Karl Brabenec, the four-term assemblyman representing the 98th district in New York, is seeking reelection in a newly drawn map, which encompasses portions of Orange County—including Deerpark, Mount Hope, Goshen, and Rockland County.
He faces Democrat candidate Bruce Levine in the Nov. 8 general election.
Brabenec spoke with The Epoch Times on Oct. 28. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The Epoch Times: You were first elected to the state assembly in 2014, and now you serve as deputy minority whip. In your opinion, how has the state legislature changed over the past eight years?
Brabenec: When the state senate was run by the Republicans, that was almost like a dam, and the water would not go through the dam; Democrats would pass bills opposed by Republicans in the assembly, but those bills would stop in the senate, and not become laws.
But since 2018, we have had a Democratic majority in both houses and a Democratic governor, and their priorities are not in touch with the mainstream residents. The job has definitely become a lot more difficult because of the laws that they have passed.
The Epoch Times: Can you give an example of such laws?
Brabenec: The bail reform. When it came out, we were severely opposed to it—not only me but also the Assembly Republican Conference. The law just emboldens criminals and handcuffs our police officers and judges.
We warned the majority party of the natural consequences of adopting the legislation, and you can see that a lot of them are happening now. This is a bad law from the start, and the fixes we had are certainly not enough. Plus, there are still problems with the discovery part of that law. The entire reform needs to be repealed in total.
The Epoch Times: How can you repeal it?
Brabenec: Two ways. If we have a Democratic governor and a Democratic majority after election day, we are going to have to lobby hard and show them why this needs to be repealed.
The second way is for the voters to take action—I believe we need a Republican governor, and I believe in Lee Zeldin from day one. It is more of a mountain to climb to get to Republican majorities in the assembly and senate—though I do think we can gain a few more members with voters’ help—and the party’s best chance in this election is through the governor’s office.
If Zeldin takes office, he can put a crime state of emergency into place through an executive order, and we will have a chance to suspend the bail reform law in total.
And it is not just the bail reform. Inflation, food prices, and energy prices are going through the roof. Six months ago, you were able to buy a house for three and a half percent interest rate on a mortgage, and today your mortgage rates are about seven and a half percent.
We are hoping that voters are angry with this and that they come out to the polls in mass. Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, it doesn’t matter. You are looking for the best quality of life for your family and yourself, and that’s not happening.
The Epoch Times: You said that property tax is also one of your focuses. In the past years, you have introduced a few times a bill that will lower the taxes in the long run but could not push it through.
Brabenec: The bill proposes to get rid of the September tax bills—which is the biggest tax bill that accounts for about 75 percent of total taxes—over five years.
To make up for the taxes, we locate waste, fraud, or wrong priorities in the state budget to find the money. We need to get independent auditors into the state government to examine everything in the budget, from A to Z. Also, we should put every dollar that is gained from the lottery system into education.
That’s another problem of having a supermajority in the state legislature. A lot of times, they won’t let Republicans introduce their bills on the floor. We must give our bills to Democrats for them to pass. That is not right.
The Epoch Times: Speaking of the current term, what work that you did comes to your mind first?
Brabenec: I’m very proud of helping so many residents in my district during the COVID crisis. We helped them get PPE loans and unemployment claims—that’s probably the proudest thing I have been able to do with my staff.
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Cara is an Orange County, New York-based Epoch Times reporter. She can be reached at cara.ding@epochtimes.com
