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Rep. John Katko Ready to Reign in Regulations When he Begins Second Term

WAER News

Central New York Congressmember John Katko will be sworn into a second term in office Tuesday, something the district hasn’t seen since Jim Walsh held the seat.  But  what’s likely to be on the agenda when he returns to Washington?

It probably comes as no surprise by now that Obamacare will be one of the first items to be addressed by the 115th congress.  But Katko warns any changes have to be done carefully…

"I'm on record as saying, and I've consistently voted, while I do want to radically restructure or replace Obamacare, I'm not going to vote for a repeal unless a replacement is ready to go," Katko said.  "If there is such a vote to repeal with a replacement sometime in the future, that's going to be a problem for me.  I have to see exactly what is going to be proposed."

He says the risks are too great to just drop the program in its entirety.

"It would be an economic calamity, not just for individual recipients," Katko said.  "There's tens of millions of people who have health care now who didn't before.   If you repeal Obamacare, it would send the markets into complete chaos.  That' something we just can't have."

Katko says he’d like to expand on successes from his first term to address the heroin epidemic and national security matters.  He says infrastructure is also likely to be a legislative priority.  Then, Katko says, there’s reversing regulations put in place by President Obama have made it extraordinarily difficult for  Central New York’s small business to survive, let alone thrive. 

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
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WAER News
Rep. Katko and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand at Feldmeier Equipment last February.

"The amount of over-regulation, and the amount of reaching around Congress and doing things on their own...clearly they've been legislating by the executive branch," Katko said.  "The regulations do need to be addressed.  The regulatory structure in this country has ballooned under Obama."

With both houses of Congress and a majority of state governments now under GOP control, Katko says it’s clear President Obama’s excessive regulating has not been well-received.

"He's going to end up being very hurt as far as his overall legacy goes by his overreach," Katko said.  "If we did the same thing again, then shame on us.  I'm really going to advocate for changes, but have changes that are measured and smart, but not over-reaching."

Katko says he’s honored and excited for his second term, which he says was validated by voters who feel he’ll continue to be an independent lawmaker who represents all of the people.  

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.