GOP rep who supported infrastructure bill: 'These are the things people expect when they pay taxes'

 A Republican House lawmaker who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill said she supported the legislation because “these are the things people expect when they pay taxes.”

Freshman Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.) told host John Berman on CNN’s “New Day” on Monday that she voted to send the bill to President Biden’s desk for final approval because it allocated funding that would provide fundamental boosts to infrastructure in her district.

“For years, maybe decades, Republicans and Democrats, local and national leaders, have really not kept up with pace with infrastructure. And that is one of the key things that taxpayers actually pay for,” Malliotakis said.

“When they pay their taxes they want basic things and roads and bridges and tunnels and ports, ensuring that, you know, they have clean water, ensuring that they have an adequate sewer system, these are the things that people expect when they pay taxes,” she added.

The House late Friday night voted in a bipartisan fashion to send the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill to Biden’s desk, capping off months of negotiations that were drawn out because of internal disagreements within the Democratic Party.

Thirteen House Republicans voted with Democrats to advance the bill, while six progressive Democrats bucked their party and voted against the legislation to protest the lack of vote on a larger social spending package.

The Senate passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill in August, though internal Democratic clashes prevented the House from voting on the legislation immediately after.

Malliotakis told Berman that she is looking to use the funds appropriated in the bill for flood management, upgrading subway signals and equipment, completing the high-occupancy vehicle lane on the Staten Island Expressway, bolstering sewer infrastructure and finishing the shore seawall.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues here locally and the mayor and the governor to ensure that the money is being spent wisely, and that it is spent appropriately and for the projects that we so desperately need,” she added.

Malliotakis was also asked about the political pressure she may face for her support of the infrastructure bill, after firebrand GOP freshmen Reps. Madison Cawthorn (N.C.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) slammed Republicans who voted for the legislation.

Cawthorn said he would “primary the hell out of” anyone who voted for the bill, and Greene said Republicans who supported the legislation would “feel the anger of the GOP voter.”

Malliotakis dismissed the threats, telling Berman “I don't work for anybody except for my constituents, the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn, and I'm going to do what's in their best interest.”