Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – 7/17/26… This week, Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) introduced the Public Service Retirement Tax Relief Act, legislation to cap federal income taxes for retirees’ government pensions. The tax cap would provide up to $10,000 in relief for individual filers and up to $20,000 for qualifying joint filers in which both spouses receive a State or local government pension. All other income would continue to be taxed under current law, and the cap would apply only to eligible State and local government pension income.

“After a lifetime of serving their communities, retired teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public servants deserve to keep more of the pensions they worked so hard to earn. Our retirees on fixed incomes are burdened by high federal tax bills. I'm proud to introduce this legislation to provide relief, help retirees keep more of their hard-earned retirement income, and better afford everyday expenses,” said Congressman Lawler. 

Currently, state and local government pensions are taxed as ordinary income under federal law. This legislation establishes a cap on the amount of federal income tax retirees can owe on those pensions, helping provide greater financial certainty while allowing public servants to keep more of the retirement benefits they earned.

Full text of the bill can be found HERE.

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties. He was rated the most effective freshman lawmaker in the 118th Congress, 8th overall, surpassing dozens of committee chairs.

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