♪ >> welcome to the 2014 nebraska gubernatorial debate presented by any scene isn't cooperation with the nebraska broadcasters association. i am kellogg and the moderator tonight. i will serve as the tonight. we are live from the studio and lincoln nebraska. we will feature the candidates for governor.

republican pete ricketts and democrat chuck hassebrook. we welcome those joining us on adt television and radio where they can a.g. web site and also nebraska broadcasters association member stations carrying us today and welcome to those joining us across the nation on c-span2. we are live tweeting this debate. use the hashtag and e.t. debate on twitter to follow us and you can give us your comments during and after the debate on our facebook page. for the next hour the candidates will face questions from nebraska journalists and each other. the rules are pretty simple. each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to the question and if warranted me give a 30-second rebuttal. tonight's debate is taking place before a live studio audience. we have asked the audience to refrain from a pausing or cheering because it will only take semi-from the candidates. before we meet the candidates let's introduce the panel of

journalists who will be asking the questions tonight. fred knapp of net news susan of w. j. heu radio and adrian of ke tv in omaha. let's get started. according tot determine the order of our opening and closing statements and we begin tonight with chuck hassebrook. hassebrook: i would like to say a special word of thanks to the love of my life my wife kate and our sons dan, todd and peter for joining us as well as my running mate. i am running to get nebraskans working together to build a better future in our state for our children and grandchildren to strengthen our middle class, strengthen our communities and create good jobs and genuine opportunity for every community. from the missouri river in omaha

to lincoln into the north platte river in the panhandle we are one nebraska. our state can only achieve its full potential if everyone of our neighbors has the opportunity to achieve bears whether they live across the street or across the state. that has been my life's work helping 10,000 small businesses with the center for rural affairs and making college at veritable for working students at the university of nebraska on the board of regents. >> moderator: now we have opening statements from pete ricketts. ricketts: thank you for muttering tonight and my lovely wife fancies -- suzanne and my lovely family. my family is from nebraska city. my mom's dad was a farmer. my dad's dad was a -- my mom is a public schoolteacher and my dad started a small nebraska business when i was 13 years old. in high school there was a dozen people there and when i returned after business school i helped grow that small nebraska

business and today ameritrade employs over 2000 people in nebraska. we were able to do that because we figured out ways to deliver services in a better way and we have that same opportunity in state government. that's what i will do as your governor. i use my real-world business experience to make government work better for the citizens. the together detailed plans for how we can have tax relief for nebraskans and improve educational outcomes for all of our kids. that is what i'll do as governor and i look forward to earning your vote. >> moderator: thank you. now that the candidates have made their opening statements is time for questions from our panel of journalists. we will begin with redknapp of nat -- net news with a question for mr. ricketts. >> nebraska's prisons continued to dominate the news. you have both made statements about how you do with the specific problems but i'd like to ask you to step back and talk about how your leadership style will help prevent or solve problems whether in corrections health and human services or

other state agencies. ricketts: how do we change the culture in state government? as an outsider looking at it in we have a culture where people were afraid to talk to the bosses to get bad news. so what we have to do is bring about cultural change not only in the department of corrections but throughout state government and that will require new leadership so whether it's the department of transportation or hhs i will do a national job search to find that talent that will bring about that change. we need that new leadership. we also need to put in new systems in place to be able to help do the things we do better. for instance with regard to prison calculations. software might have helped avoid some of the errors in e-mails going out to the people and need to know about the fourth of prison sentences were. i would be one way to help change the system.

[audio difficulty] >> those are some the way they can address the problems within our prison system. supervised release and probation officers are another way to help address this. it tend as expensive to hire hire probation officers it is to incarcerate someone. all those things will help us start changing that culture in the department of corrections. >> moderator: thank you. mr. hassebrook. hassebrook: nebraskans are concerned about the dysfunction we see in state government. the department of health and human services is failing to protect our most vulnerable nebraskans. we have been paying tens of millions of dollars at the expense of nebraska taxpayers to the federal government because

of failure to follow federal rules. the department of corrections we have released some of the most dangerous criminals before they finish their sentences and even after. the record in prison demonstrates they are a threat to public safety. we released them to prey on our families and is a nebraskans and for omaha and our debt is resolved. as governor the buck will stop at my desk. i will take responsibility. i will be an active, engaged hands-on governor. i will pay attention. i will ask the tough questions until people accountable. there. >> it looks like we do have the broadcast back. again back to the nebraska governor's race. >> mental health courts and veteran scores because those are more effective alternatives for folks who just need help getting

their lives on track. one thing for sure when i'm governor announced we are going to stop releasing government -- dangerous criminals to prey on nebraskans. >> moderator: thank you mr. hassebrook. our next question comes from susan at w. j. g. radio and mr. hassebrook will answer for us. >> a state of nebraska ended with a cash reserve balance of more than $700 million. how much do you think should be in a rainy day and what would you like to do with the balance? hassebrook: that cash reserve fund is critical because i served in elective position for 18 years and i went through three budget downturns. one of the things i learned in sound fiscal management includes saving money in the good time so you can get through the tough times when the budgets go south. we need to keep a healthy

financial reserve. i think anything we use that financial reserve for today should not be an ongoing expenditure. we have to keep that in place for the long-term and there may be some critical one-time expenditures we need to make. for example it may be necessary for us to make investments in additional prison space particularly treatment space for prisoners with drug addictions and prisoners with mental health problems and we need to have funds in place to make those kinds of critical one-time investments. i'm not going to draw down that rainy day fund an ongoing expenditures that we are not going to be able to sustain because sound conservative fiscal management requires that in the good times like we have now you don't just blow it all to live for today. you save it for the long-term safety and sustain state government sustaining critical investments in our future through the tough times. >> moderator: mr. ricketts.

ricketts: i would like to come up with what the right number is. i think it's overfunded now and in fact less than 700 million more than 500 million might be more appropriate. the way i want to return at his back to the taxpayers. i think this is where you will see contrast between myself and my opponent. i believe those taxpayer dollars should be returned to the taxpayers as soon as possible and i put together property tax relief plan that calls for putting more money to the property tax relief plan specifically to give the sales and income tax relief back to the citizens of nebraska that will benefit all property tax owners. that's one of the opportunities would have to turn those tax dollars back to the citizens of nebraska to be able to return that to them to get property tax relief. as i have trouble in the state that's number the number one issue talk -- people talk about his property taxes. whether talking to a farmer or rancher or omaha property tax

will waive and that will be my goal to establish that. >> moderator: eight is the first question directed toward mr. ricketts. use of income tax development project has gone up expat ali since the mid-90s until today. there's currently an interim study in the legislature to look at the use of and now it may impact property tax revenue for local governments. the support tiff to spur economic development and how would you change it to use? ricketts: it's a tool that can be used effectively or not and i've talked to folks who have used it effectively. i've also talked to folks who have said it's been misused so i think one of the things we can do at the state has put forward some guidelines so local communities maybe have a template for how to establish that but for cause because that's what the kias. if the project wouldn't have the bot fore with the funny thing is

probably useful. it's helping to redevelop a specially low economic neighborhoods to help get some of that redevelopment to clear up rolling and establish sewers and streets, those are all good uses for how we use it. this is coming up with how do we set the standards for what the for cause is met because that will help us have more effective use of tiff. absolutely it's a tool that we can have to help as redevelop or have to help is redevelop our neighborhoods and create economic activity and certainly one of things we should have in our toolbox for community so they can do that. >> moderator: mr. hassebrook. hassebrook: i agree it's a valuable tool. sometimes it's appropriately used and sometimes it's not appropriately use. the purpose of tif was to help develop those areas that would not otherwise been developed. areas that were falling behind in prosperity. i think it is used in recent years has grown far beyond that

silly to go back and re-examine those guidelines and make sure we are using tif to help develop the areas that need to be developed. one other thing i would say about tif as we have a history in state government in recent years of passing laws to commit local funds to various projects without bringing one to the table. one thing i would say is that when tif property tax breaks are extended we need to bring all the local governments that are affected to the table so they can have a say in the decision. >> moderator: we are watching and listening to nebraska's gubernatorial debate produced by net is. a reminder we are live tweeting this debate so join in the conversation on twitter at the hashtag net today. we continue now with your questions for candidates pete ricketts and chuck hassebrook and fred knapp is up next with the question directed first towards mr. hassebrook. >> today 22% of nebraska families with children are

headed by a single mother in less than 70% by married couples. that's a dramatic change from where those numbers were three decades ago. should nebraska make any changes to respond to this trend and should we consider changing the law to favor to shared parenting and custody cases? hassebrook: i'm not sure about that. it's an issue i need to study more. i do think that there have been many negative impacts of the breakdown in the family and a growing number of children being raised in one family. one of the challenges we face today is we have a lot of children in nebraska who aren't getting what they need at home because parents are so stressed. many single families are living in poverty. they are stressed for time because they are trying to hold jobs and many of those children don't get what they need at home to prepare them to succeed in kindergarten. we all have a stake in fixing up because of those kids don't succeed in school they are not

going to contribute to the state's prosperity. they will come back to cost us in special education and public assistance and prisons. i think one of the most important things we can do this expand early childhood education and improve the quality of our childcare so those young children that are being raised in single families and low-income families and are dependent on childcare settings that are pretty low-cost childcare settings or lower-cost childcare settings can get the quality of care they need to learn and to develop intellectually and as people so that when they get to be adults they can be successful and contribute to our state's prosperity prosperity. we'll have a stake in making that happen. >> moderator: mr. ricketts. ricketts: i have worked with inner-city catholic schools so i've seen some the challenges are kids in low-income neighborhoods have. oftentimes when a child comes to school to kindergarten they haven't been read two so they start behind that way and

sometimes their nutritional needs. sometimes they are counseling needs and i've seen the struggles of single parents who are oftentimes really challenge to help provide that schooling and do anything else they need to do like their job and everything else. so it is a huge question we face because as one of the fundamental things driving a lot of the troubles they might have been providing the kid a good education. if single parent is working to they have time to spend time with the child to do homework? i know that my house primarily my wife spent hours and hours with their kids until they started getting classes that were above our grade level. with their kids trying to help them through homework it was really a challenge trying to make sure they got that attention. what's the role for the state u.s.. that's a great question. to me it seems like not every question's going to have a big government answer. this is where we need to rely on our civic organizations and that's why it's so important we have strong civic organizations in our communities to be able to help work with parents, to help give them the additional

resources they need. certainly we can do that through the health and human services but at the end of the day one of the things that people need our help as they are going to need our love and the bureaucracy can't love. that has to be done by people in the community. as governor would try to foster those civic organizations trying to encourage them to get involved. >> moderator: thank you mr. ricketts. suzanne reisenberg with the next question. >> is the press is close mental health facilities in favor of more community care some law enforcement officials have claimed that their jails and prisons have become dumping grounds for those with mental illness. do you think that nebraska spends spent enough money on mental health issues? hassebrook: this is certainly one of issues i have heard about traveling around the state talking to law enforcement officials at with regard to issues with regard to people who need mental health care. also having to transport inmates to get mental health care can be something that takes a deputy

all day. it doesn't appear in anybody's budget but it's expensive to the county and that puts pressure on taxes. it's one of the things we have to take a look at and your question is do we spend enough on a? i think this is not so much a question of do we spend enough but how are we spending the dollars and with regard to state government that is worth i will start in the first place to look at are we using our dollars effectively? again this is where my real world experience is going to be so helpful because this is what what we have to do at ameritrade all the time. are the solutions we are providing the most effective ones and infinite there were some point in the past are they still? we need to go back and work and this is one of the reasons why performing hhs will be so important. we need to bring in that transformational leader and this is why it will do a job search to find that person who can come in and help figure out how to have them perform. how do we start changing that culture and state governments one of continuous improvement. one thing that every successful

business has is we are looking to see how we can do things better and mental health care with some of things we have seen a pest is a big concern. i've talked to folks out there who are willing to pitch in and from the private sector. some of them have offered to help with additional resources and looking at this problem. i plan to include a lot of people as we address this problem. >> moderator: mr. hassebrook. hassebrook: we have a troubling history in the last decade in nebraska of cutting in those long-term investments that prevent problems and then we have to spend more down the road in dealing with the symptoms of these problems. a dozen years ago we cut mental health reimbursements through medicaid and other programs. lo and behold there are few mental health providers in nebraska because they lose money every time they provide mental health care. we have no mental health care in many parts of rural health care inner metropolitan areas. is it any wonder that with

families with children that have emotional problems behavior problems can't get until health services is it any wonder we ended up as a state with the second highest percentage of our children in foster care? and one of the highest percentages of our children in prison. those are expensive. for every dollar we save by cutting mental health services a decade ago or 12 years ago we are paying $10 down the road in dealing with the symptoms of failing to address problems up front. that is a continuing problem in our state. politicians take the easy path to make easy cuts and long-term investments and it is coming back to cost us in the long-term. we need leadership that makes investments in the future of this state that pay off in the long term rather than going for the quick tax break in the quick tax cut in the quick cut. >> moderator: thank you mr. hassebrook and our next question from adrian of ktiv

directed to mr. hassebrook. >> nebraska has recently recruiting veterans from other states to work in our state. what would you do to retain nebraska's veterans and what more do you think the state can do to ensure they are transition back into civilian life is a smooth one? hassebrook: this year the legislature passed tax revisions to soften tax burdens on veterans who have retired from the military. i found some other things that happen in state government profoundly troubling with regards to how they treat our veterans and again its quickbooks savings at the expense of people who have sacrificed their lives or at least risked their lives and sacrifice their emotional health. for example i stopped at goodwill industries in grand island recently and they learned they provide employment support services to people with mental illness and they can provide the services to be funded through medicaid to provide them to

people with schizophrenia or bipolar disease or what have you. but our state unilaterally decided arbitrarily decided the post-traumatic stress syndrome is not a mental illness for purposes of providing employment support services. that is just wrong. it's wrong and economically. it's wrong but to terribly because when we enable first of all we opened it to our veterans. when we make it possible for them to hold jobs is good for all of this. saves money for all of the senate makes her makes our economy stronger. when i'm governor i'm not going to make shortcuts like that at the expense of our veterans who sacrificed and who have risked their lives and their emotional health. >> moderator: mr. ricketts. ricketts: at ameritrade when i was chief operating officer we have benefited tremendously from veterans who were tired and came to work for us. in fact want to say the gentleman who is running my new accounts department was a

lieutenant colonel in the german running my training department was a retired air force colonel and the gentleman running my back office was a former marine general. all those folks started at entry level and work their way up to management because of the skills and experience and training they received in the military. so we want to make sure we retain those folks in right now frankly we are asking -- i met with a veterans group a few weeks ago and they were telling me about issues they face when they're trying to live in nebraska. the taxes are one of them. we have a handful of states that taxes military retirement benefits. we made a stop last session but frankly i effect until may with a slap in the face to him because he had already retired and the tax package we passed only covered future veterans. as one of the things we have to address going forward in our future. these are folks who have sacrificed so much for our country and we should take care of them. as i was talking to the veterans they were really kind of a humble group.

they are not asking for a lot. a lot of them just want to know they are appreciated. when the veterans told me in florida to put something on my license plate and give me discounts on -- and things like that that it could be so easy to do in the state to show her appreciation. we need to create an environment that's more friendly to veterans and certainly ameritrade to greatly benefit from that. >> moderator: this is the nebraska gubernatorial debate presented by ktiv. i am director dennis kellogg moderator and joining me are fred knapp, suzanne reisenberg norfolk and adrian whitsett of ktiv in omaha. we are talking to chuck hassebrook and republican pete ricketts. the next questions will come from the candidates. they will ask each other questions at a coin toss determined the first question that will come from pete ricketts.

ricketts: check you co-authored a paper with extreme environmentalist groups and in that paper you were against innovation and agriculture. you advocated for the united nations to put restrictions on our farm exports and against other countries importing our farm exports. given that agriculture is the largest in the strainer policies would have cost the of farmers over $17 billion untold billions in lost productivity how do you explain that to nebraska farmers? hassebrook: peter never advocated genetically engineered crops. i was shocked and never proved having my name put on the report. i've written a few paragraphs and provided input on the -- and unbeknownst to me the report came out with my name on it and a recommendation that i have never supported. let's set the record straight. look at my whole record on biotechnology in agriculture

research and all agricultural policy. i've a very strong record of advocating for biotechnological research that strengthens the family farms and ranches that worked for them to help them reduce costs and become more competitive and improve their incomes. i was very strong on this and we had an issue at the university of nebraska was and i was in the board of regents where the university of nebraska and i supported it but the university didn't need the approval of the board. it they sold exclusive right for that patented monsanto corporation which already had a monopoly on the most important gene for herbicide tolerant crops for using and we control. it helped a large out-of-state corporation siphon money out of farmers bank accounts so i have been a strong fighter for proud

technological research by proud technological research supports family farms and ranches and that helps large out-of-state corporations take money from them. >> moderator: now time for mr. hassebrook to ask mr. ricketts question. ricketts: while you were leaving the plant attitude institute cutting taxes on ceos and financial corporations like yours while raising them on eight in 10 nebraskans almost a year later when you are running for governor you tried to cover it up. how can middle class nebraskans trust you to work for them when you have a track record of working against them? ricketts: says chuck knows what he says is not true and he knows is not true. we covered this in last debate. the flat institute is a nonprofit that write academic

papers and it's actually something that is a fiscally conservative free-market. i'm very interested in the ideas because it's about trying to develop ideas that will reduce taxes and spending in the state. that's a good thing. i didn't agree with and at every tenet of every paper they cannot exactly what chuck is referring to his lp four lv 405 and 406 great that bill had critical flaws. it packs the inputs of farmers and ranchers and that would have been devastating to our two biggest industry so i've been very much against that. one of the things a lot of people may not know about me is that i had a very middle-class upbringing. the success that occurred in ameritrade and growth happened after he joined the firm many years later so growing up when the oven door broke we had a proper chair against it because that's what you did until you have the money to pay for the dishwashers in the house where me and my siblings. i use the earnings for my first paper out to buy a 10.

>> of the bicycle. those are the things that i think most middle class nebraskans families go through. they understand they have a budget may have to live on a budget and that's the way i was raised. what i would do is make sure we treat those tax dollars like they belong to you because they do. we need to spend them very carefully. i will be a good steward of your tax dollars. >> moderator: back to our questions from our panel of nebraska journalist. up next is fred knapp of net is with a question for mr. ricketts. >> we have received input from the public suggesting a question about marijuana. colorado's legalization is resulted in uneven enforcement of the laws in western nebraska for some counties sharply increasing spending on enforcement while others are much less strict. should the state devote more resources to enforcement and what role should change in public opinion on the subject played in determining nebraska's laws in the future?

ricketts: as i talk to law enforcement officials i have heard the same things that you just described with regard to the problems on their border in colorado. sheriff jensen was saying he had four murders in the city and they don't really have that. one of them was over $150 worth of marijuana so the change in colorado's law has impacted us here. as governor will work with those county shares in the state patrol to make sure we figure out how we can coordinate with this colorado state patrol and what resources will be necessary and how to get those resources. it points out with a bad idea of legalizing marijuana is. as one of the things that ought not to have happen in colorado. we here in the state have to look at our alternatives as well as hell we do it. i will be a strong advocate for folks in the state pushing back on colorado and the things they have done that are hurting nebraskans. we have a pretty different things we can pursue with regard to perhaps legal cases. certainly working better with

colorado state patrol is another opportunity for us that this is one of the things that is going to be real problem for years to come until colorado undoes the marijuana law. certainly when it comes to that here in the state i will oppose any attempt to do that. it's a dangerous drug that ought to be tested before the fda. that is not happen so i will resist any attempt to do that here in nebraska. >> moderator: mr. hassebrook. hassebrook: i opposed colorado legalizing marijuana. impose an imperfect is a scientific evidence is pretty strong that marijuana use particularly by adolescence leads to detrimental effects on their international development and cognitive development but i think we need to oppose that. with respect to the colorado border i think we need to look at how we handle cases of people possessing marijuana coming across the border. it is putting strain burden on

our local police departments and what we need to look at his change in the penalty structure so he put heavier fines on folks bringing marijuana into her state to cover those law enforcement costs. i think that's one way in dealing with the burdens that is putting on our local law enforcement groups. i do want to say one thing about pete's last answer about when the plant industry testifies for bill, i will tell you have a transcript from the hearing and when they asked for the first proponent of legislation do you know who came up first first? the plants institute and in fact according to an article in the lincoln journal star instead of being honest think tanks applied institute and affiliated groups in other states worked for billionaire funders and pushed an extreme agenda that most benefits those at the top level of the income. that's not a think tank. that's an advocacy group who is working against the middle class.

>> moderator: i want to take a moment to shift. part of fred's question had to do with changing public opinion on the subject of marijuana and what should that play in lawmaking click should we be paying attention to what the public wants when it comes to marijuana -- marijuana laws? 30 seconds each beginning with mr. ricketts for that question. ricketts: is a set as of governor will be an advocate against legalizing marijuana and i think the governor has the office fields do that. with regard to the plant institute is a nebraska-based firm reducing taxes on nebraskans and offering free-market ideas. i don't agree with all the attendant. my opponent on the other hand works for a true advocacy organization and is aggregated against the farming policies that would have grown nebraska. i think there's a different contrast in these two organizations. >> moderator: mr. hassebrook i will go back to the topic of marijuana.

[laughter] hassebrook: we must always consider public opinion and public policy but as leaders we also have to have a moral core. there are certain principles that we believe in and that we will stand for even when they are unpopular and i will do that and as far as my record, the nebraska farmers union and presidents report chairs of the commodity organizations and boards for everyone the five major nebraska commodities beef, pork, soybeans and wheat have endorsed me in this race. >> moderator: the rate we are going to move on. suzanne reisenberg has a question directed to mr. hassebrook. >> north amman is the nation's highest child poverty of any u.s. metropolitan area. fremont is enforcing a housing ordinance aimed at -- coming into the state illegally.

in norfolk a 4th of july parade resulted in claims of racism. do you see nebraska has a diversity friendly state and why or why not? hassebrook: we are diversity friendly state in many ways that we have challenges we need to address. i find it troubling that at of the 50 states, 49 of those states but not nebraska provide driver's licenses to young people who were brought here as infants or children by their parents as undocumented immigrants. now i deeply respect american law and a fundamental principle of american law is that we hold people culpable and accountable only for actions over which they have influence or control. to punish these young people by denying them a driver's license violates the fundamental core principle of american law.

it's also not in the best interest of every nebraska and because you know we spend the money to educate these people to get them through high school and then we say if you want to get a job and drive to work and give something back you have to move to iowa or kansas or south dakota. what sense does that make? we do have some problems in this state that we need to address. i don't think nebraskans are anti-diversity but i think we have had a problem with leadership in the state. we haven't had the leaders to step up and provide leadership to stand for fairness and justice for every nebraska -- every nebraska in. in omaha the most important thing we can do is to create good jobs and help every child growing up have the chance to start kindergarten preparedness. that's not happening now. that's why we need to expand our investment in early childhood education. >> moderator: mr. ricketts. ricketts: the nebraskans i know are diversity friendly. does that mean we can't improve?

we will always be trying to improve on the issue. education is the great equalizer there. we can give a child a great education and that's the pathway to success. that's the greatest gift we can get them to help them out the future they deserve. that's why it works with inner-city catholic schools to do that so that's where you see a lot of efforts to help where we can help people get that education. that's so important. we are also a welcoming nation from an immigration standpoint. we are all immigrants in one way or another but we are also a nation of laws. that's where you'll see a big difference between myself and my opponent. my opponent believes in giving taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants. i do believe it's their right. certainly not fair to taxpayers who are paying taxes that expect him to go to people that are here legally and is not fair to people who are trying to go through the process legally to come to this country. i was talking to a gentleman and his son-in-law was from

guatemala. they are trying to get them to be u.s. citizen. so wrong -- long process. he was saying why is it fair to allow somebody to jump and cut in line when i'm trying to do it the right way and feel like i'm being penalized? that is what we face with regard to this immigration issue and our president is unilateral action has created a catastrophe at the border with all these unaccompanied minors coming to our country. with the state ought not to be a part of that catastrophe contributing to it by giving taxpayer -- to illegal -- >> moderator: a question from adrian whitsett from ktiv. >> this ear tennessee began providing to suppose that an education at community colleges at no cost to state residents. would you support either a free community college education for nebraskans or at least more support for trinity college in exchange for lower tuition?

if so where does the money come from and is not what other ideas you have for growing their workforce? sub by one of the things i've talked about is vocational training. the reason that so is one i haven't talked to a single manufacturer get who hasn't told me we can't find enough welders machinists or electricians into cup we have a lot of great career opportunities that are available face talking to -- and they were telling me if you could could get it to your election -- electricians degree you will start at 22 or 2023 bucks an hour stay 23 books in our state their year and passed to test to be making $20 an hour. think about that. that's a 21-year-old making $56,000 a year plus full benefits. that's the start of a breakthrough. we absolutely need to do more with regard to vocational training. i think it starts younger. in junior high. when i was in junior high everybody was required to take -- let's not turn the school district anymore and there's things like the career

pathways institute. it's a great example of a public-private partnership winner grand island partnered with the public sector and providing teachers. it's planned a because for too long in our education system you can only be successful by getting out by getting a four-year degree and that's not true. get that for your degree or go into the skilled labor force. how do we address at? i like the system that michigan has put in place. they partnered with the private sector. businesses are the ones who are paying for the education. they are coming in and working at the high school to change the curriculum and paying for their post-secondary education. that's the way we can get that training and be friendly to the taxpayers. >> moderator: mr. hassebrook. hassebrook: i spent 18 years on the board of regents and my wife was a member of the local school board so we have made a strong commitment to education. one of the things i have learned

and by the way in our last budget when i was on the board of regents we worked out an arrangement whereby with sufficient state funding we were able to hold our tuition at the same level as it had been for several years before. but if we want to really make this state grow the single most important thing we can do is build an education system that is second to none in america right here in our state. there is no greater economic advantage we can have them in the 21st century a well-educated well-trained and highly motivated workforce. much of that has to start early with early childhood education programs that enable kids to succeed in school. in recent years when an omaha there have been efforts to move more low-income students into the community college. it ran into problem in that they haven't been successful enough in school to compete in community college.

we both have to improve early childhood education so kids have a chance to succeed in school and improve our technical education. as far as community colleges i would make the state a partner with our community colleges and schools in offering our juniors in high school the opportunity to spend half of their day taking community college courses in technical field. we have good programs doing that but the state hasn't really helped. the leadership has to come from the local level. the state can help by providing tuition assistance still make that happen. >> moderator: thank you mr. hassebrook. you are watching and listening to the nebraska gubernatorial debate presented by net isn't cooperation with nebraska broadcasters association. a reminder you can follow the debate on twitter at the hashtag net debate. our next question comes from fred knapp of net news and mr. hassebrook went to first. >> the state has confirmed an average of three trains a week caring bakken crude oil are traveling from south sioux city through fremont and lincoln by

rail. does this raise safety concerns for you and does it affect your thinking on the keystone xl pipeline which could carry some bakken crude oil? hassebrook: you know last week the university of nebraska came out with a study come the university was charged to look at climate change, the extent of climate change, its causes and its implications for the state of nebraska. they release their report last week and they said the scientific debate about climate change and the extent to which burning fossil fuels is contributing, the scientific debate is over. the scientific research is overwhelming that the use of fossil fuels is contributing to climate change. we know that burning oil and developing oil in the tar sands region in canada contributes far more to climate change than our own domestic crude oil sources. that's one of the reasons i've oppose developing the keystone pipeline. i believe we have a

responsibility, a moral responsibility to our children and grandchildren to step up and address this issue and not just live for today and pass the buck and the cost on to our children and grandchildren. i think it would be good to develop pipelines tomb of oil from the bakken ranch to get into nebraska markets. particularly in the case of natural gas because today in north dakota on the bakken range they are flaring off 30% of the natural gas and that's a great resource we could use for electric generation here that contributes much less to environmental problems like climate change and coal. we need to build the right kind for nebraska. >> moderator: mr. ricketts? ricketts: this is a clear distinction between myself and my opponent. i'm for it because it's going to be good for nebraska. one of the points with regard to safety, we have three trains

each carrying a million gallons of oil going through 11 counties every week. they saw what happened in canada a year ago when oil cars rolled into a canadian city and blew up. frankly if you look at what has happened the soil is moving by rail right now. we have spilled more oil blessed are moving by rail from the previous 37 years combined because so much more oil is being moved. the keystone pipeline will carry up to 25% of its volume and the bakken oil coming from north dakota. from that standpoint we want to build it. we also want to build from the standpoint that it will create 3000 jobs in 300 jobs thereafter. it's going to be good for local counties. we'll see an increase in property taxes when it goes through. i was talking to a gentleman and erickson who is unhappy about the move because it's no longer going to be in the county and he projects if they will lose out on $15 million in property taxes.

it's also one of the things that will contribute to energy security in this country. finally i used to work at union pacific railroad. we always had a hard time getting green cards at harvest time and it has gotten harder because crews in the locomotives are being diverted to move oil. we want this pipeline built to make sure we can get our prop -- products to market. we got to be able to sell them to grow our economy. for all those reasons i think we need to build the keystone pipeline. >> moderator: our next question comes from seven directed first to mr. ricketts. >> nebraska dedicates a portion of sales tax revenue for road construction. would you support a similar dedication of tax revenue to fully fund state aid to k-12 schools? ricketts: when you are talking of education it's an important thing we do here at the state and something we need to budget for. one of the things i absolutely think we need to due to a property tax relief long-term is to look at the school aid formula. however i'm not going to be in

favor dedicating part of the sales tax to education that way. think this is something we need to work out through the unicameral in a give-and-take sort of way because this is something that impacts a lot of different constituencies. the school aid formula is very complex. i think my running mate has said if you wrote it out it would be one of pages long. and to make up more transparent simpler to understand the end one of the things it never anticipated was added at valuations coming up this quickly. it's one of the reasons we have seen so many for school districts in rural nebraska losing money. we need to have reform of the school aid formula but i don't believe a dedicated part of the sales taxes answer that. education is something we should budget for and work with the unicameral to come up with that. just like you would in any business you try to bring together all the experts to try to hammer out what that would be. something that we can buy into across the state whether you are an urban school district or a

rural school district put all that together needs to be factored in. that's the approach i will use when it comes to funding education the state. >> moderator: mr. hassebrook? up to one of the things we need to do is start by fulfilling some of our obligations that we are not fulfilling right now and pushing cost down under school districts and local governments and property taxpayers. for example we need to do a better job at the state level of funding for special education requirements for state has adopted and i think rightly so. we need to boot -- do a better job at that person that would be good for students but it would also help provide property tax relief. the state has a history of saying they're cutting spending but really just shifting spending, pushing cost like special education, like housing state prisoners -- prisoners and not paying the county onto local government and under the property tax. then the governor will say we cut spending, you cut spending

too when in fact the state shifted costs on to the counties who made them pick up more of the burden impression on the property tax system. my first priority for education will be in things like funding special education but then beefing up our funding of early childhood education because we all have a stake in enabling every child in this state the opportunity to start kindergarten preparedness and succeed. it's one of the best long-term investments we can make because every dollar that we spend that enables a young child to start kindergarten prepares to succeed in school will save us down the road. cost for special education for prisons. >> moderator: nearing the end of the debate. we have time for one more question from our panel and we will ask the candidates to respond in 60 seconds instead of 19 -- 90 seconds we call this the lightning round. we begin with adrian whitsett for final question directed at

mr. hassebrook. >> a report from the environment american research and policy center said nebraska's rivers and streams are among the worst in the country for toxic pollution and most of those from nitrates. what focus would you have on cleaning up such an important resource? hassebrook: my history at the center for rural affairs we did a lot of work to support voluntary conservation programs to work with farmers to help them improve their environmental performance. i think this is a serious issue we need to put real resources on research, on farming practices that help farmers be the best environmental stewards possible while farming profitably paid that much of the work i did at the center for rural affairs. we also need to pay attention to the sustainability of our water use because demands on water use are only going to grow greater. we have a good policy framework in the state that says we are

going to use water a sustainable rate and we will use it at a rate that keeps it there for her children and children. we have an ovation to do that. the key is we need to stick by your guns and stand by that policy and make it work. the good thing we do at the state level as we have enforcement through natural resource districts to make a response and accountable to local people. >> moderator: mr. ricketts, 60 seconds. so by water availability and quality are big issues in nebraska because we are the biggest -- and the country. i put a planned out for growing agriculture that touches upon water. we have to make sure we use our water in a wise way that will be sustainable. as i've been making my way around the state and talking what i will do as governors pull together the different to bruce -- diverse groups we have in the state. recreational users, municipalities to craft that

overall water strategy in the state. we do have a water policy here in the state that is the envy of the rest of the country. we have local control so that means really only the governor plug can pull listings together and enter shoes like water quality. but agriculture plan i mentioned as one of the reason i got the environment -- endorsement. i worked with agriculture to craft those plans and that is what i will do with governor continued to work with all the interest across the state to come up with that water strategy to help make sure we continue to be the number one in our state. >> moderator: as we near the end of her time to each candidate will have 90 seconds for the closing statements and we begin with chuck hassebrook. hassebrook: the choice in this election comes down to who you trust to fight for the middle class and every nebraskan. i have a track record of doing just that. my life's work has been to get nebraskans working together to build a better future in our

state for our children and grandchildren, to strengthen our middle class and communities and create good jobs and genuine opportunity for every nebraskan. for 36 years at the center for rural affairs i have fought to strengthen our family farms and ranches. i helped 10,000 small businesses get started and i worked with communities across the state to help revitalize and build a better future. for 18 years the university of nebraska board of regents i fought to keep education affordable by providing a hand up to students of working families who prepared for college but couldn't afford the tuition. i worked together universities more involved in building the economy in both a rural in metropolitan areas. i believe nebraska is one of of america's best-kept secrets. we have a great quality of life and we at and we at the quality quality of life in part because our answers -- ancestors were willing to make forward looking decisions and investments to

some sacrifice to themselves or children, so their children and grandchildren and neighbors grandchildren and children could have a better future. i think we elected them to do the same. that's why i'm running for governor and that's why ask her your support. god bless our great state and god bless all of you. >> moderator: now the closing statement from pete ricketts. ricketts: what we have seen here tonight are two competing visions for how to take the state corporate and the one hand chuck wants to grow government whether it's obama style policies like expanding obama gave him the state giving taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants or co-authoring a paper that advocated for restricting nebraska farm imports. i put out a plan for growing nebraska with nebraska-based solutions. i put up detailed plans on how we can have property tax relief for all nebraskans, how we can grow jobs especially in agriculture and manufacturing and how we can create better educational opportunities for all of our kids especially in

career vocation vocation. we at remembering a great foundation. we had the second lowest unemployment rates in the country. we are the number one state for -- and number two for ethanol production and number three for corn. we just got an award for the most economic villaman starts per-capita. now we have to do is build on that foundation and that is what i will do as your governor. i will use my real world experience to work with people all across the state and the senators and unicameral to craft a plan for how we grow nebraska how we create more and better paying jobs how we keep more for kids and grandkids here, how we provide the features that are nebraska families want and deserve. at the end of the day that's what it's all about. so i ask for your boat. thanks for watching tonight, have a great evening and god bless. >> moderator: that brings us to the conclusion of tonight's gubernatorial debate. thank you to the candidates to pete ricketts and chuck hassebrook and thank you to our

panel of journalists fred knapp suzanne reisenberg and adrian whitsett and the nebraska broadcasters association for partnering with net news and thank you to our audience and all of you who are watching or listening at home. this debate will be archived and available on the net web site at net nebraska.org/campaign connection 2014. the conversation continues on our facebook page at net news nebraska. leave a comment on how you felt the candidates did this evening. i am subcarrier minding you to make sure your voices heard by voting in the upcoming election. goodnight everyone. ♪ >> our campaign 2014 coverage continuing tonight tonight. you have been watching live coverage from lincoln nebraska, at debate for the open governor's seat. the candidates in that race democrat if it candidate chuck hassebrook facing republican pete ricketts. one of the other races we are following is the kansas senate

contest. polls show a tight race between incumbent republican senator pat robinson greg gorman pitted democrat has asked to have his name taken off the ballot. we have an update from a reporter. >> roll call is out today with this list of the 10 most vulnerable senators in the midterm election and number four on the list, kansas senator pat roberts republican are you joining us on the comp phone is the political reporter at the "kansas city star." thanks for being with us. >> that afternoon. great to be with you. >> a lot of developments in the race including the ruling by district judge's and a new poll out showing that this race is very close. in fact right now senator roberts is behind. tell us what's happening. >> he has been behind consistently in polls throughout the year. he ran as you may know he was involved in a very aggressive primary in the state of kansas

in august against the tea party candidate named snowball was then in that race pat roberts -- pat robertson has been a fixture of kansas politics since 1980 received 40% of the vote in his own party. at that point i think a lot of people began to say look this guy has been around for a long time may face serious concerns from the people of kansas if he can do better than that within his own party. that is sort of the picture on the ground on his side. there's a guy named greg gorman and independent who is running a campaign and says i'm not a republican nor democrat. i can vote for the best idea. i'm a problem solver and that does have some resonance in kansas largely because like a lot of other voters there is some disappointment and at times discussed with the stalemate in washington and ormond is playing to that. >> we sat down today with senator jerry moran and also the

chair of the national republican senatorial campaign committee. he is painting this narrative that greg orman is a democrat that he supported barack obama in the past and he has voted as a democrat. are you going to hear a lot more than in the next 30 days of this race? >> without question. there is every attempt by the republicans in kansas and the roberts campaign in particular to paint greg gorman as a democrat and to nationalize the election to in essence make greg orman and ally of president obama who is very unpopular in the state of kansas as he is in other places. that is their path to victory to make greg orman the issue and barack obama the issue. the overwhelming response throughout the last several weeks that that's part of the old politics and that's the way things used to be done and i'm a problem solver he says i can go to washington and break the gridlock there. again that does have some people in kansas like that approach

because they are concerned about the stalemate in washington that the other problem for pat roberts out here and jerry may have talked about this is pata spent part of government for many years. he is 78 years old and has been an elected office in washington since 1980 and a lot of kansans thank he is what they call he is more about washington and about kansas. ..