VESTAL, NY (WSKG) — Republican congressional hopeful George Phillips said changes can be made to make life easier for the American worker. He's running for New York’s 22nd congressional district.
Philips paid a visit to the old train station in Binghamton to honor his grandfather, who was a railroad labor leader. He said his grandfather fought for a weekend.
"It’s a great triumph of Americans to get the weekends off as we did. We’ve got a lot of other challenges today. I think the hidden cost is healthcare. These $20,000 dollar a year family plans, that’s a lot of salary we’re giving up that we could be having for American workers," he said.
Phillips said the money companies pay toward employee health insurance would be better put toward their salaries.
Another issue concerning the Republican is Welfare-to-Work. He wants a work mandate for welfare recipients.
"If there’s a situation where you’re saying, ‘look, it’s giving me more government benefits not to work than to work,’ that’s not a good incentive here," he explained.
Phillips also said welfare recipients should be drug tested.
Phillips faces Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell and Johnson City Math Teacher Franklin Sager in the Republican primary. The winner will go up against incumbent Democrat Anthony Brindisi in the general election.
The 22nd district includes Chenango and Cortland counties, along with most of Broome and part of Tioga counties.