Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - In the race for the 61st Senate District, incumbent New York State Senators Ed Rath (R) and Sean Ryan (D) took part in a debate on Wednesday hosted by the students of St. Joe's Collegiate Institute in Buffalo.
As part of Wednesday's debate, both candidates were asked to address and discuss a number of different topics and issues at the forefront of the public both at the local and state level.
"We were able to talk about issues in a civil way, discuss them in more than a soundbite," said Sen. Ryan following Wednesday's debate. "We had a great discussion today about community safety, about how to build our economy. Do we want to move the state forward, or do we want to move the state backward? I'm all in favor of moving New York State forward in a state that has rights for women, that has a sensible criminal justice system, and building a strong economy where we could all participate."
Among the main discussion points, as Sen. Ryan mentioned, was the current status of the economy in New York State, which includes inflation and an affordability crisis for the people of the Western New York region.
"One of the things that I made very clear in this debate, and what we talked about with the students here at St. Joe's is the affordability crisis that is gripping families right here in Western New York and the 61st Senate District. Families can't afford the cost at the supermarket, they can't afford the increases at the pump," said Sen. Rath after Wednesday's debate. "Albany needs to address this affordability crisis right now, because people are leaving our great state of New York. New York used to be known as the 'Empire State', now empires are made elsewhere."
Included as part of the affordability crisis in the state is the issue of minimum wage for people across the state. While both Senators agree that the minimum wage rate should go up to help people across the board, Sen. Rath feels that state government still isn't doing enough to address the problems for citizens of New York and those in Western New York.
"People can't make ends meet, and what are we talking about? Raising the minimum wage to make ends meet," Sen. Rath said. "Albany has been tone deaf on this issue, and has not provided solutions for people to make ends meet. So this issue, I will study it like every issue, read the merits of the issue, pay attention to it, and make a decision based on what I think is right."
Crime and other concerns relating to bail reform, police reform, concealed carry laws were also on the docket Wednesday morning, as both candidates brought up their stances on each matter.
When it comes to bail reform, Sen. Rath believes the cashless bail policy has failed New York State as a whole, and will work to repeal the "disastrous law" as much as possible. Sen. Ryan acknowledges it is a problem in the state, but changes have been made, and more changes are likely to come.
"The mistake we really made in New York is we went nearly 50 years without making any changes to bail reform. We made the changes, we listened to data, we listened to people in the criminal justice system, we changed it again. This year under Gov. [Kathy] Hochul, we came back and made more changes," Sen. Ryan said. "We also have to look at crime, in general. Crime and Erie County is down. The only part of crime that's up in every county is gun crimes. Some people want to talk about bail reform all the time, I want to talk about getting illegal guns off the street and making sure that people who shouldn't have guns don't have them."
Another part of the debate that was discussed was the gun safety measures implemented by New York State after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a long-standing state gun safety law that required gun owners to show proper cause for applying for a license to carry concealed weapons in public places.
Although Sen. Rath sees some aspects of the new gun legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Hochul shortly after the Supreme Court's decision as flawed, he is in favor of reasonable gun safety measures going forward.
"Quite often in Albany, what we see is a rush to get legislation done without properly drafting the legislation and putting what is legal before the State Senate and the State Legislature," Sen. Rath said. "It should be the responsibility of each-and-every State Senator, my opponent and I together, to protect our communities. Let's have a reasonable plan, let's have sensible legislation, and let's have something that we know works closely with law enforcement."
Meanwhile, the topic of abortion in New York State was also addressed during Wednesday's debate. Sen. Rath believes that in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother, he supports women's reproductive rights. However, he believes the state should not allow late-term convenience abortions, nor should the state be a destination for out-of-staters and out-of-state doctors for reproductive services.
Sen. Ryan, on the other hand, believes it is a woman's right to choose for themselves, when it comes to reproductive rights.
"The No. 1 issue on women's minds in Western New York, New York State and the country is the banning of abortions," he said. "For 50 years, it was settled law in the United States. The right that my mom had, that my wife had will no longer be available to my daughters. That is a radical Supreme Court going down the wrong path. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, we went back to Albany and we passed a series of protections. We passed protections making it so doctors in New York State could not be jailed for providing reproductive services for a woman out of state."
Another topic that both candidates agreed upon during the debate was the stadium deal for the Buffalo Bills, and the justification for the deal at the local and state level.
"If you want to keep a big league sports team, the public is going to pay for the stadium. We negotiated a tough, but a fair deal with the Pegulas, and you hear from downstaters that maybe we shouldn't have spent all this money. But those downstairs were awfully quiet when we put public resources into Yankee Stadium, into the Barclays Center for the [Brooklyn] Nets, and into the new home of the [New York] Islanders," Sen. Ryan said. "Here's where it's a good economic development deal: There's a project labor agreement, and everybody working at that stadium will be paid a union wage, so everyone working there is going to contribute to our economy. That's a good thing, and the state is taking the maintenance cost of that stadium off of the county. That makes sense also, because the biggest tax revenues coming out of the stadium is the income tax paid by the players. So that'll go back to the state, and the state will use that money to continue to maintain that stadium."
The biggest threat to the Bills stadium deal at this time, and keeping the Bills in Western New York is New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin (R), who has said he wants to re-negotiate that deal for the state. If Zeldin does happen to win the race for Governor and Sen. Rath wins the 61st Senate District race, he says he will further discuss the significance of the deal for Western New York.
"Lee Zeldin should be supporting the Buffalo Bills stadium, because we are the only NFL team in New York State. This is an investment in Western New York that's going to provide a return," Sen. Rath said. "We need to fund this, we need to prioritize it, and this was a deal that had to be done to keep the Bills in New York State. I will reason with Lee Zeldin, I will explain to him the importance, and also remind him of the billions of dollars that goes to New York City each-and-every year for capital projects that they're receiving. Finally, we got some of the money, and it's a worthwhile investment to keep our great Buffalo Bills right here in Western New York."
You can listen to the entire debate at St. Joe's on Wednesday in the player below:
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