system is significant, and it takes time
to do it. And the idea is to do the
bill right and build the consensus to get it passed,
not to try to jam something through, which we often
have seen the Democrats do and then they turn out
to be a disaster. What I would say is, we're
we're making significant progress. I expect my committee, the Ways
and Means Committee, which is in charge of all tax policy,
(01:33):
to possibly unvail a bill next week. And many of
the committees, multiple committees, about six six or so, have
already passed their pieces. Uh, and so we're waiting on
the two last remaining or a few of the last
remaining ones, obviously mind being one, and then the health piece.
What I would say is, we're we're We're on track
(01:56):
to provide significant tax cuts for middle class, for our scene,
for tipped workers, fulfill the President's commitments from the campaign trail.
I believe we will get an increase in assault deduction
for New York that will cover middle class families like
the ones that I represent in Staten Island in Brooklyn,
and we will deliver on the president's promise of reducing
(02:17):
taxes for our senior citizens. Which is also a piece
of my piece of legislation I introduced that I believe
will make the package. On the Medicaid front, it's really
important to many of us. Twelve of us sort a
letter saying that we do not want to see beneficiaries
lose their coverage and the particularly our senior citizens are disabled,
(02:38):
our children with disabilities. We've made that very clear, and
we've taken off the table some of the things that
would have significantly hurt New York, like lowering the fifty
percent federal match New York currently receives and per capita
caps on the traditional the traditional program. So there's still
some other things that we're working through, work requirements for
(03:02):
eighteen for young people who are of working age, who
do not have children, who do not have disabilities, making
sure that illegal immigrants are not benefiting from our medicaid dollars,
and that the dollars are not going to fraudsters, which sadly,
in New York we've seen significant signs of and even
our governor, Attorney General and the Controller have said that
(03:24):
there's a lot of fraud and abuse in the system.
So we're moving along and we're going to get the
job done. And I think America will be very happy
with the final product.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
The concerns that you have over medicaid, have they been
addressed already?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
The majority of the concerns absolutely have been addressed. It
was one of the commitments that was made for me
to proceed in voting for the initial resolution that allowed
for this process to begin. Like I said, we were
most concerned with the lowering of the reimbursement rates for
New York. That would have hurt hospitals, It would have
(03:58):
hurt our seniors, it would have hurt our most vulnerable citizens.
That has been completely taken off the table because of
my advocacy and the advocacy of about another dozen Republicans
from across the country. I will say that, you know,
we still are working out some of the other areas,
but I think for the most part, we're in a
(04:19):
good place right now. Cousin Trump has made clear that
he does not want to remove people who are legally
eligible from the program. He does want work requirements though
for young men who have the ability to work. He
does want illegals to not be benefiting and using our
pack Styllaris and I think that's something that the vast
majority of Americans want, and you know what, when we
(04:41):
when we actually cut the abuse and we cut the fraud,
we cut the waste, Actually those dollars go to the people.
The program was truly intended for our seniors, disabled and
vulnerable citizens, and that is I think our goal. We
want to we want to make sure that this program
exists in the future.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I we understand that this is almost an unfair question
to ask at this point, So realize I'm asking this
as a hypothetical. But if the bill were to be
introduced right now, would it have enough votes or are
there still that many things to work out?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
There's still details. I don't think anybody would say that
they'd vote for something without knowing what's in it. Obviously,
there's still details to work out on what exactly the
salt deduction will be. I'm looking for a number, and
I believe we will get a number that covers middle
class families, you know, those earning vastly four hundred thousand
or less. I don't think there's a real appetite from
(05:38):
anyone in the conference to protect millionaires and billionaires and
to give them a tax break. We're looking to protect
the working in middle class and the President has said
that he's been very clear on wanting to make sure
that you know our working class, whether they work jobs
where there's overtime, or their tips employees, or their seniors
who are struggling to get by on their Social Security checks.
(06:01):
I mean, right now, seniors who have a combined income
of over twenty five thousand dollars or thirty two thousand
if they're married, they actually have to pay taxes on
their Social Security on some in some form, and that
is wrong, and that those thresholds have not been increased
in four decades now. We can't address the thresholds in
this particular piece of legislation because of the rules that
(06:23):
apply in the reconciliation process. I have legislation that would
address that and increase those thresholds going in another bill.
But in this bill, what we can do is provide
an additional deduction for seniors that will cover their tax liability.
And so for seniors who are making under seventy five
thousand dollars or one hundred and fifty thousand if they're married,
(06:45):
most likely my legislation will get in this bill and
it will provide you tax relief. So we're still working
out these final things, and obviously we want to know
everything that's in it. We're not like Nancy Pelosi, where
we got to pass the bill to read the bill.
We want to read the bill then.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Pass it because of the Yeah, listen, I think you
guys are doing just wonderfully. This is part of the process.
I think some people read the media and think that
you are having problems. I know a few people have
reported that you have broken with Donald Trump. That's not
true at all. This is healthy. What you're doing right
now is healthy to make sure it is the best
(07:20):
bill possible, not only to pass, but to help the
American people. And from everything you just said, it sounds
like that's where you're at. Representative Nicole Maliotakas, thanks so
much for being with us US representative for New York's
eleventh congressional district, which covers Staten Island and southern Brooklyn.
Thank you so much, Nicole.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Thank you. Have a great day.
Well, there's been a lot of speculation about the big
beautiful bill that's going to have Trump's agenda, that's supposed
to pass through the House and then through the Senate
and finally we'll have the text cuts and many many
other things in the bill that are part of what
Donald Trump ran on. But everybody's been wondering what's happening
(00:21):
with the bill, Why hasn't it come in front of
the House just yet? And apparently there's some things in
it that even Trump's supporters don't like. And with that,
we bring in Representative Nicole Malatakis, who represents New York's
eleventh congressional district, which is Staten Island and part of
southern Brooklyn. Good morning, Congresswoman, Good morning, good to be
(00:44):
with you.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Larry.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, tell us about this bill and the hold up
and if you have a problem with it.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Well, so far, the bill has not been held up.
It's still on schedule. We have not blown past any
particular deadline. I mean, obviously, a bill of this magnet
that is going to have trillions in tax cuts, is
going to work to protect our borders, and is going
to address some of the fraud and abuse in the
(01:11):
in the Medicaid system is significant, and it takes time
to do it. And the idea is to do the
bill right and build the consensus to get it passed,
not to try to jam something through, which we often
have seen the Democrats do and then they turn out
to be a disaster. What I would say is, we're
we're making significant progress. I expect my committee, the Ways
and Means Committee, which is in charge of all tax policy,
(01:33):
to possibly unvail a bill next week. And many of
the committees, multiple committees, about six six or so, have
already passed their pieces. Uh, and so we're waiting on
the two last remaining or a few of the last
remaining ones, obviously mind being one, and then the health piece.
What I would say is, we're we're We're on track
(01:56):
to provide significant tax cuts for middle class, for our scene,
for tipped workers, fulfill the President's commitments from the campaign trail.
I believe we will get an increase in assault deduction
for New York that will cover middle class families like
the ones that I represent in Staten Island in Brooklyn,
and we will deliver on the president's promise of reducing
(02:17):
taxes for our senior citizens. Which is also a piece
of my piece of legislation I introduced that I believe
will make the package. On the Medicaid front, it's really
important to many of us. Twelve of us sort a
letter saying that we do not want to see beneficiaries
lose their coverage and the particularly our senior citizens are disabled,
(02:38):
our children with disabilities. We've made that very clear, and
we've taken off the table some of the things that
would have significantly hurt New York, like lowering the fifty
percent federal match New York currently receives and per capita
caps on the traditional the traditional program. So there's still
some other things that we're working through, work requirements for
(03:02):
eighteen for young people who are of working age, who
do not have children, who do not have disabilities, making
sure that illegal immigrants are not benefiting from our medicaid dollars,
and that the dollars are not going to fraudsters, which sadly,
in New York we've seen significant signs of and even
our governor, Attorney General and the Controller have said that
(03:24):
there's a lot of fraud and abuse in the system.
So we're moving along and we're going to get the
job done. And I think America will be very happy
with the final product.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
The concerns that you have over medicaid, have they been
addressed already?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
The majority of the concerns absolutely have been addressed. It
was one of the commitments that was made for me
to proceed in voting for the initial resolution that allowed
for this process to begin. Like I said, we were
most concerned with the lowering of the reimbursement rates for
New York. That would have hurt hospitals, It would have
(03:58):
hurt our seniors, it would have hurt our most vulnerable citizens.
That has been completely taken off the table because of
my advocacy and the advocacy of about another dozen Republicans
from across the country. I will say that, you know,
we still are working out some of the other areas,
but I think for the most part, we're in a
(04:19):
good place right now. Cousin Trump has made clear that
he does not want to remove people who are legally
eligible from the program. He does want work requirements though
for young men who have the ability to work. He
does want illegals to not be benefiting and using our
pack Styllaris and I think that's something that the vast
majority of Americans want, and you know what, when we
(04:41):
when we actually cut the abuse and we cut the fraud,
we cut the waste, Actually those dollars go to the people.
The program was truly intended for our seniors, disabled and
vulnerable citizens, and that is I think our goal. We
want to we want to make sure that this program
exists in the future.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I we understand that this is almost an unfair question
to ask at this point, So realize I'm asking this
as a hypothetical. But if the bill were to be
introduced right now, would it have enough votes or are
there still that many things to work out?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
There's still details. I don't think anybody would say that
they'd vote for something without knowing what's in it. Obviously,
there's still details to work out on what exactly the
salt deduction will be. I'm looking for a number, and
I believe we will get a number that covers middle
class families, you know, those earning vastly four hundred thousand
or less. I don't think there's a real appetite from
(05:38):
anyone in the conference to protect millionaires and billionaires and
to give them a tax break. We're looking to protect
the working in middle class and the President has said
that he's been very clear on wanting to make sure
that you know our working class, whether they work jobs
where there's overtime, or their tips employees, or their seniors
who are struggling to get by on their Social Security checks.
(06:01):
I mean, right now, seniors who have a combined income
of over twenty five thousand dollars or thirty two thousand
if they're married, they actually have to pay taxes on
their Social Security on some in some form, and that
is wrong, and that those thresholds have not been increased
in four decades now. We can't address the thresholds in
this particular piece of legislation because of the rules that
(06:23):
apply in the reconciliation process. I have legislation that would
address that and increase those thresholds going in another bill.
But in this bill, what we can do is provide
an additional deduction for seniors that will cover their tax liability.
And so for seniors who are making under seventy five
thousand dollars or one hundred and fifty thousand if they're married,
(06:45):
most likely my legislation will get in this bill and
it will provide you tax relief. So we're still working
out these final things, and obviously we want to know
everything that's in it. We're not like Nancy Pelosi, where
we got to pass the bill to read the bill.
We want to read the bill then.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Pass it because of the Yeah, listen, I think you
guys are doing just wonderfully. This is part of the process.
I think some people read the media and think that
you are having problems. I know a few people have
reported that you have broken with Donald Trump. That's not
true at all. This is healthy. What you're doing right
now is healthy to make sure it is the best
(07:20):
bill possible, not only to pass, but to help the
American people. And from everything you just said, it sounds
like that's where you're at. Representative Nicole Maliotakas, thanks so
much for being with us US representative for New York's
eleventh congressional district, which covers Staten Island and southern Brooklyn.
Thank you so much, Nicole.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Thank you. Have a great day.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com