Katko and Balter argue COVID-19 pandemic, health care during live debate

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Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) and Democratic congressional candidate Dana Balter sparred Monday over the government response to the pandemic during their first debate in the race for New York’s 24th Congressional District.

Both candidates criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic during the debate, which was hosted and live streamed by Syracuse.com. Balter, who lost to Katko by five points in 2018, launched her second bid against the three-time incumbent in April 2019.

The United States is still struggling to overcome the pandemic and deal with its economic fallout because Trump didn’t enforce public health measures, Balter said. She proposed a nationwide testing and tracing program, hazard pay for frontline workers, and direct aid for state and local governments to combat the virus’s spread.

“It’s because of (Trump’s) mishandling of the pandemic that we are in the situation we are in now,” Balter said.

Katko, who said in January that he would support Trump’s reelection bid, agreed that the president has mishandled much of his response to the pandemic but commended Trump’s efforts to provide relief to frontline workers.

“This is a terrible, once-in-a-lifetime pandemic and he didn’t do as good of a job because of his rhetoric,” Katko said. “But the bottom line is, it wasn’t terrible because we got a lot of money to the front lines and have been working very hard to do better.”

If re-elected, Katko said he plans to support a bill that would include COVID-19 relief efforts. Negotiations over financial relief for Americans financially impacted by the pandemic have stalled in Congress.

While Balter said she would support a national mandate for individuals to wear masks to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Katko said the federal government should leave such mandates to individual states to impose.

The candidates also disagreed about the Affordable Care Act and health care reforms.

Katko said he would support prescription drug reforms and that he doesn’t believe in completely eliminating the Affordable Care Act.

“I’m fighting for real marketable reforms, and I’ve fought against gutting the Affordable Care Act,” Katko said. “I did it because it’s the right thing to do.”

Balter’s health care plan would include guaranteed medicare for babies and public buy-in for Medicare, she said. The plan would reduce health care costs for 95% of American households, she said.

Katko criticized Balter’s plan throughout the debate, arguing that it would raise taxes on Americans.

“Congressman Katko is trying to make you believe that between the two of us, he is the person that stands with the ACA,” Balter said. “I have been consistent from the beginning of my latest campaign that we need to protect and defend and strengthen the ACA while we work toward a system where everyone has access to medicare.”

Balter and Katko also discussed systemic racism and police reform.

Katko said he has been working with members of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan congressional caucus, and the Congressional Black Caucus on a bill that would address police reform. Katko previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Department of Justice.

“The vast majority of law enforcement officers are awesome,” Katko said “I know them. I’ve worked with them for 20 years, but there are some bad apples because I’ve prosecuted cops.”

Balter said she plans to combat racism in education and housing in addition to policing and the criminal justice system.

“What we need to make a commitment to do as elected representatives and as a government is to take seriously the problem of systemic racism and recognize that it permeates every area of policy and every level of government,” Balter said.

The candidates both expressed support for Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh’s decision to remove the city’s Christopher Columbus statue and rename Columbus Circle.

Walsh’s plan includes moving the statue to a private location and constructing a “year-round education and learning site” that will recognize the Onondaga Nation and include information about the impacts of colonialism. It will also establish a permanent memorial to Italian Americans.

Balter said she believes the circle should also commemorate the contributions of Italian Americans. Katko suggested the city replace the statue with a monument to Hiawatha, the pre-colonial leader of the Onondaga Nation, and rename the site Heritage Circle.

Balter and Katko also agreed that the region should increase its use of renewable energy sources to combat climate change. New York can be at the “forefront” of renewable energy research and reform, Balter said.

“The good news about this kind of a policy is that it brings tremendous economic opportunity for our region and the entire country,” Balter said. “Renewable energy is the next wave of economic growth.”