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Politics & Government

In Their Own Words: Bill Reed vs. George Latimer On Top 3 Priorities

Cutting through the politics and partisan bickering, the Port Chester Patch presents substantive policy changes each candidate for state assembly proposes in raw, unadulterated form.

The two contenders for the 91st assembly district seat, covering Rye and Mamaroneck, are Republican challenger Bill Reed and incumbent Democrat George Latimer.

Each candidate was interviewed separately over the phone, but asked the same generic question: "What top three issues or policy changes need to be addressed right now to get us back on the right track?"

As a matter of fairness, each candidate was given an equal opportunity to fully present their views.

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Here's what each candidate said, in their own words.

 

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Bill Reed (R)

Health Insurance

"New York State needs to get entirely out of the business of dictating to insurance companies what coverage they will provide. We should be able to buy a health savings account, which is similar to a 401K as well as a catastrophic health care plan. A true catastrophic health care plan covers you in the eventuality that you contract a fatal disease, or incur huge medical costs. The only reason we can't buy that kind of coverage right now is because we don't have a genuine free market in health insurance and current laws don't allow it."  

Education

"Hands off universal vouchers for every student; I believe every child of school age in the state should have options when it comes to where to attend school. They shouldn't be forced into a poorly-performing public school for lack of a better choice. We need complete, open competition by providers of education."

Pension Plans

"We need to switch from a Defined Benefit Plan (DBP) to a Defined Contribution Plan (DCP). The unions love the DBP because the state is forced to give more and more money each year. That's why the politicians keep hitting up the tax-payer for more money. As a reward, the unions vote them into office every year. The DCP, in contrast, is dependent on markets and is not going to go bankrupt, whereas these other people's pensions are going to disappear. SUNY professors have no complaints about their DCP.

 

George Latimer (D)

Ethics

"We need an independent cop on the beat. Right now, we have the legistlative branch policing the legislative branch and the executive branch policing the executive branch. We need one independent entity with authority over both*. The problem is, assemblymen from the city tend to get away with unethical behavior because their constituents don't hold them accountable and just keep voting them into office. These are the politicians who would be opposed to any type of ethics reform."

Property Taxes

"In Westchester, the current set-up is local governments shoulder a lot of the cost for Medicaid and Pension plans. This is why property taxes are so high. In other states, these costs are shifted over to the state government. If we took the same approach, we could provide residents with property tax-cuts and relief."

Economy

"The fact is industries in upstate New York, like manufacturing and agriculture, are gone and they aren't coming back. The question now becomes, 'How do we best utilize the resources we have?' We have a highly-educated work-force, great universities, and a strategic location. Providing incentives to business is one thing, but we need to realize that across-the-board tax-cuts alone don't provide businesses with a good enough reason to locate here. I have twenty years experience in corporate America. We need to collaborate with professionals, come up with a strategy and if it's not working, change it."      

 

*A correction was made here concerning George Latimer's position on ethics reform.

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