WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans passed their massive tax bill early Wednesday morning and sent it to the House for a revote before the measure reaches President Donald Trump for his signature.

Both of New Jersey's senators, Democrats Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, voted against the legislation, as did as did 11 of New Jersey's 12 House members on Tuesday. The bill passed the Senate strictly along party lines, 51-48.

The measure, written behind closed doors with no public hearings, guts the federal deduction for state and local taxes. That tax break is disproportionately taken by residents of New Jersey and other high-tax states, most of which pay billions of dollars more in federal taxes than they receive in services.

"As bad as this bill is for the entire country, it's particularly worse for New Jersey, threatening to derail investments in education, infrastructure, law enforcement, public health and other job-creating priorities," said Menendez, a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee.

The House, which passed the legislation largely along party lines on Tuesday, 227-203, needs to vote again Wednesday because the Senate parliamentarian stripped out some minor provisions.

Those provisions ran afoul of Senate rules that were invoked because the legislation was being considered under a parliamentary procedure that prevented a filibuster and allowed Republicans to avoid having to make changes to the bill in order to secure Democratic support.

Because those same rules prevented the legislation from increasing the federal deficit more by $1.5 trillion over 10 years, the provisions benefitting middle-income taxpayers expire in 2025, while tax breaks for corporations were made permanent.

As a result, those earning $75,000 or less would see their taxes go up by 2027, according to the Republican-led Joint Committee on Taxation.

"New Jersey families and communities will be among the hardest hit, with potentially long-lasting effects on services, property value, education, and public safety," Booker said.

"I look forward to the day -- and it will come -- that we reverse this devastating piece of legislation and bring real tax reform that truly helps working families and small businesses across the country."

The Senate moved ahead despite several polls released this week indicating the legislation was very unpopular.

According to the most recent survey, released Tuesday by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, only 25 percent of Americans supported the tax bill. More than four in 10 Americans, 41 percent, said it was a bad idea.

Despite claims by Trump and congressional Republicans, just 7 percent of Americans said the bill was designed mostly to help the middle class, compared with 63 percent who said it was written mostly to help corporations and the rich. Another 22 percent said it was designed to help everyone equally.

The poll of 900 adults was conducted Dec. 13-15 and had a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

Just so we're clear on where the American people stand – our office has received over 54,000 letters on Republican tax reform efforts:



2.8% in favor

97.2% OPPOSED — Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) December 20, 2017

Under the bill, New Jersey and five other states, all of which supported Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump last year, will see net tax increases under the measure, according to the progressive Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

"We need tax relief, but we must have relief that is not comparatively unfair to the taxpayers of New Jersey," said Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., one of four Garden State GOP representatives to buck their party and vote no.

The Senate parliamentarian also ruled that the bill could not be called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, so Menendez, joined by Booker and Democratic senators Ben Cardin of Maryland, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California and Patty Murray of Washington, quickly introduced a new bill with that title.

Their bill would make the full state and local tax deduction permanent.

Calling their tax bill the #TaxCutsAndJobsAct would have been false advertising. Thankfully the name became available in time for me to introduce my own bill that fits the name much better by restoring SALT. pic.twitter.com/uDgRsQkkjs — Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) December 20, 2017

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.