The 21st Congressional District race has become synonymous with three letters: TPP.

Democratic candidate William “Mike” Derrick has used TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations, as a primary point of attack against U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, who is running for re-election.

Even after a Derrick campaign ad earlier this year mistakenly said Stefanik supports TPP, when she actually supports the separate Trade Promotion Authority, Derrick has remained relentless in criticizing her trade views, bringing the issue to the forefront of the race.

The Trade Promotion Authority, otherwise known as Fast Track, lets the president negotiate trade deals that are later brought to Congress for an up or down vote. Stefanik said she supports TPA because it gives Congress the final say on trade deals. She said TPP will likely not come to the voting floor during this Congress.

But Derrick wants Congress to play a larger role in how these deals are shaped. Taking congressional voices out of the negotiations, he said, is a disservice.

“It takes Congress out of important position of looking at and having the opportunity to comment on it and amend it,” Derrick said.

Stefanik and Derrick denounce TPP for its supposed currency manipulation, which Derrick said favors multinational corporations outside the United States.

Additionally, Stefanik said TPP could negatively affect dairy exports and that it does not properly address enforcement for when nations overstep the bounds of the agreement.

Both candidates also support the North American Free Trade Agreement, a 1994 trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada. Derrick said the country has successfully integrated the deal into the economy, building vitality along the northern and southern borders.

He disagrees with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s promise to completely do away with NAFTA if he’s elected. Trump has often called NAFTA one of this nation’s worst trade deals, saying it’s more beneficial to Mexico and Canada than the United States.

Green Party candidate Matthew Funiciello, who owns the Rock Hill Bakehouse in Glens Falls, said he opposes any trade deal that decreases manufacturing jobs at home and that deals made over the last 30 years, including NAFTA, have not benefited workers.

Funiciello said new trade deals should not be slightly tweaked versions of older deals. He would call for a completely new deal, built from the ground up, that encompasses strategies to combat climate change.

“All trade deals have to involve that,” he said. “Why does every agreement we sign not have a climate change component?”

Business reforms

While deregulating business has had a top spot in her campaign platform, Stefanik said a bill she supports in Congress could work to ease the balancing act between healthy and poor regulations placed upon businesses. Known as the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, the bill gives Congress more authority in approving regulations that could have an economic impact of $100 million or more.

According to the bill, Congress would have 70 legislative days to approve a major regulation and send it to the president for signature. Otherwise the rule would not take effect unless the regulation has to do with a national emergency.

Derrick said small businesses deal mostly with regulations handed down by New York state. But at the federal level, he said, the playing field could be evened out. He said smaller banks, for instance, should follow the same regulations followed by big banks, such as Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan.

A corporate tax code overhaul is also needed, Derrick said. He said the United States should have a tax rate on par with other developed nations across the world as there is a current “inversion” problem where companies decide to move abroad to gain a tax advantage.

“If we have a corporate income tax which was at parity with the rest of the world, that would then incentivize our corporations to stay here; then we wouldn’t have all these profits piling up overseas,” Derrick said. “Plus, we would have more headquarters and more vitality in our nation, more employment.”

Funiciello wants a flat, 10 percent tax rate imposed across all the nation’s expenses, eliminating the need for payroll, property, sales or school taxes. For instance, if a U.S. entity purchases goods from China, it would see a 10 percent tax.

Stefanik said she supports more federal government oversight of the Federal Reserve, noting that she does not support the reserve’s use of quantitative easing, a monetary policy used by banks to stimulate the economy. The Fed has used this practice by decreasing interest rates in an effort to spur spending for economic growth, especially following the 2008 economic recession.

Stefanik said the Fed has overstepped its bounds by its use of this process. While she favors added oversight, she voted against a bill last year that aims to increase accountability and direct the Fed to develop monetary strategies reviewed by the Government Accountability Office. She said she voted it down because it removes the New York Federal Reserve president’s permanent voting seat. The bill passed the House 241-185.

Derrick said the reserve has been an “effective” tool in the last seven years to stimulate the economy. He said that companies should be investing in long-term bonds, however, that could be put toward revitalizing the nation’s infrastructure. A certain portion of a corporation’s profit would go toward these bonds, and they would receive a return over time.

Funiciello said he’s “all in” for eliminating the Federal Reserve, as he does not support a bank that loans back the nation’s money with interest. He would support a national bank under the federal government’s complete control so the people have more of a say in its use.

Agriculture

Derrick said the result of this year’s drought in upstate New York, which has cost farmers millions of dollars, has made it clear more needs to be done to provide more relief for farms as well as curb climate change.

After severe lack of rainfall throughout the summer, a few counties in the 21st Congressional District saw moderate to severe drought conditions. While farmers will be able to collect some relief through U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, they still cannot get the relief they would have otherwise received if they were in a designated “extreme” drought area.

County officials have called on the federal government to change the system for designating drought disaster zones.

Derrick said adjustments should be made to the federal farm bill, which he said is “heavily biased” toward larger grain farms. He said some of the smaller farm sectors, such as the apple industry in the North Country, are not recognized enough.

He wants to ensure these smaller farms are getting their fair share in terms, even in terms of disaster relief, that would otherwise go to large farms.

Derrick said increased broadband access is another key to leveling the business playing field for North Country agriculture, saying it should have the same priority as building electrical systems. He supports a bill proposed by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that would combine loan and grant programs that could finance large-scale broadband infrastructure projects in the North Country.

Stefanik has also tackled this issue in her first term. Over the summer, she introduced the Precision Farming Act of 2016, which would offer financial incentives for broadband providers and farms. Service providers would receive a one-time $15,000 reimbursement for each line installed for a qualifying precision farming operation. Additionally, farmers who apply for loans to cover installation costs will have their applications prioritized through the Rural Electrification Act.

Funiciello said he understands the need for increased connectivity, but he believes the North Country can do without it. Calling the issue his “Achilles heel” in the past, Funiciello has argued that the Adirondack region doesn’t necessarily need broadband as it has always been marketed as a place outside the heavy internet connectivity.

He has also called for an end to the meat industry upstate, arguing that livestock agriculture is a major contributor to climate change. He wants to slowly transition livestock agriculture to a more plant-based industry, adding that upstate is best suited to grow farmers market economics, allowing for more localized food sales.

Along with meat, Funiciello said the region should transition out of dairy farming as well.

“Dairy is a back door into the meat industry,” he said. “We need to change that.”

But a significant portion of upstate New York’s economy relies on the dairy industry. According to Cornell University, the dairy industry produces more than $14.8 billion for New York state, which is nearly half of the its total agricultural income.

Stefanik said one of her priorities is to keep helping farmers and manufacturers export as many goods as possible.

Recently, she signed a letter sent to the President Obama criticizing Canada’s trade policies as being unfair to dairy farmers, since it limits their ability to export products. Canada’s National Ingredients Strategy gives incentives for Canadian dairy processors that steer away from purchasing dairy products produced in the United States. The program works similarly to another set forth by Ontario, known as the Class 6 pricing program.

The letter specifically notes that ultra-filtered milk products, which state dairy companies have made “substantial investments” to produce and sell across the border, have taken a particular hit. As a result of Canada’s Class 6 policy, the price of this American export has dropped significantly.

Stefanik and Derrick said they will also continue to help upstate agriculture industries increase market potential by lessening high tariffs imposed on products when exported to Canada.

Quickly moving goods across the border, Derrick said, is another piece of the issue. Stefanik has sought to improve this – this year she introduced a bill, along with Sen. Gillibrand and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., that would help Canadians more easily travel across the border.

Derrick said he would also support a pre-clearance policy as such, but it is only a piece of the broad spectrum of agriculture and business in the North Country.