Newsday: LI reps show support for Johnson had a payoff

The advocates and survivors who’ve spent more than a decade fighting for funding for those with 9/11-related illnesses found an unlikely ally in their latest push to keep the World Trade Center Health Program financially viable.

House Speaker Mike Johnson.

After all, members of Congress from New York often have had an uphill battle convincing those from outside the state — especially right-leaning Republicans — to support funding for what out-of-area representatives have seen as a New York-specific issue. They had an ally in former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, but often ran up against roadblocks from others in the party.

But Johnson’s support didn’t come in a vacuum. Rep. Andrew Garbarino has been leading the fight for 9/11 funding ever since he got to Congress, following in the footsteps of the 9/11 funding advocate he replaced, former Rep. Peter King.

Garbarino made the WTC Health Program a key issue during the latest speaker’s race, when Garbarino and fellow Long Island representatives Nick LaLota and Anthony D’Esposito were key to Johnson’s ultimate victory. Their support for Johnson only came after Johnson promised support of his own.

Johnson called Garbarino the morning of the speaker vote, Garbarino recalled in a conversation with The Point on Tuesday.

“I said, ‘I need this. I need to make sure you’re not going to screw these guys over,’” Garbarino said of the 9/11 funding effort. “That’s when he told me about his father. He said, ‘I will never screw these guys over. It’s personal to me.’”

Johnson’s father was a firefighter who was critically burned in the line of duty in an explosion that left him permanently disabled.

As members of the House negotiated their version of the National Defense Authorization Act late last month, Garbarino reminded Johnson of his promise, and had LaLota and D’Esposito call Johnson as well. The goal: to include in the NDAA $676 million for the 9/11 health program and expand eligibility for the program to members of the military who responded at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed.

And Johnson followed through.

“He didn’t just say what I wanted him to say so he could get my vote [for speaker],” Garbarino said. “He acted like it was his personal issue.”

The conversations and negotiations over the NDAA continued through Thanksgiving week — and the 9/11 funding was one of the last pieces to fall into place.

“Man, did he stay true to his word,” Garbarino said. “It almost fell out and without his support and without his team’s support, it wouldn’t have been put back in and we would have been blamed and rightfully so. The Speaker said, ‘No, I will get this done.’ And he got it done.”

When Johnson’s office called to let Garbarino and his team know that they had gotten the full amount sought, Garbarino said he was “elated.”

“He gave me his word and he held up his end of the bargain,” Garbarino said. “And since he did this, there are other things we can get done together. The sky’s the limit on what we can do.”

Johnson’s support for an issue perceived to be New York-centric gives Garbarino, D’Esposito and LaLota a way to demonstrate, in the face of criticism from congressional Democrats, that their support of Johnson as speaker produced some positive results. And advocates who previously might have had doubts about Johnson’s leadership now find themselves praising the Garbarino-Johnson combination.

“Congressman Garbarino was instrumental in overcoming resistance in the House to keeping the amendment in the bill by getting Speaker Johnson’s crucial and strong support for injured and ill 9/11 responders,” said advocate Ben Chevat, who heads Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act.

But Chevat and other advocates are hoping to secure a more permanent fix to the funding formula behind the World Trade Center Health Program, rather than constantly begging for temporary plugs to fill budget holes. Until then, Chevat said, he’ll keep pushing for the short-term funding streams.

“I feel like I’m rustling around sofa cushions in the government looking for cash,” Chevat said.

Garbarino told The Point that the NDAA funding “buys us time” — but it’s unclear how much time, especially with the unpredictability of inflation and 9/11 responders’ health issues.

“It would have been much worse if we didn’t get the money in now,” Garbarino said.

But when the new funding runs out, it will again be time to make another deal — with Johnson, or whoever is speaker of the House.