Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) “misspoke” about Syracuse University’s support of GOP tax reform legislation in a radio interview earlier this week after reading a Daily Orange opinion column, the congresswoman’s chief of staff said Friday.
Tenney, a Republican who represents portions of central New York, said in a radio interview Wednesday morning, “There’s a number of people that aren’t getting a tax cut, that are in the higher end, I mean, the middle class is going to do very well … which is why the Syracuse Post-Standard, even Syracuse University, of all things, has endorsed the actual framework of the tax plan.”
Mike Haynie, SU’s vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, on Thursday said Tenney’s statement was “categorically false.”
A spokeswoman for Tenney on Friday told Syracuse.com the congresswoman mistakenly believed a Daily Orange opinion column supporting the tax legislation represented views of the SU administration.
“We apologize for any confusion this may have caused,” said Hannah Andrews, Tenney’s chief of staff, in an email on Thursday. Andrews called SU administrators on behalf of Tenney to apologize for the mistake, Syracuse.com reported.
SU officials, including Haynie, Chancellor Kent Syverud, Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly and Graduate School Dean Peter Vanable have all publicly stated that the university opposes the GOP tax legislation.
The House of Representatives tax legislation includes provisions that could cause the cost of university attendance for some students to skyrocket. The elimination of tax exemptions for certain tuition waivers would primarily impact graduate and doctoral students. The Senate version of the bill does not include those provisions.
“The University is working around the clock to advocate against and share our concerns about provisions in the House bill that would negatively impact our students, faculty, staff and the University,” Syverud said in a letter to Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), dated Nov. 20, and shared with the SU community in an email on Nov. 29.
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