Latimer Looks to Fend Off Challenge in First Senate Re-election Bid

Politics can be a rough-and-tumble business no matter what level of government.

In his first re-election bid to hold onto the 37th Senate District seat that he gained in a tough campaign against Bob Cohen two years ago, George Latimer faces first-time candidate Joseph Dillon, a bit of a surprise entry last summer. He said he believes that the Republicans didn’t want to give him a free pass, especially since most of the members of the Senate’s Independent Democratic Conference have indicated they will caucus with their own party next session, potentially placing the GOP’s tenuous majority in jeopardy.

“Joe got into this race in the middle of July because the Senate Republicans, the Republican leadership was looking for somebody to run against all of our candidates,” said Latimer, 60. “The Senate Republicans wanted to make sure I was opposed.”

While there have been some predictably tough moments, it’s something that Latimer has grown accustomed to serving for more than 25 years, starting on the Rye City Council, continuing for 13 years on the Westchester County Board of Legislators, followed by eight more in the Assembly and the past two years in the Senate.

Latimer brushed off accusations by his opponent that he is a staunchly partisan legislator and invited to people to inspect his record. He said he has always reached across the aisle, appointing Republicans to committee chairmanships as the and will continue to do so.

“In the Senate right now I have the most bipartisan record of any Senator when it comes to co-sponsoring other people’s bills,” Latimer said. “Fifty-five percent of the bills I co-sponsor are from Republicans. No other member of the Senate has sponsored more bills from the other party.”

Taxes

As a member of the Assembly, Latimer voted against the tax cap in 2011 because it failed to deliver any mandate relief, which severely impacts local and county government. He supports the state cover the costs for mandates that it generates

“When you put pressure on the entity that divides what the taxation should be, then you’ll get pressure to reform,” Latimer said. “You’re not going to get pressure to reform when the state legislature says we balance our budget, you’ve got to get your house in order. That’s baloney if we have unfunded mandates.”

One of the biggest is Medicaid and Latimer has advocated that the expense must be fully assumed by the state. (New York is the only state to force counties to contribute.) He also has proposed having the state pick up pension cost overruns, not saddling municipalities with what has been millions of dollars that need to be set aside

Education/Common Core

Latimer acknowledged that while in the Assembly he voted in favor of the state accepting more than $700 million from the federal government to start implementing Common Core. However, the rollout of the initiative was poor and is hurting some of the high-achieving districts throughout Westchester, such as Byram Hills, Bedford and Blind Brook.

He said the state should take a timeout and recalibrate how it figures the standards rather than scrapping the entire plan through a repeal.

“How you get to the standards, in my judgment, is a district-by-district evaluation and not a standard evaluation,” said Latimer, who also criticized the data collection component.

Latimer said lawmakers obtained greater funding for Westchester districts while reducing the impact of the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), although he admits funding has not returned to 2009 levels. He is hopeful there will be elimination of the GEA.

Energy

The veteran lawmaker opposes hydraulic fracturing, at least until an independent health demonstrates with a level of assurance that the natural gas can be extracted safely and to properly treat the effluent.

SAFE Act

While there are portions that may be in need of clarification, Latimer supports most of the bill that was passed in January 2012. He said the courts have already overruled on limiting the ammunition to seven clips

Latimer said he is open to amending other portions of the bill.

“I’m looking for a reasonable middle ground,” he said. “There are people on the left who want to confiscate personal handguns. I don’t think that’s viable nor is it the right thing to do.”

He is also a supporter of the Women’s Equality Act.