ROSCOE - NY19 Congressional candidates Marc Molinaro, Republican, and Pat Ryan, Democrat, participated in a media-heavy candidate forum hosted by the Delaware and Sullivan chambers of commerce in Roscoe on Aug. 18.
Ryan, Ulster County executive, and Molinaro, Dutchess County executive, shared their views on a variety of topics ranging from codifying Roe and access to women’s health care and abortion rights, to gun control, crime and school funding.
Regarding the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act the two disagreed. Molinaro opposed the bill, he said, and would have voted against it if in Congress, saying the country is experiencing its highest rate of inflation in 40 years and adding $700 billion in federal spending to the economy and increasing taxes by $20 billion will not yield the benefits it claims. “Instead of growing the government, we should demand more from our government,” Molinaro said. “With every federal bill, we should make clear what the bill will cost taxpayers. Washington needs to spend below its means and provide meaningful relief,” he said.
Ryan supported the bill, he said. “We have to do what we can to reduce the pain and pressure at gas pumps, grocery stores, health care, with rent...,” he said.
The bill, Ryan said, will force corporate giants, like Amazon, which pay no corporate tax, to pay their fair share. “We can not lose sight of humanity and of what’s happening right now. It has to be about looking at pain points and providing relief,” Ryan said.
Candidates shared their views on access to health care, specifically abortion access. Women should be able to make health care decisions and not have the government tell them what to do, Ryan said. “We should codify the protections under Roe which have served our country well for 50 years. To rip that away - I don’t understand it. It’s disconnected from what the vast majority of Americans believe,” Ryan said.
“The Supreme Court did not defer to the states,” Molinaro said. “They said it was a state matter.” For his entire life, he said, he believed abortion access was settled law, he said. “I do not support any action by the federal government to impose its will on states.”
He would like women to have the better access to health care, he said.
Delaware Academy Superintendent Kelly Zimmerman asked how the two would provide sustainable school funding beyond foundation aid to support learning needs and mental health issues for students in public school.
The Inflation Reduction Act should have included funding to address those issues, Molinaro said, promising that if elected, he would prioritize sustainable aid, making education a top priority. Rather than providing children with special needs an IEP (individual education plan), every student should have an IEP, Molinaro said. He would prioritize creating a school-to-employment pipeline, beginning with pre-k aged students, he said. “Telling a kid the only way to be successful is with a four year college is discouraging,” he said.
Ryan agreed with Molinaro. “I agree with a lot of what Marc said. The problem is the national Republican party does not,” Ryan said. Republican lawmakers have underinvested and underfunded education at every level, he said, contrasting New York’s increase in foundation aid this year. “We must be much more aggressive,” Ryan said, in funding schools. The lack of investment in education puts Americans at a disadvantage worldwide, he said. To build a new economy, to compete with China, and to compete globally, there must be a larger investment in education, he said. One way to address that, he said, it to make community college free for everyone. Similarly, he said, those that serve the country should not be saddled with college debt.
To address the opioid epidemic, they both agreed that investing in prevention programs and education, as well as providing access to substance use disorder treatment, crisis intervention and mental health programs is a solution they would work toward if elected to Congress.
“We don’t have enough treatment beds, because their’s no money in it,” Molinaro said.
Removing the stigma associated with substance use and recovery is critical, Molinaro continued, and used the topic as a pivot point to call for tighter border control and investment in law enforcement “to find drug traffickers and bring them to justice.
The two were also united in their views on gun control, gun rights and pistol permits.
New York has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country, they agreed.
“What it doesn’t have is a system to decentralize gun crime,” Molinaro said. Molinaro disagreed with recent legislation enacted by Governor Kathy Hochul which he said “doubles down on arbitrary rules.” What New York did was make it even less constitutional and may have made it illegal to hunt in the Catskills.” New York legislators “overreacted,” Molinaro said.
Ryan said that a weapon designed for combat does not belong in the hands of the average person. The gun used in a mass shooting that occurred earlier this year in a Buffalo supermarket, he said, was the same weapon that he carried in combat. “The fact that we can not marshal the political courage to stop things like this from happening is a disgrace,” Ryan said. “Responsible gun owners, like myself, realize we need some common sense.”
Ryan called for leadership at the federal level on the issue of gun control. “I support universal background checks and Red Flag laws,” Ryan said, which have worked to remove guns from those who meet criteria for the likelihood of harming themselves or others.
They echoed one another regarding the divisive political climate, locally and nationally, and pledged to eliminate the partisan divide.
“We must work beyond party designation,” Molinaro said.
In closing, Molinaro said it was unhealthy to have both houses of Congress and a President of the same political party. “It is not healthy to have one political party ruling, It’s how we ended up with cashless bail and underfunding of law enforcement.”
Ryan said he will bring both a tenacity and optimism to Congress if elected. “At the end of the day, it boils down to who is actually going to deliver - find common ground and deliver.”
“The weight of being a public servant is something we’ve both felt,” Ryan said of himself and Molinaro. “And the opportunity to do that in a moment that is extensional for democracy is something I bear the weight of with humility.”
The special election to fill the New York’s 19th Congressional district seat is Aug. 23.
The winner of the race will fill the seat until Dec. 31.
In November, Molinaro will square off against the winner of the Democratic primary between Josh Riley and Jamie Cheney, for a four year term.
Ryan will compete for the NY18 Congressional seat in November.
A recording of the forum can be viewed in its entirety at the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.
