The island’s bipartisan congressional delegation met on Friday to discuss the latest developments on business policy in Washington.
The event, which was hosted by the Long Island Association, an island-wide business association, was meant to provide insight on relevant federal policy developments to local business leaders, said Stacey Sikes, the vice president of government affairs and communications.
Over 700 business leaders from companies ranging from law to medical to energy to engineering firms were in attendance to hear from U.S. Reps. Republicans Nick LaLota (NY-1) and Andrew Garbarino (NY-2) and Democrats Tom Suozzi (NY-3) and Laura Gillen (NY-4), according to Matt Cohen, the association’s president and CEO.
The conversation focused primarily on the SALT Tax, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, and bipartisanship.
Cohen started the conversation by asking the representatives to speak about SALT, or state and local tax, deductions. These deductions allow taxpayers to deduct up to $10,000 of state and local taxes from their taxable incomes. However, prior to the 2018 tax year, there was no $10,000 cap.
Though Trump has made recent statements in support of lifting the cap on SALT deductions, the issue typically sees more Democratic support than Republican. However, LaLota and Garbarino broke from their Republican colleagues in Congress to support restoring SALT deductions, an action that their Democratic colleagues commended them for on Friday.
“I was an original co-sponsor with Congressman Garbarino of the SALT Deductibility Act, which would contemplate a full restoration of the SALT deduction,” Gillen said after the event. “That’s what I would like to see. That’s what Long Island would like to see.”
“I reached out to leadership on both sides of the aisle. I testified before the Ways and Means Committee about how important this is to my district,” Gillen added, emphasizing she is working to dispel the notion that SALT deductions only benefit the wealthy elite. “I’m optimistic that we’ll see some relief for taxpayers on Long Island.”
The delegation was generally in agreement for most of the conversation. However, they had a brief spat over Elon Musk’s actions in the government within his Department of Government Efficiency, known best for its aggressive budget cuts.
Both Republicans expressed support for Musk’s actions, defending the cuts by saying that if they ask the president to reverse a cut they believe was done too hastily or created too much disruption in their district, he typically obliges.
Gillen and Suozzi both emphasized their records as Hempstead Town Supervisor and Nassau County executive, in which they said they decreased staff and government bloat in a manner that was less disruptive, more responsible, and more beneficial to their constituents.
“I think it’s been reckless,” Suozzi said of the DOGE cuts. “They laid off people responsible for hosting the nuclear stockpile and said, ‘Oh, that was a mistake.’ Then they had a hard time getting people back because they cut them off for emails. They fired people responsible for overseeing avian flu, responsible for overseeing the measles outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico,” he said, emphasizing that he thought the department’s actions were harming Long Islanders.
In the end, the delegation aligned themselves as a group united in working to benefit Long Island, despite differences of opinion they may hold.
“No matter who’s in charge, we will continue to fight to support Long Island so it continues to be a great place that we all call home,” Garbarino said. “We’re lucky that we have four of us here that have the backbone and courage to do what’s right.”
