AMHERST — The six Democrats vying for the 3rd Hampshire District state representative seat agree on many points, though subtle differences emerged during the course of a two-hour debate Wednesday night.
The candidates seeking to succeed the retiring Ellen Story largely agreed on the importance of funding social services, problems with the funding formula for schools, and the necessity of increasing taxes on the wealthy. But there were subtle differences among them regarding health care and the minimum wage.
The standing-room-only event was held at the Amherst Survival Center and co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Amherst.
The district includes all of Amherst and Pelham and Precinct 1 of Granby.
A primary election is scheduled for Sept. 8, with the winner representing the Democratic Party in the Nov. 8 election. There are no other declared candidates.
The candidates are:
Bonnie MacCracken, a professional property title examiner and member of Amherst Town Meeting and the Democratic State Committee;
Eric Nakajima, former executive director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute;
Sarah la Cour, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District;
Lawrence O’Brien, a former member of both the Massachsuetts Teachers Association board and the Amherst School Committee and a social studies teacher at Belchertown High School;
Solomon Goldstein-Rose, a former member of the Amherst School Committee and recent Brown University graduate;
Vira Douangmany Cage, member of the Amherst School Committee, former organizer for the ACLU of Western Massachusetts and member of the state Asian American Commission.
All of the candidates but la Cour expressed their support for moving to a single-payer health care system in Massachusetts.
But la Cour did say the current system needs improvements, including addiction treatment and dental care. She said lawmakers should focus on providing greater access to services and ensuring that people understand the programs for which they are eligible. She said as health care costs rise it’s important to ensure that copays and premiums are reasonable for families.
Goldstein-Rose said he would form a coalition in the Legislature to promote the passage of single-payer legislation. “It’s time to say we want it and we’re going to do it in the next few years,” he said.
Nakajima said that in addition to supporting a single-payer system, he believes it is important for the state to ensure there are enough doctors, especially in rural areas. The state should also be vigilant about rising premium and copay costs under the current system, he said.
O’Brien said though he supports a single-payer system, not all Democratic legislators do. The first thing lawmakers should strive toward is creating a publicly funded option under the current system.
Asked about what they would do in the areas of reproductive rights and sexual health, the candidates had differing answers.
O’Brien said he is in favor of lowering the age of consent to 16 and investing more money in women’s health.
Douangmany Cage said she would work to increase access and affordability of reproductive services. Money should not be a factor in a woman’s choice whether to terminate a pregnancy, she said.
Goldstein-Rose said the state needs to have a more comprehensive sexual education curriculum that is inclusive of all genders and sexualities, improve access to contraception and lower the age of consent.
la Cour said she would work to expand protections of pregnant women in the workplace.
MacCracken said she already has been working with the Commission on the Status of Women to draft a bill to establish a commission local to western Massachusetts in order to study women’s health care.
Nakajima said he would focus on investing in existing programs to ensure safe access to family planning, such as working to provide funds to local providers such as Tapestry Health.
All six candidates said they strongly support the Fair Share amendment to the state constitution. The “millionaires’ tax” amendment would levy an additional 4 percent surtax on individual income over $1 million. The funds would be directed toward education and transportation.
The amendment was advanced by the Legislature in May. It will go again before the House and Senate during the next session. If it passes, it would be placed on the November 2018 ballot.
O’Brien said he would also support other specific tax increases to reverse cuts made between 1998 and 2002: raising the personal income tax rate from 5.15 percent back to 5.85 percent, reversing a tax cut on unearned income and reversing the increase in personal tax exemptions.
“There was no need to reverse personal exemptions,” he said. “What we could do … is increase the amount of money that low income earners can get through the low income tax credit.”
All of the candidates oppose immediately lifting the charter school cap.
The candidates were asked three questions about addressing hunger, homelessness and increasing fuel and food assistance programs. All candidates except la Cour specifically mentioned their support for an increase in the minimum wage. MacCracken and O’Brien said they would support a $15 minimum wage.
Goldstein-Rose said as part of dealing with homelessness, a statewide commission to study mental health care should be formed. To address hunger, he said he supports increasing partnerships between farms and schools and community centers as to create a more “integrated economy.”
la Cour said she believes it is important to launch educational initiatives about making healthy choices in order to help fight hunger. She said its important to continue funding transitional housing programs and other existing community resources such as MotherWoman and the Amherst Survival Center. She supports an increase in mental health care.
MacCracken said she supports increasing partnerships between farms and community organizations and that the state needs to increase funding for housing vouchers.
Nakajima said he would support an increase in emergency food assistance and an increase in both private and public affordable housing.
O’Brien said the state needs to increase the funding for housing vouchers, fuel assistance and emergency food programs. He reiterated that the state needs to reverse earlier tax cuts in order to expand vital social services. He said the state needs to increase its share of funding for the food stamp program, or SNAP. A dozen years ago, he said, it was $10 to $12 million, and now is down to $1 to $2 million
Douangmany Cage said more money needs to be spent on workforce development programs and that she would support a system that distributes child-care vouchers in order to allow working parents to more easily earn an income. She said the Fair Share amendment will be vital to increasing access to higher education to help employ people and expand education.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com.