Thursday, October 1, 2026
There was laughter, there were opposing views and there were reflective answers to questions on the issues as Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association, moderated the organization’s fourth annual “What’s New in Washington” panel with Republican Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota and Democratic Reps. Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury on March 28.
Congressional District 1, which is represented by LaLota, begins in western Suffolk County and continues eastward to cover both the North and South forks of Long Island.
Garbarino represents Congressional District 2, which stretches along the South Shore of Long Island and includes parts of Suffolk County and a small portion of southeastern Nassau County.
Suozzi serves Congressional District 3 that includes a portion of Queens and than expands on the North Shore of Nassau County and extends to several communities in the middle of the eastern portion of the county.
Congressional District 4 represented by Gillen stretches across the South Shore of Nassau County from the Queens border through several central communities to Seaford.
“Because of the times we live in it’s almost impossible that the delegations are 50/50 Republicans and Democrats, that’s not the case here on Long Island,” Cohen said. “Our delegation didn’t hesitate to say yes when we invited them to this event.”
Cohen asked the panel several questions ranging from bipartisanship efforts to House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, the state and local tax deduction commonly known as SALT and the Department of Government Efficiency called DOGE.
Garbarino: On bipartisanship.
“We try to work with everyone and have broad conversations with many different ideas,” Garbarino said. “There are a lot of egos, but we try to get everyone on the same page before we leave the room.”
Gillen: On DOGE. “I agree, we need to tighten government’s belts,” she said. “There’s a ton of waste in government. But it’s a wrecking-ball approach. We should do it in an organized, deliberative, thoughtful fashion. That’s how they should go forward.”
LaLota: On House Speaker Mike Johnson.
LaLota called the Republican from Louisiana, an “honest guy” who has treated him and Garbarino well.
Suozzi: On SALT.
“Let me first say I want to give credit to Andrew and Nick, because they're going against their party on this,” he said. “They stood up, they fell down, and they're saying that they're not going to support this reconciliation package unless it's resolved.”
Roksana Amid, Jeffrey Bessen, Hernesto Galdamez, Carolyn James and Jordan Vallone reported this story.
An expanded version of the story will appear in all the Heralds next week.
