PLATTSBURGH — Candidates for the 45th State Senate District found themselves on opposite sides of abortion, bail reform, a bond act and other issues during a televised debate.

Incumbent Republican Dan Stec and challenger Democrat Jean Lapper traded views on the Mountain Lake PBS show, taped Wednesday at the studio.

The discussion was hosted by Thom Hallock with a journalist panel including Pat Bradley from WAMC Northeast Public Radio and Cara Chapman with North Country Public Radio.

The debate aired over the weekend and is the only debate featuring local candidates held so far.

Lapper, a certified public accountant from Queensbury who owns a small business, said she is running for Senate to protect access to reproductive health care, to protect the economy, to grow the North Country economy and to protect the environment.

“Make no mistake about it. Choice and reproductive health care is on the ballot this year, and we need to act now,” Lapper said during the one-hour debate.

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Abortion

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Lapper said she is fully supportive of access to reproductive health care for women.

“I personally had an experience with miscarriage at 16 weeks where I needed the care that I needed at Glens Falls hospital and as a result I’m here today. I lived through it and I have a 23-year-old that I was able to have after that event.

“I think that women need to be able to have access to health care, and it’s unconscionable that we are saying that it’s going to be decided state by state. In New York, we need to be a leader where we protect women, and where we provide access, and providers need to be protected so that we have skilled access or skilled care in our state.

Stec said he supports right to life with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.

“The most recent changes in New York State law expanded the availability of late term abortions which most New Yorkers and Americans are opposed to. It also decriminalized all abortions, meaning that a woman that was seven or eight months pregnant and had a wanted pregnancy, if she was assaulted, pushed down a flight stairs, punched, and we’ve had incidents like that happen in the Glens Falls area not too long ago, formerly that person could be charged with the homicide of that unborn child.

“Now under the new state law that is no longer an offense that they could be charged with. Only the charge of the assault against a woman. So those are the two reasons why I’ve mostly objected to what we did. As far as making taxpayers fund abortion for out-of-state people. I’m opposed to that, and again, I believe most of my constituents are as well.”

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Gun control

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On gun control, Lapper agreed that some changes need to be made to sweeping state gun legislation that was rushed into law this past summer.

“So first, I want to say that I fully support the Second Amendment. I come from four generations of law enforcement. My sister works in the Department of Corrections, and what I’ve learned is that with our rights, requires responsibility,” she said.

“The legislature responded to a change by a Supreme Court decision and the government is always being faulted for moving too slowly. This time, they moved very quickly. and as a result, there’s some some flaws in the law and some clarifications that need to be made. I’ve made public statements about the fact that I think that there are clearly some common sense changes that need to be made, such as allowing people in the Adirondack Park to carry their guns to hunt.”

Stec said he believes the new laws will be ruled unconstitutional.

“A lot of candidates say they’re pro-Second Amendment. We’ve all seen that in the North Country. And then we see evidence either after they’re elected or before then to the contrary,” he said.

“The idea that people need to give up their social media passwords to the government to exercise their Second Amendment is ludicrous. And I want to know, who’s going to define good moral character? That is exactly what the Supreme Court threw out when they ruled against the state’s concealed carry law. There’s just so much wrong with this and it’s costing people access to the right to bear arms.”

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Farm labor

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On the issue of farm workers’ overtime pay, both candidates are concerned that a change from a 60-hour-per-week overtime threshold to 40 hours could drive migrant labor out of state at great cost.

“We should not be lowering the threshold to 40,” Stec said.

“People need to realize that two things are going to happen: One, we’re going to be driving workers away from New York. They’re going to go other places that aren’t going to put these restrictions on their ability to raise money. So we’re going to have an even bigger impact on our ability to find a workforce that wants to do this.

“And secondly, it’s going to make the cost of what we produce in New York much more expensive. So instead of buying New York apples, people are going to be buying Washington apples. So we’re hurting ourselves here.”

Lapper said she has met with farmers in several counties and has also heard concerns about losing workers.

“But we need to balance the worker’s rights, and we need to treat people well. We need to ensure that the workers are fairly treated as well as are given good housing and other protections where we’re treating them like the good citizens that they are, and that are helping us create our food supply.”

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Bond Act

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Stec said he is not in favor of the $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act of 2022, which will be on the November ballot.

“The state of New York already has over $50 billion in debt. Almost all of it is not voter approved, which is unconstitutional,” Stec said.

“If I believed that the $4.2 billion that we’re setting aside would go to good infrastructure projects like water and wastewater … that is money well spent. We should be doing more to fund that. My concern is that this $4.2 billion as described and broken down is going to be spent inefficiently.

“And for that reason, I have my doubts whether or not it’s going to make a difference. Or if it’s just going to check some boxes for people to feel good about saying they support the environment. I don’t think it’s going to be efficiently used and I’m afraid is going to get wasted or squandered.”

Lapper disagreed.

“I think it’ll be a game changer for the North Country, creating immediate jobs as well as long-term sustaining jobs, which is what families need for opportunity,” she said.

“They don’t just need a job for a year or two. They need to be able to to have a career so that they can make a life here. The money is critical for funding infrastructure to municipalities, towns and villages without them having to raise their taxes. It will also provide protections for the Adirondacks, which is essential.”

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Bail reform

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The two candidates also differed on bail reform.

Lapper said the Brennan Center reported no evidence linking bail reform to an increase in crime in New York City. On prison safety, she said the Department of Corrections data from Oct. 1 showed a decrease in assaults on prison staff from 2021 from 1,177 last year versus 1,112 this year.

“We had learned that bail reform in its original format was flawed and that it needed some adjustments, but we need to keep in mind that bail was intended to keep the public safe, and unfortunately, it’s become a tool to punish the people who cannot afford to pay bail,” she said.

“We must be able to provide law enforcement with the tools necessary to keep our community safe … We have not seen an increase in crime in our area. And the crimes that we do see are related to drugs and alcohol for the most part, and we need to provide solutions for people to get to the core reasons for crime.”

Stec said he completely disagrees, pointing out that there have been four homicides and one fatal police shooting in the district in the past few months to show that there is a concern about crime.

“I think that our bail reform is proven statewide to be disaster. Law enforcement on both sides of the issue both in this district and across the state will agree with that,” he said.

“As recently as a week ago, former Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy said that we should be having a special session immediately to address specifically bail reform. That was Bob Duffy. So he’s not a partisan Republican criticizing this administration and bail reform under one party Democrat rule. He’s a leader of the Democratic Party, and he’s saying that bail reform is a disaster. As recently as today or yesterday, Melissa DeRosa, somebody that’s, you know, the chief aide to former Governor Cuomo, household name, again, not a partisan Republican but a leader in the Democratic Party, also criticized crime and the direction it’s going in New York state.

“I can tell you that corrections will tell you that in prison, both inmate-on-inmate and inmate-on-staff has gone up 35 to 37% since HALT (legislation) was put in. I am the author of the Repeal HALT Bill. I’m also a co-sponsor of the bill that would repeal bail reform. Bail reform has turned out to be a disaster for public safety.”