Candidates in the race for New York’s 52nd Senate District outlined their plans for housing, energy and public safety during a live, WSKG debate Thursday.
The district includes the cities of Binghamton, Ithaca, Cortland and surrounding areas. Democratic incumbent state Sen. Lea Webb is seeking a second term in November, while Republican Tompkins County Legislator Mike Sigler is trying to unseat her.
Housing and the high cost of living in the district came up first in the debate.
Webb said as senator, she has worked on programs that support homeowners and renters, as well as efforts to build up infrastructure for affordable housing. She referenced state programs that turn single or two-family homes into affordable housing options and renovate dilapidated buildings.
Sigler said New York should lower property taxes and build more single-family homes. To do that, he said the state needs to incentivize building more housing and the infrastructure to support it.
Both candidates were asked about their stance on New York's Good Cause Eviction law, which offers statewide tenant protections that limit the reasons a landlord can refuse to renew a tenant’s lease. The city of Ithaca recently opted into the policy.
Sigler said he is not in favor of Good Cause Eviction. He said it will make it more difficult for landlords to evict.
“Eviction court is very difficult in New York state, and [non-renewal] is a way that maybe [landlords] can get out a tenant a little more easily and make it a more pleasant building to live in for the other people that live there, they have rights as well,” Sigler said. “Good Cause Eviction kind of wipes all of that out. It's an infringement on property rights."
Webb said the policy is only meant to protect renters, and that it still allows landlords to evict problem tenants.
“As the name denotes, you have to have good cause, it doesn't mean that you can't evict,” Webb said. “The law was designed to provide protections for tenants, and it was not designed to penalize the small mom and pop landlords. It is designed to address those bad actors who are creating uninhabitable conditions for tenants.”
Over the course of the hour-long debate, the candidates discussed gun violence, voting access, and reproductive health care access in the state.
Webb said after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, New York should work to further protect access to reproductive health care and abortion.
“The Roe v. Wade decision has continued to create negative ripple effects in our state, in our community,” Webb said. “In communities like ours, where we already have challenges with getting access to specialists, whether it's an OBGYN, other practitioners, we have to do more, and I have been doing that as the chair of women's issues in the Senate.”
Sigler said if elected, he would not bring forward legislation to restrict abortion in New York. But he said the state should reduce the need for abortion care.
“We do that through health care for women when it comes to reproduction,” Sigler said. “The pill, and maybe copper IUDs, and some of this should be taxpayer funded. We would like to have women control their bodies so that they can decide when to get pregnant. So we want to make abortion as rare as possible.”
The candidates briefly touched on national politics as well. Webb said she plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race, while Sigler said he will not be voting for either candidate at the top of the ticket.
Watch the full debate below.
