Contractors' Group backs Garbarino
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| Mark Herbst |
Although many conservatives were angry when U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino joined with 12 other House Republicans to pass the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill pushed by President Joe Biden administration, the companies who build Long Island's bridges, highways, sewers, parks and other big public works projects strongly support him.
In fact, Mark Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractor's Association, said in an email today that the group intends to honor the Bayport Republican next month:
"Our
group heavily lobbied Garbarino to support this bill, and we are very grateful
he voted favorably," Herbst wrote. "As a result, LICA is announcing on December 1st,
at our annual meeting, we have selected the Congressman as the recipient of the
2021 LICA Leadership Award. This recognition is essentially our “person
of the year” award."Andrew Garbarino
Garbarino has defended his vote --called a "betrayal" by conservative media -- saying it will bring millions of dollars to his district for much needed work to repave its roads and clean its water.
In an opinion piece for the Long Island Press, Herbst notes Garbarino's long support for fixing the accident-prone "Oakdale merge" along Sunrise Highway.
"Placing his constituents and community above politics" Herbst wrote, "he and three other New York Republican colleagues broke ranks and voted for the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure & Investment Jobs Act. As a result of his efforts, we finally have a solid opportunity to fix one of Long Island’s worst traffic nightmares."
He added, that Garbarino's vote "will help bring millions of additional infrastructure funding for New York’s airports, bridges, highways, rails, water, and other essential infrastructure."
One of Garbarino's constitutents was so angry over the vote -- seen as giving Democrat Biden a much needed policy win -- that he allegedly phoned in a death threat to the Congressman's office. Through a lawyer, the Ronkonkomo man has denied threatening Garbarino.
"Garbarino, or any other legislator casting a vote on any matter, should never receive death threats," Herbst said.
He should know. Herbst is a former state assemblyman.
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