New London — State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and Republican challenger Steve Weir of Hebron, both seeking election in the 19th Senate District, faced off Thursday evening in a debate The Day hosted that largely focused on state budget concerns, especially given the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic.

The district includes Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Marlborough, Montville, Norwich and Sprague.

Day Editorial Page Editor Paul Choiniere moderated the livestreamed debate, which was held at the Garde Arts Center with no live audience. Day Staff Writer and editorial board member Julia Bergman, and 94.9 News Now talk show host Lee Elci also asked questions, several of which came from viewers.

Weir repeatedly questioned why the state doesn't look at the spending side versus the revenue or tax side. He said Gov. Ned Lamont had the opportunity to save millions of dollars by freezing state employee pay raises but chose not to, "so I think we need to go back to the drawing board and look at what a tough decision looks like."

Osten later said Weir was just giving "platitudes instead of what those hard decisions would be" and questioned, "If he's going to cut the budget, where are those cuts?"

The senator said she has "cut out of every line item in the budget, over and over and over," and that the Appropriations Committee, of which she is co-chair, goes "through each line item in the budget" and trims "where we can without eviscerating the safety net."

Osten spoke about the history of the state's fiscal position.

"The pension debt in Connecticut has been building up for three-quarters of a century because everyone was having dinner and leaving the grocery bill for the next generation," Osten said. She thinks Connecticut "is heading on the right path towards handling our fiscal issues," later noting that the state pays $100 million less in salaries than it did a decade ago.

Weir replied that regardless of claims of cuts and employee levels, "The situation that we're in with all this debt, we're not doing enough and we need to look harder."

Osten advocated for the legalization of sports betting and online gaming, saying she thinks the legislature should pass a bill that codifies them into law and requires Lamont to come up with a compact agreement.

On the topic of the minimum wage, Weir said he believes that minimum wage wasn't meant to be used interchangeably with living wage, and that he thinks the state should look at a training wage.

Osten, who voted in favor of minimum wage increases, replied, "I think that what my colleague is not recognizing is that the living wage in Connecticut being paid by nursing homes to their employees, being paid by nonprofits and group homes to their employees, is that minimum wage."

On the topic of the state's handling of the pandemic, Weir said it was "not appropriate for the legislature to abdicate the power the second time around." He was referring to a special 10-person committee vote in early September, in which the six Democrats voted to extend Lamont's emergency powers and the four Republicans voted against it.

Osten said she was satisfied that the governor's powers were extended "to deal with the day-to-day issue of the pandemic" but isn't satisfied that the legislature doesn't have a say in how federal dollars are spent.

Weir thinks the legislature should do a thorough review of each of Lamont's executive orders "to determine which ones were appropriate back in March as compared to today."

Weir, who was a police officer in Glastonbury for five years and now owns a disaster restoration company, said he was disappointed in Osten's vote in favor of the police accountability bill this summer, saying the qualified immunity provision "could get an officer killed."

Osten would rather have seen the bill go through the normal process and to the Public Safety and Security Committee, of which she is vice chair, and said the bill should have some modifications.

Asked if the state should supersede restrictive local zoning laws that discourage affordable housing, given that Connecticut is one of the most racially and economically segregated places in the country, Weir said he believes in leaving that decision up to municipalities.

Osten said if we're going to look at affordable housing, we need to understand that the infrastructure needs to be there, noting that most small towns don't have municipal water or sewer services.

In her opening and closing statements, Osten talked about making hard decisions and coming up with policies "that have helped each and every town in our district with real resources."

Weir opened the debate asking whether voters would choose "more of the same spending, more of the same taxes, more of the same rushed, middle-of-the night decisions," and ended by saying Connecticut's status in the nation has declined under Democratic leadership.

Criticizing one-party rule, he said, "Without vigorous dialogue and a clash of ideas, the people of Connecticut are short-changed. Legislation should not be about what feels good; it should be about what makes sense and addresses the most pressing issues of our time."

e.moser@theday.com