What to know about Katko’s and Balter’s views on national issues

Incumbent Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) leads Democrat challenger Dana Balter by 14 points for New York’s 24th Congressional District going into the midterm elections, according to a new poll released last week.

Katko is running for his third term in the United States House of Representatives, after two successful campaigns in 2014 and 2016. Balter, a Connecticut native, is a visiting assistant teaching professor at Syracuse University.  

Here’s where the two candidates differ on major legislative issues:

Taxes

Katko voted in favor of the 2017 Republican tax overhaul which gave tax breaks to businesses and individuals. In a video Katko posted on Facebook about a year ago, he said the bill, which was the largest overhaul to the tax code in more than 30 years, would benefit a majority of central New Yorkers.

Balter has said she is against making the overhaul permanent. On her campaign website, she advocated for the creation of a “fair” tax policy.” If elected, she said she plans to particularly focus on restoring the 35 percent corporate tax rate that had been cut down to 21 percent, per Syracuse.com.

In an essay Balter wrote for the Finger Lake Times, she said she wants to implement a tax policy with an emphasis on students, seniors, veterans and families.

Gun rights

At a debate last week, both candidates expressed support for the Second Amendment, though they both said there was a gun violence problem in Syracuse. Each candidate had different solutions for tackling gun control.

Balter said there needs to be stricter gun control legislation, which include universal background checks, while Katko said that he believes safe street task forces and stronger enforcement of current laws would get guns off the street.

In July, Katko drafted a bill that would prevent people from owning guns if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others.

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, a state-level group that advocates for stricter gun control, also endorsed Balter for Congress in October.

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Healthcare

Balter, who said in a campaign ad that she has a pre-existing condition, said she supports a Medicare for All program. Balter has also been endorsed by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, which is the largest health care workers union in the country, representing more than 400,000 members.

Katko opposes this idea and has argued it will drastically increase income taxes.

Katko, who is also co-chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, said he wants to replace the Affordable Care Act, but voted against Republican bills in 2017 to repeal the law because the party had not yet come up with an alternative.

He and Balter both support efforts to lower the costs of prescription drugs and create medical malpractice reform, according to their respective campaign websites.

Congressional reform

Katko, who is serving his second term, supports 12-year term limits for members of Congress. There are currently no limits on two-year Congress terms or six-year Senate terms.

Balter, at a Q&A at SU, said she opposes term limits. She said she wants to implement other methods of making sure congressional representatives are in place. Gerrymandering — designing boundaries of electoral constituencies to benefit a political party — is a reason why congresspeople aren’t representative of their areas, she said at the Q&A.

— Asst. News Editor Catherine Leffert contributed reporting to this story.