Why Long Island representatives introduce long-shot bills at the last minute

WASHINGTON — Long Island’s U.S. House members have introduced a spate of late-session bills with big promises like tax deductions for work commutes and lowering health costs, but with little-to-no chance they'll become law, according to nonpartisan congressional experts and even some lawmakers.

The last-second timing often suggests legislative efforts geared more to campaign messaging than genuine governance, they said.

"Although these representatives may care deeply about the issues involved, these are messaging bills to provide talking points in ads, stump speeches, and debates," Donald Nieman, a history professor of history and provost emeritus at Binghamton University, said. "After all, why so late in the term?"

The Republican-led U.S. House already left Washington last week, not expected to return until mid-November for a post-election lame-duck session marking the end of this two-year congressional session. The GOP-controlled Senate may exit this week.

Yet, Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) did not introduce until Monday a bill she sponsors along with two New Jersey Republicans that she says will help Long Islanders save money on their commuting costs and taxes. That was five days after the House had already adjourned.

The measure would create a federal income tax deduction, more than $4,000 a year or $340 a month, for personal commuting expenses, including the cost of gas, public transit and tolls such as New York City’s congestion pricing. Gillen described it as "the first-ever tax credit for personal commuting expenses."

Gillen also introduced Sept. 3 a bill aimed at lowering car insurance rates by cracking down on staged "crash for cash" schemes.

Among other late bills:

• Two days after the House adjourned, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N. J) announced he and Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) were co-introducing a bill geared to keeping Chinese-developed artificial intelligence off U.S. government systems.
• Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), on Sept. 10 introduced legislation with fellow New York Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-New Hartford) aimed at lowering healthcare costs by increasing efforts to go after waste, fraud, and abuse in government health programs.
• And on Sept. 14 — the day before the House adjourned — Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) and Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand introduced an updated version of legislation with other New Yorkers to authorize more than $5.9 billion to reimburse public employee retirement systems for costs of death and disability benefits resulting from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center.

Other bills are expected to be introduced as soon as this week.

In interviews and statements, some of these lawmakers acknowledge little chance of passage this late in the session. But Gillen, in a statement, said she is confident her bill for lowering commuting costs "will have the bipartisan support needed to pass this year on its own or in a larger package."

Suozzi also says he intends to press for passage of his healthcare fraud bill in the lame-duck session, expected through December. He notes it, too, has bipartisan sponsorship. He blamed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for sending lawmakers home earlier than expected.

Garbarino and Gillibrand said reintroduction of their Sept. 11, 2001 benefit reimbursement bill was not timed to campaigning, "but to coincide with the 25th anniversary of 9/11, when there would be guaranteed attention to this issue, and also after we were able to obtain the latest pension system cost estimates." There is a good-faith hope the bill can be advanced, even if not until next session, their offices say.

LaLota acknowledged in an interview that bills introduced so late are sometimes little more than campaign messaging by incumbents. That's not the case with his and Gottheimer's Chinese AI bill, he said, adding his bill introduction has been steady over the last 21 months of the session.

But LaLota said late bill introductions can also serve as ways lawmakers can test-drive their approaches on issues or topics with colleagues and get early feedback on ways to improve the legislation in the next session.

It's rare that lame-duck sessions — which happen after elections, but before retiring or defeated members leave office and new members are sworn in — pass new bills like the measures introduced recently. "These sessions tend to focus their attention on must-pass legislation or bills that have already passed one or both chambers," Joshua Huder, of Georgetown's University's Government Affairs Institute, said.

"It is most likely these new bills are either messaging bills or position-taking bills ... and are at the end of a very long line," Huder added. "The likelihood Congress passes these bills is remote."