Published in the Wall Street Journal

Your Sept. 28 editorial “Tax Reform, If You Can Keep It” misses a key point of agreement between the Journal and Realtors—we support fiscally responsible tax cuts. Unfortunately, that isn’t what a careful read of the recently released “framework” for tax reform represents.

Our research on the House Republican blueprint earlier this year found that a tax-reform plan with a nearly doubled standard deduction, a loss of personal exemptions and the elimination of deductions like the state and local deduction would deliver an average tax increase of $815 on middle-class homeowners.

Our early read of the “framework” finds that it’s little different, but don’t just take our word for it. The Tax Policy Center noted in their analysis that nearly 30% of earners between $50,000 and $150,000 would see their taxes go up. That isn’t Washington spin. It’s calling out a tax hike for exactly what it is.

Defending middle-class homeowners isn’t “greedy” because homeownership isn’t a “special” interest. It’s a common interest. We intend to defend it.