Rabbitt-Metzger race in 42nd could change balance of power in state Senate

Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY)

Oct. 20--In many ways, the race between Annie Rabbitt and Jen Metzger for the 42nd Senate District seat illustrates some of the legislative stakes in which party wins a majority on Nov. 6 in a chamber that Republicans control by a single seat.

Rabbitt, the Republican Orange County clerk, and Metzger, a Democratic Rosendale councilwoman and director of the nonprofit Citizens for Local Power, are competing for a seat that retiring Republican Sen. John Bonacic has held for 20 years, and that takes in all of Sullivan County and parts of Orange, Ulster and Delaware counties. It's one of a dozen or fewer competitive races that will decide which party rules the 63-seat Senate for the next two years.

In general, the two Senate candidates line up with their parties on Democratic bills that the Assembly has passed and that the Senate's GOP leaders have blocked.

Metzger, who's eager to pass campaign finance and ethics reforms, would vote to close a legal loophole that lets big donors use limited-liability companies to bypass contribution limits. She also supports stalled bills to create a single-payer health insurance system, enshrine Roe v. Wade's abortion rights in state law, prevent lawmakers from earning outside income while in office, and allow judges to issue temporary orders to remove guns from people deemed to be an "extreme risk" to themselves or others.

Rabbitt opposes all of those proposals. She argues, for instance, that campaign donors would find other loopholes if the state closed its "LLC loophole," and that having senators and Assembly members with private-sector jobs "brings a wealth of knowledge" and varied backgrounds to the Legislature.

Without that, she said, "then you're asking people to be professional politicians, and do that only."

Metzger argued, in turn, the state needs campaign finance and ethic reforms to restore people's sagging faith in government -- and to get better results.

"If we fix the way money is flowing into politics, state lawmakers would be responsive to their constituents," she said.

Despite their political differences, both Rabbitt and Metzger describe themselves as people who work well across the aisle, more pragmatic than partisan, and who would bring a valuable grounding in community issues and local-government concerns to legislative debates in Albany.

"We just have to stop with the rhetoric and listen, listen to other people's perspectives," Metzger said.

Rabbit, who was an assemblywoman for nine years and a village trustee and town councilwoman before that, said she always has been a problem solver, not a "grandstander."

"I'm proud of my record," she said. "I'm proud of the work I did. I work well with everyone."

Metzger feels strongly about exploring single-payer health care as a solution to ever-mounting health insurance costs, a pervasive problem that she said affects not only household expenses but drives up property taxes as well. The rising costs of health benefits for public employees, the costs of attorneys for union contact negotiations -- all of that winds up on tax bills, she said.

"It's far bigger an issue than it seems," she said. "It really permeates our costs."

Metzger supports sending more state funding to school districts so they can lower their property taxes, and raising taxes on income over $5 million and a tax on stock transfers to generate that additional revenue. She also proposes a vote-by-mail system, similar to what Oregon has implemented, as a way to save money on elections while increasing voter participation.

Rabbitt would take aim at Albany's unfunded mandates on localities, something she said she knows well from her long experience in local and county government. She would support legislation requiring all bills to declare how much their requirements would cost affected governments.

"Why can't a piece of legislation say it's a mandate?" she asked. "Why do we hide that?"

The candidates disagree on whether the state should legalize recreational marijuana, an issue that could be taken up next year. Rabbitt is opposed. Metzger supports the concept, arguing it would end prosecution and incarceration of low-level offenders and give the state a robust new revenue source.

Both support the Child Victims Act, a longstanding proposal Senate Republicans have blocked. It would help survivors of childhood sexual abuse by extending criminal and civil statutes of limitations and give victims a one-year window to sue their abusers and culpable institutions, regardless of when the offenses occurred.

cmckenna@th-record.com

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