Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as part of a budget proposal, has suggested partially raising the $10,000 cap on state and local (SALT) tax deductions, an artifact of the previous administration that has long rankled Democrats, Bloomberg reported.

Sanders, a self-described Democratic Socialist who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, acknowledged that it was out of character for him to suggest a tax cut typically associated with wealthier people. He said that he will not support a total lifting of the cap back to the status quo before the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which implemented the cap. Whatever form the raising of the cap takes, if it is implemented at all, he intends to prevent the wealthiest people from benefiting. In this respect, the senator has proposed $120 billion to partially lift the cap; if the cap were removed entirely, it would cost the federal government $385 billion.

Beyond this, Sanders has also proposed measures including expanding dental, vision and hearing coverage under Medicare; providing $200 billion to lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60 from 65; providing $560 billion for affordable housing; providing additional funding for Dreamers, agriculture workers and other “essential workers"; and making it easier for workplaces to form unions. Overall, the senator is proposing $6 trillion in spending rather than the $4 trillion being pitched by President Biden.