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Gay activist challenges Barraga for seat in 7th Assembly District
The 7th Assembly district begins in West Islip and stretches eastward to include parts of Bay Shore, Brentwood, Hauppauge, Ronkonkoma, Lake Ronkonkoma, Centereach and even Medford. The battle between long-time incumbent Thomas Barraga (R, RTL, and C-West Islip) and his Democratic opponent, Thomas J. Hroncich, Jr. includes as many issues as it does communities. And though both candidates agree something must be done to solve a number of issues faced by residents—namely school aid and health care—their approaches and solutions set them apart. Barraga is running on the Right to Life line, and is opposed to abortion; Hroncich supports a woman’s right to choose. Barraga supports the expansion of the state’s prescription drug programs for seniors; Hroncich says its not enough. And, Barraga fights for a change in the state’s system of allocating school aid, while Hroncich believes more money is needed overall to reduce class sizes. Barraga, who is in his 24th year of public life, said his campaign is going fine and that he believes he will once again prevail. He holds the position of Assistant Republican Leader of the Assembly, and is a member of the Assembly Committees on Ways and Means, Rules, Labor and Mental Health. Barraga and his wife, Joanne, reside in West Islip and are the parents of two daughters and two grandchildren. Hroncich, a gay activist, hopes to become the third openly gay person to be elected to the New York State Assembly. He is the Legal Editor at Lexis Publishing/Matthew Bender in New York City and has held that position since 1996. An attorney, he is also president/editor in chief at Tango Publishing in Brightwaters; a position he has held since 1999. He finds it "ironic" he said that Barraga runs on an education platform, "since he voted against the state’s annual education budget for the last five years. Yes," Hroncich continued, "Tom Barraga knows a lot about education, but the people elected him to go to Albany and represent their concerns. Knowledge is not enough if you’re voting against state aid to education." Barraga countered that while the total amount of aid to education has increased, the dollar amount school districts actually received has decreased in a number of local districts. "My role is to provide the funding," he explained. "But I have some (serious) concerns." Barraga said among those concerns is the fact that distribution of that funding is "the story." He noted that under the present system many districts in Suffolk County "are getting hurt pretty badly." He explained that the state capped increased spending by districts at 4.27 percent (or 18 percent of the negative figure, whichever is higher) while telling the school districts how to spend the money. "Our proposal," Barraga said, "is to give each district at least a two percent increase that they can spend wherever it is needed. "The difference is 2.27 percent and that is a disgrace. People don’t understand that it is the state’s obligation to give these school districts what they need," he said. Under the present system, Barraga added, the eight school districts in the Town of Babylon alone have lost over $37 million in aid over the last five years. "The districts are getting hurt badly,’ Barraga reiterated. "Capping aid is wrong." Hroncich argued that state aid to districts has increased $4.1 billion over the last five years and that the increase for the 2000-01 school year is $1.4 billion. "(If I’d been in the assembly) I would’ve voted the $4.6 billion in increases," he said. "What we need are smaller class sizes and universal pre-K. We have to help school districts to attain higher standards." Another area of disagreement is the issue of abortion and women’s right to choose. "I am against abortion," Barraga said. "And I’m most certainly against partial birth (late term) abortion." He added that it is a logical position and not a theological position that leads him to believe life begins at conception. "Human beings are the only species that destroy their own." he said. "Presently, 35 million unborn children will never get a chance to make life’s journey. It bothers me so much, I don’t even like to talk about it." Hroncich, supports a woman’s right to have an abortion "In fact, I’m endorsed by the National Organization of Women (NOW) and NARAL," he pointed out. "As far as partial birth abortions are concerned, they are only performed if the mother’s life is in danger and that is the only way they should be legal," he said. Hroncich criticized a recent increase in funding for the EPIC Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Program), a program to help senior citizens purchase prescription drugs-as not being enough. "It angers me that Tom Barraga (now) supports the program," he added. "He (Barraga) says he cares about seniors not being able to afford prescription drugs, but in May he voted against increasing the income levels." Income levels for senior citizens eligibility in EPIC have increased to $35,000 per year for a single person and $50,000 per year for married senior citizens. Hroncich said he would raise those levels to $45,000 per year for a single person and $60,000 for couples. Barraga, meanwhile, said he fully supports the present increase. "By increasing the eligibility, we’ve increased the number of eligible persons from 115,000 to 250,000," he pointed out, then added. The campaign has been relatively civil with clear differences but mutual respect, according to the candidates. Barraga, 57, attended St. Joseph’s Elementary School in Babylon and graduated from St. Anthony’s High School in Smithtown. He received a Doctorate in Philosophy, Business and public administration from Columbia Pacific University. He is running on the Republican, Right to Life, Independence and Conservative lines. Hroncich is running on the Democratic, and Working Families lines. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics and sociology from Hobart College and a Juris Doctorate from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. The term is for two years. The election is scheduled for November 7 and the polls are open from 6 a.m., to 9 p.m.
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