Harckham, Esposito tackle affordability concerns in forum

Sergio Esposito

Pete Harckham

By MARTIN WILBUR

Democratic state Sen. Pete Harckham faced off with Republican challenger Sergio Esposito Wednesday evening in a League of Women Voters candidate forum in Peekskill that focused primarily on affordability issues in the 40th Senate District.

Harckham, running for his fifth term in the state Senate, touted his accomplishments of having 168 of his bills signed into law in his nearly eight years in office and his advocacy efforts on a wide range of issues. Esposito, in his second term on the Yorktown Town Board and the current deputy supervisor, countered that one-party rule in Albany has made the state extraordinarily expensive to live in.

In the past eight years, the state’s budget has mushroomed from $123 billion to $277 billion.

“We need fiscal discipline, accountability and relief from rising costs,” said Esposito, a small business owner in the IT field and a Westchester County deputy sheriff. “We need businesses to have room to grow and law enforcement to have the resources to protect our communities.”

Harckham said some of the escalating costs are a result of actions by the Trump administration and the federal government’s levying of irresponsible tariffs and the Iran war. Despite the obstacles, six of the last eight years have seen middle-class tax cuts that have brought state taxes to their lowest level in 70 years. There have also been reductions in small business taxes, $357 million in public education funding for the district, an additional $40 million for first responders and making the 2% tax cap permanent, he said.

“We worked hard the last eight years,” Harckham said. “I’m really proud of my record and I just respectfully ask you to consider hiring me for another two years.”

If elected, Esposito’s top priorities would be to address taxes, soaring utility bills and public safety. He said his family’s August electric bill was $1,129, about $700 of that being service charges. Consideration for modernizing and reopening Indian Point would ease some of the pressure on families and would augment the pursuit of renewable energy sources.

“I’m not seeing these tax breaks, I’m not seeing these discounts, I’m not seeing where prices are better than 70 years ago,” Esposito said.

Harckham advocated for ramping up the state’s portfolio of renewables. Last year, about 95% of the world’s new energy generation was renewable because it’s ultimately cheaper than natural gas and nuclear, he said.

The senator said he supports the New York Health Act, a universal single-payer system that would provide health coverage for all residents and state employees. Harckham acknowledged that the needed support from the federal government is currently unavailable, but it is one of his longer-term goals.

“Families should not have to choose between food and medication, or getting cancer surgery and putting their child through college,” Harckham said. “It’s just not how it should work. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege.”

Esposito said state universal healthcare coverage would likely be too expensive.

“Help people, absolutely. Just tell me how we’re going to pay for it because, again, look around you,” he said. “Does all this wonderful stuff ring true? It’s too expensive to live in New York.”

Harckham proposed that the state help counties pick up some of the cost to fill the gap caused by the federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Esposito said the state needs to find a way to help the food insecure.

Both candidates acknowledged that state roads are in poor condition. Esposito said $300 million for the district for road repairs was inadequate to address the infrastructure needs. Harckham responded that in the past few years there have been multiple state roads that have been improved and more money is on the way next year.

Esposito said the state can support law enforcement more effectively if the laws that are on the books are enforced properly. He also said local police should cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, which would make immigrant communities safer because there would be fewer interactions.

Harckham said police should not be involved with immigration enforcement, which is usually a civil matter, unless a crime was committed. The trust that police have worked hard to improve with immigrant communities would be broken and there would be less cooperation.

“By having local police engage in civil immigration enforcement, it makes our communities less safe, not more safe,” Harckham said.