governor dayton debates jeff johnson and independent candidate hannah nicollet. report votes this as likely democrat. >> 2014 minnesota gubernatorial debate. challenger, jeff johnson. an independent challenger, hannah nicollet face-off for the first time. the final stretch of the 2014 race starts now. the 2014 minnesota gubernatorial debate is hosted by the coalition of greater minnesota cities. rochester chamber of commerce.

it is brought to by the public television stations of minnesota , with support of aarp minnesota. is focused on making sure the older voters know where the candidates stand on issues that matter. [indiscernible] minnesota, 70 workings teachers together to prepare our students. minnesota, a union of 43,000 workers who advocate for excellent and public services, dignity in the workplace, and prosperity for all working families.

from the mayo civic center, the 2014 gubernatorial debate. >> good evening. 2014he first debate of the campaign for minnesota governor. of thee managing editor post-bulletin in rochester. organized bynt was the coalition of greater minnesota cities, the rochester area of greater wisconsin. thank you to our public tv sponsors. we are joined my -- by the three major candidates. , jeff johnson, and

hannah nicollet. thank you for being here. you can applaud. [applause] here are the ground rules. each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond. we have highly skilled timekeepers. i have the discretion to allow a 32nd rebuttal or i can ask you a follow-up. 30-second rebuttal. to wrap it up, each has two minutes to make a statement. we have a lot of work to do in one hour. the questions were dreamed up by

the debate sponsors. they one of the topics in advance. again, we have only one hour. we would appreciate it if you hold your applause to the end. candidates have a of friends or tonight, as you know. can help yourou candidate is by holding your applause to the end. are we ready to go? first question, economy and tax pending issues. one of the governors first task is to submit a budget. there is an estimated surplus of $306 million. considering this budget estimate, what changes would you make? commissioner jeff johnson, you go first. >> thank you. i want to thank you and the

hosts for putting this together. here is where you can see a fundamental difference to where we put our priorities when it comes to the economy in minnesota. in particular, i have been told that every state surrounds us and has billboards trying to attract business. unfortunately, their billboards are working. learned from the bureau of labor statistics last week that over the past year, minnesota has had the worst job growth rate in the midwest. seenso have underemployment in minnesota, 53%. that means half the people in the state are actually overqualified and underpaid. directly relates to our taxing and regulatory policies in the state. i have a strong belief that the

tax system should be low and simple. any economist will tell you that is what you need to do. i expect you will see big changes, rather than the first, because we have only a few weeks to make changes. if we have a lower tax system -- a fair tax system, we will start to encourage the growth of good jobs. >> thank you. ago,ree and a half years there was a projected 6.2 million dollar deficit. -- billion dollar deficit. at a surplusoking -- $603nd $3 million million.

we have eliminated most of the rates from the state governments, so we have a sound fiscal platform. for novembersts -- i don't see raising anyone's taxes. we should make taxes less aggressive in minnesota. governmentost of that is the best barometer of spending. one of the lowest it has been recorded. we have spending under control. we have new investments in education, higher education, early childhood, kindergarten. we have strong, robust employment growth area one under 60,000 new jobs.

area.wth we have 160,000 new jobs. that the statistics with regard to private sector job growth -- that is concerning for our future. we have grown at .8% over the past year. we need private sector job growth. that is what creates wealth. those are services that people want. the first thing i would like to do is get rid of the corporate tax. in minnesota, it is the third highest in the nation. they are going to ireland, where they have only 12 and a half percent. -- 12.5%. if weld compete better did not have such i taxes. would be thing to go

i would expect that you could then grow revenue. when you make it cheaper to have a business in your state, businesses come near. that is the first thing i would do. i would also a dress or burdensome regulations. our burdensome regulations. you have to go through nine different state and local agencies that often conflict with one another. >> you did a great job of observing the time. local government aid or aga. local government aid helps people pay for basic services. while the other has been helpful in reducing tax-based disparities. a revenueities have

increase due to a state law. would you make lg a a budget priority and restore the ages cities at 2002 funding levels. >> i made local government aid a priority to providing the kind of services that people depend upon. protection, social services, street crime, and the like. createse of minnesota and sets up the terms by which they operate. the rate has been established. one is the property tax. the other is local government aid. when you cut local government , as minnesota cities have choice butere is no

for property taxes to be increased and services cut. in 2014 and 2014, we increased government aid. the result was one of the lowest increases in the nation. also, the local governments have the wherewithal to make investments to upgrade their operations, facilities, equipment, and machinery. local government aid will depend forecast,get, revenue but local government aid will be a strong priority of mine. priority.ve it is a it is an issue of unfunded mandate. the state requires cities to provide services that they don't

pay for. that has been a problem. they don't have the funds to pay for the services that they are required to provide. way that i see it, any service that the state requires a city to provide -- you can't require something of anyone that you can expect to pay for yourself. i believe that if the state is requiring it, than they should be willing to pick up the tab for it. we consider it a mandatory service, whether it is child protective services, under the constitutional responsibilities of state government. we provide for safety, as a constitutional responsibility. if false under that. thank you. there was an increase in local government aid last year.

there was also the largest portion that we have ever seen of local government a going to minneapolis. that is a direct expense of communities in greater minnesota. that has been a common theme in this administration. greater minnesota has become an afterthought in the state. whether you are looking at where we send our transportation dollars. with you looking at k-12 education funding formulas. whether you are looking at some of the regulations that are killing our farmers, loggers, and minors. there is a varied metro centric philosophy at the capital. original intent of lga, to provide for communities that have a low property taxes to have money for basic services, roads, bridges, police, fire, sewer, and water. i think we have moved far away from that. we are directing a now to cities

that don't need that help. what you promise to increase local government aid? i will not make a promise to it i will promise to do everything i can to direct the money that is party in local government aid to communities that need it. that is not happening right now. >> this is a greater minnesota oriented debate. i give your chance to respond. year, 38% ofast that winter greater minnesota, 28% of metro, and the rest to statewide projects. rochestert rates in are 3.3%. you look at development projects bill --, the bonding the focus has been on greater minnesota and needs here. that is why they are expanding. >> ok.

question number three. rates thatsurance are widely. minnesotasoutheastern faced the steepest rates and fewer choices. the geographical disparity has been linked in part to access to hospital and clinic systems. here is the question. as governor, i would you help make sure rates and plan options are equitable and all corners of the state? hannah nicollet it is your turn. >> thank you. it will be difficult -- we have the largest enrollee. they have the lowest rate. there have been all kinds of administrative problems, the whole rollout.

we will probably have to fix it. as long as there is a federal mandate that requires that we have federal health insurance here in the state. i don't see is handing over federal control. ,f we have a federal exchange then we lose federal subsidies. that is another subject which is how much we receive back from federal government already. $90 billion in year. we only received $45 million back. point, i am not willing -- if we don't have it, we don't receive the subsidies that, alongside the -- having our own exchange. so we need to fix it, regardless. we need to implement it. you don't reinvent the will.

wheel. software and administrative handling of an exchange -- and we tailor to minnesota and implemented here. that would be my suggestion. >> thank you. we have the best insurance system in the country and minnesota. we don't anymore. governor, you desperately wanted to be the first state in the country to implement obamacare in minnesota. you got everything you wanted. it has been a disaster. it is hurting thousands of people. 140,000 plus have been forced off their health care. many of the monster doctors. some of them lost their hospitals. they are about to spike next year. we have the highest deductible in the country. we have parents with babies who can't get their babies on insurance for months because of

this. you had a press conference today and said you don't lose any sleep and we should celebrate it. hundreds of thousands of minnesotans have lost sleep over it. what do we do about it? a section 1332 waiver under the affordable health care act, a state innovation waiver. of the thingsome we had before that worked better back. we can get that until 2017. thatl fire every vendor of board and staff because of their incompetence. i will take away their ability for public input, and i will work hard to remove berries from the private sector to compete. we used to be the best in the country. we are not anymore. because of that, thousands of people are being hurt. i think we had a governor who will do something about it. >> thank you. >> the announcement today was that for the second year in a row minnesota has the lowest

rates of any help exchange in the country. we have succeeded in keeping insurance costs relatively low. there is a 4.5% average increase. we brought the raid of people of people rate uninsured down to 40%. we have the lowest of any state in the nation. hundreds of thousands of people have access to health care tha t they did not have before because of pre-existing conditions. the number of other ways in which the affordable care act has opened doors for people to have quality care. 140,000 people with health care plans that were not compliant

and were required to become so. the insurers had to adjust those plans to offer them something better than what they had before. that is one of the purposes of the affordable health care act. assurere people -- people that they will have coverage for their needs. half of the bankruptcies in this country are caused by health care costs. most of those people have insurance. >> thank you. we are looking up for straight up yes or no answers. the state's building code was updated to mandate indoor spring for systems, which will at to the cost of new homes. do you support the new mandate? >> absolutely not. is that consumers

should be up to choose. >> yes, i support it. people who have not had the experience of going into a burning building and having to risked their lives to put out those fires are in no position firefighters the of the state believe is necessary for their protection and of people living in those residences. i don't. i believe it is the work of lobbyists to make sure every luxury available is mandated to be put into building codes. it is only affordable to the wealthy. if you are at a lower income, this can make a difference. every $5,000 you had on to the price of the house, you eliminate 35,000 people that could support that -- for that house.

a shot at give you responding to the governor's comments. >> i don't think any loving, no , should begreat dictating our policy. what it comes down to is that because of this new mandate, which most of the legislature did not like, we are increasing the cost of new homes and pricing people out of being able to buy them. >> the state just created a $20 million fund for infrastructure. the broadband task force recommended an additional $200 million for the next two years for the instant -- the infrastructure grant front. do you support it? -- thatf my priorities is part of the cost. it is estimated between 800 million and $3 million to complete broadband access for minnesota.

it is a step in the right direction. access tort broadband rural areas. i think that is a hindrance to being able to do business in role errors. -- rural areas. as far as how it is being allocated, my concern is -- right now we are at 99% of people being connected. that is what the state has determined to be acceptable. 25% earningng about up to power on upload speeds. --ould probably rather see what we have problems with is that the government has been competing with private business. we have times where they came in and installed cable, and then started having a price war with the cable companies that were arty there. i would rather have us focus our

resources on areas that are not connected at all. $200 million is a lot of money. it is highly important. we are also on the cusp of new technology. we are looking at satellite. i would be hesitant to go further ahead, but public buildings -- we want to make --e that schools are about schools are hooked up. to make sure that all areas that are not covered are covered. >> would you support the task force and the recommendations? >> provided that it is allocated to areas that are not already connected. know if i would support that exact number. i don't know where i end up. i can tell you that broadband technique -- connectivity will be a verdigris did we want to be competitive, every area in the

state has to be connected. hannah that iwith am not a big fan of private government entering the private market. i would be supportive if we could use the money to enhance the public sector. high speedrt the passenger rail? that is an issue that a lot of people around here care about. i am more concerned -- we have -- the rail i mostly concerned about is that we have farmers with grain sitting on rails and not able to move. it is a crisis situation. i would like to see that address. we also have a rhodes crisis. we are looking at $79 billion -- we have a thousand bridges. we keep dropping billions on people rail. even though i have nothing against it, my concern is that

we are not focusing on our needs . we are focusing on her once. wants.sing on our having good roads and bridges is essential to your economy. that is why i would focus the effort there right now. i believe that we can easily find the 79 billion we need. it cost every minnesotan money. concerned -- those should be secondary, roads and bridges, we address those first. >> show me the cost-benefit analysis. fan of raileen a projects in general. they have been inefficient use of transportation dollars. i have told -- been told that

this one will pay for it self. i am skeptical. my ears are open. if somebody can prove that to me, i will consider it. >> i agree with commissioner johnson. you also have to look in conjunction with the center here ,n rochester, which i supported and the state of minnesota has back. as a result, this area will be transformed. the private sector of employment may double over the next 30 years. it has had a phenomenal impact on our state. one area has the opportunity to become a magnet for those types of jobs and opportunities. this line would certainly enhance that connection. >> a few more lightning round questions. the most recent proposed amendment to the tax constitution was highly controversial.

should this dress will be raised, to ensure more consensus? >> no, i don't think it should. i think it is proven to have worked in the past. >> no. >> that was americans eyes. [laughter] -- verywas mary concise. >> no. my great-grandfather would if wever in his grave would sell anything on sundays. we should restore it, if people want to buy. more of our population has a day of faith not on sundays.

yes, any legal product should be able to be sold on any day. sunday is a religious holiday for christian. sundown, -- the sabbath for jewish people. why did we pick sunday? it seems unfair. regardless, any legal product should be able to be sold any day of the week. if your business owner and you want to close on sunday, more power to you. i would not support that. i am also against the fact that 60% of minnesota's one. why should they not have it? >> yes. this is frustrating to me. everybody says lets do it. the last two years, there has been a big push, and now we can't get it done. we'll get it done when i'm

governor. >> we will go back to longform questions, you will have 90 seconds to answer. this is about the medical center. approach for a public-private partnership calling for specific investment to occur before approved state funding is released. it is a combination of efforts that will drive regional economic growth for much of the state. it is suggested the plan could be a model for targeted development efforts in other parts of the state. do you agree with how it was structured as a way to promote regional development? would you support similar partnerships elsewhere? do you have some in mind? ms. nicollet, followed by omission or johnson and governor dayton. >> i believe the plan is put in place.

it has already been promised. so we should keep our promises. the larger issue with regard to the medical center and the problem with the multiplier is that our attorney general and our governor's office are not in communication right now. i do not know if you have seen -- we have been working as a team on. all five of us, state office are working on issues together. we put our hands together as a team -- ads together as a team. that is what i believe in, taskinga challenge and issues. that is what i would like to see us do. tackle everything as a team. the fact the attorney general and governor are not in communication right now is concerning to me. i would like to work together to improve the state. >> commissioner johnson.

>> i believe it is good for rochester and minnesota. i believe the government has a role to play in public-private partnerships when it comes to paying for things like roads and bridges. i would have had a difference of opinion on the definition of infrastructure with respect to this. , i wouldn a legislator not have supported it. had i been governor, because i recognize the importance of it, i would have figured out how to work that difference out. so i think it is something that is important. as hannah mentioned, it will come up again next we're -- year because we had an understanding of what was in the bill and there was a disagreement with the attorney general office. some people have said it is an easy fix. there is never an easy fix when you open something controversial. it will probably be difficult.

i will work to get it done as governor. >> governor dayton. it would not mean to be fixed if it did not exist at all. they said we had this vision for the future of the state of minnesota. , medical care technology. it was bipartisan. the representation in rochester is bipartisan. we want to partner with you, and you, mayo, the private donations you're going to race. you would not have had anything to fix. so in this case, we will get this matter resolved the beginning of the next legislative session. proceed. it is a phenomenal project for the state of minnesota, for reasons i described before. should it be a model for other

partnerships of that type? absolutely. this is where there is disagreement. i believe there is a real to provide incentives and to partner in order to make these projects happen. you can look at jackson, minnesota, you can look at staterfly, all over the there are projects we have moved forward. seeding that is crucial to get the projects going. >> commissioner johnson, can you envision this model being used in other parts of the state? >> i can see it being used in other parts of the state as long as the definition of infrastructure is truly about infrastructure, roads in particular. there would probably be some negotiation. when we provide

what we promised to provide as a infrastructure, roads, sewage, all of that, then it is absolutely effective. providingded we are transportation and infrastructure. >> ok. that leads into the next question, on transportation. offendingfaces challenge by every level. it will follow $12 billion short over 20 years. last year, a program was created to remove bottlenecks and increased capacities on highways. 10 received funding. and a task force of mayors are working to develop programs and plans to fund local road improvements. here is the question. what is your vision for investing in minnesota's

transportation system? programas the commerce and how will it be funded? kind of a big question. commissioner johnson, you get the first crack. >> first of all, i will support the program. i happen to believe we do not spend enough money on roads. that might be the only area of government i'm willing to say that. the problem has become, all of the energy, all of the focus in transportation is on everything but roads and bridges. it is on trolleys, streetcars, and sidewalks and complete streets. that is exactly backwards. because we rely upon roads and bridges by far more than anything else. even if you do not drive a car, you reply upon roads and bridges to get goods to your grocery store or to get the firetruck to your house if you have a fire.

my focus is going to be heavily on roads and bridges. yes, we do have a funding problem with that. is not going to cover what we need to do. part of that his priorities. it is about saying we are going to put this at the top and rather than spending all of these other things, we're going to say this is where we are going to spend first and worry later. i'm also someone who would be willing to support binding when it comes to transportation projects. that might require a constitutional change. i would be willing to push that forward. we've got to focus on roads and bridges over all of these other forms of transportation. >> governor dayton. >> i agree about increasing expenditures and increasing the capacity. right now the department of transportation, 20% of its revenues for the bonds it has issued, it is a capacity and that is definitely something

that needs to be addressed the next legislative session. a $6 billion gap over 10 years between what we need to spend just to keep the system as it is now, maintaining the status quo, which is deteriorating over the last couple of decades. greater congestion. more accidents. more fatalities. we are going to face up to coming up with thoseonal money to make investments to at least break even and ideally improve the system. --e will say we will get which is important, but it will not come close to the additional expenditure necessary. the people of minnesota have to decide, through their elected representatives, are they satisfied? willing to pay additional money that or do wemake

want to improve things? or are we willing to let things to deteriorate, which will happen? >> commissioner johnson, do you want to respond to that? i, when i say-- we need to prioritize, my answer was not to find efficiencies, although i agree we need to do that. the problem is we have not made this a priority. particularly the last two years. if you look at the bonding bill, i would love to talk about the office building. we are spending more on that then roads and bridges. so the rarities have not been there. we need to actually put this at the top of the list. it is the only way to get it done. >> ms. nicollet, on to you. is, constitution, transportation, one of the

responsibilities of the government. it is a public good. not taking care of the roads and whether yous money, use the roads are not, because you end up thing for it. via emergency services. the return on investment, every dollar you put toward, just on a cost-benefit if it, every dollar dollarsck to you three to four dollars each, versus light rail where you get $.42 on every dollar. so the cost-benefit does not benefit all of minnesota. it is another instance where the twin cities and up getting the lions share. as far as priorities, we need to move those. somehow we found about $4 billion on the stadium and light rail. all of those things we have been throwing money at and meanwhile we have been neglecting roads and bridges for a long time. i have spent my entire life here

. i am 40. i have been here a while. us,i would like to see however we get it done, we need to make it a priority. we need tof all, prioritize. we have to stop buying toys, when we need food. and after that, if we need to raise the gas tax by a certain number of sense to make it happen, we need to make it happen. >> thank your. the next question is on the workforce and jobs in minnesota. according to the department of employment, job creation across the state has been uneven since 2010. employers across minnesota including rochester say it is tough to find qualified employees for many types of jobs -- as ween we involve evolve, there is concern about step intoople will d those jobs.

as governor, would you support this $10 million program? in what other ways would you address the worker shortage and the shortage of trained workers? >> good question. if you can do your best, governor dayton, you are first, followed by ms. nicollet and commissioner johnson/. >> your preamble has its own contradiction. the way you say economic growth is not occurring around the state and then you say we don't have enough workers for the jobs and we don't have enough housing. we wanted to expand and create more jobs and can't because of barriers such as the lack of housing. working to increase the housing for people they want to hire. and down on the border, jackson can expandthington,

because of water deficiencies, which the bonding bill is focused on correcting. we don't have good economic growth going on over minnesota. much thermly, but very same kind of moving forward. so yes we need to train people for the jobs. i was on the range looking for in ordernd engineers to expand. yes, absolutely. we need to realign the trading programs starting with high schools and even junior high schools and get them aligned campuses to train young people for the jobs of the future, rather than the jobs of the past. that will require investment to technology to those facilities. the payoff is significant and when we should pursue. >> are you for the $10 million program? >> yes.

government has. job training programs -- has myriad job-training programs. i'm not sure there is a lack of funds. it is for respect, the equipment, the technology and the building improvements that are necessary so that the people are able to get the jobs that are out there. >> ms. nicollet. >> would you repeat the question with regard to the $10 million program? >> i'm sorry. >> would you repeat the question? million used for job training solutions. generally, what would you do to generate more training programs for workers. >> ok. then you also mentioned economic

development in the rural areas. development, i would like to get rid of the corporate tax. i believe that would start more businesses in rural areas and in the twin cities. that is going to affect all areas of the state equally. get all areas of the stay connected to the internet. that is another area where rural areas are deficient. education is also an area three and need to address the achievement gap. we have schools that have major problems we have not addressed. notould look at him a we do need to reinvent the wheel, there are areas that are having tremendous success and we could implement what they have done, provided we are willing to innovate. we have to be willing to make the changes at the state. and to not be student-focused and policies. so we attack education. taxesafter the business

that have been prohibitive. get rid of those. i believe we would flourish. foras a state, we provide good infrastructure. all of that provided in the rural areas, their connection, education, and we would see economic growth, without a doubt. >> thank you. commissioner johnson. theet me first mention when governor said economic growth is going gangbusters in minnesota, it is not. we learned that from the bureau of labor statistics. they told us we are the worst in the midwest in job growth rate. the kauffman foundation, which is a nonpartisan group, shows if you look at the last four years, minnesota has the fewest number of new businesses in the country per capita. it is an issue all over this date. problematic in greater minnesota and part of that is because we have not paid attention to greater minnesota

these last few years. number one is infrastructure. minnesotah in greater and work to expand broadband. i think that is important. another piece is economic development in general and having a governor willing to be a cheerleader for greater minnesota. i was born and raised in detroit lakes. we went to school in morehead. our roots are in greater minnesota. i am somebody who will be here a lot to cheerleading for greater minnesota. and finally, here is a difference between the governor and me, we have some opportunities around the state to create great jobs. one of them is mining in northern minnesota. those are literally hundreds of really good paying jobs. they are desperate for those jobs on the range. we are slow walking that process. it will open if the governor is reelected. i will do everything i can to get it open if i'm governor. give you 30 seconds to respond to the last part of

that comment. decidedommissioner has before the review process is complete he is on one side, which means the final outcome, to jump in at this point before the environmental impact statement, which is close to completion, to jump in now and say forget about the environmental considerations and everything else, i'm going to pander to northern minnesota to try to get their jobs is irresponsible. >> i will let the other candidates to respond as well. governor, i did not say we should ignore the regulatory process. we have been through seven years. i have spent hundreds of millions of dollars and what we have seen is they can do this in an environmentally friendly way. which is important. i do not think we should make the review process easier. at least push through it to make

sure it happens in a timely and fair way. we are dragging this out so we can say after the election we are not going to open this thing. >> ms. nicollet. regarding mining. the last impact study gave it a rating on par with the green line. wewe are at a point where could go ahead. my only concern is we've had some instances where we might have declared bankruptcy because there are a lot of cost involved . it takes about $200 million, provided that money is set aside and it is available and will not be abandoned. then absolutely. we need it for economic growth. >> that is at for questions. now each candidate gets two minutes for a closing statement. to determine cards

who goes first. we have time for "texas hold 'em", if anyone is interested. will go firstt the commissioner and the governor. >> i appreciate that because this is the only debate i have been confirmed to participate in. for sincerely thank you that. and i also want to make -- i should probably introduce myself. i am a mom of two kids. a three-year-old and a seven-year-old. my husband is over here. i'm a former software developer. people wonder, what does that have to do with the governor? solve problems. and personally, i love to build teams. so my lieutenant governor candidate is by far the best. he presented a new model for policy.ng ag

i believe in teambuilding. and the independent party. we are working together. that is how we would like to solve problems as a state. so why minnesota? state.my this is my dream job. i would rather be governor and president of the united states. as such, i think we can work together much better than with the special-interest. the independent party needs a voice because we represent the people. we truly do. when 68% of the people said they wanted the viking stadium privately funded, what about privately funded the legislators not understand? when they can't get it passed, then they have backroom deals and when they had -- if you have more than four people in a meeting, you are subject to open meeting. they only had four people in the meeting. the press said they were talking about fishing regulations, all

to give us what we did not want. you should not need a high paid lobbyist whether you are a child, you are abused, you should not need a lobbyist to represent you. and my administration, you wouldn't. thanks very much. [applause] we can do that after closing statements. commissioner johnson, you are next. >> thank you for all of you for being here. i have to admit really pleased we are finally having this first debate. i will be honest, it has been frustrating the last couple of months to watch some of the lies, governor, that you and some of your supporters have had i will whether it is cut the minimum wage. i have never said that. cut education funding. i never did that.

i've voted to increase education funding. it is nice to share our visions directly to people and let them choose on their own. but me tell you my vision. i am sharing it all over the state. it is a vision where every kid in the state has access to a great education and two great teachers, regardless of how rich or poor his or her parents are and where patients and doctors are making health care decisions, not government bureaucrats. it is a state where allocations understand the middle class work hard for our money and they spend it as carefully as though it is coming out of their own pocket. we are not seeing that right now. it is a state where entrepreneurs actually want to start a business in minnesota and where the existing businesses actually want to expand. and aware everyone who is willing to work hard and follow the rules has access to a good paying, full-time job. and most importantly, a vision of a state where we have ended

this bitterness and envy over income differences and this belief the poor are poor and the rich are rich and all we can do is move around the money. instead we are celebrating people who are successful and we are never giving up on people who are poor and we are preaching every day i believe that the poor can become the middle class and the middle class can become rich and everybody who starts with nothing can achieve anything in this state. that is my vision for minnesota and that is why i am running for governor. thank you for being here. i would love your support. [applause] >> thank you, commissioner johnson. governor dayton. i i would say, ms. nicollet, think you should be in the other debates. independent party is one of the major parties in the state.

i think you should be afforded the same opportunity. going back to the question at hand -- [applause] i was born and raised in minnesota. obviously the state has been family and myself. i started running for governor in 2009 because the state was headed in the wrong direction. even admitted the national recession, the slump in minnesota was greater than other states. the tax system was regressive. not generating enough revenue to meet the needs of our public education system from early childhood through higher education. in january 2011. we were in a fiscal mess. a $6 billion deficit for the next two years. along with a republican majority in the legislature, and myself, we cut $2 billion of spending,

permanent cuts in the state expenditure. debts paid off the school over time. we raised taxes on the wealthiest 2%. income taxpayers received a cut in the last session. we invested that money in education. been slacking relative to other states and relative to their needs. we instituted early childhood education. all-day kindergarten. two ways to address the achievement gap and the ability of the schools and the society to help young people from their early birth all the way until they can enter society as productive adults and citizens. that is the future i have an state. that is why i would like to continue as governor. [applause] >> thank you.

we are done. we did a great job. therapped up before satellite moved on. i appreciate the audience control. on behalf of the debate sponsors, we appreciate your efforts and wish you the best as the campaign goes forward. we would like to think this is going to be the best of the five debates. best wishes for the campaign. election day is november 4. you can vote right now. however you choose to do it, make your voice heard. thank you. good night. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] support from aarp of minnesota. this election season, aarp is focused on making sure older voters know where the candidates stand on issues that matter, find out more at aarp.org /yourvote.

alcorn clean fuel. in adding value to our members investment while producing sustainable renewable products for the world. in claremont, minnesota. education minnesota. and the thousand teachers, staff, and higher education faculty working together to prepare our students for and asked meves minnesota. the union of 43,000 workers who advocate for excellence in public service, dignity in the forforce, and opportunity all working families. this has been a coproduction of pioneer public television, appleton, and ksmq.

>> campaign 2014 coverage continues tomorrow night. televised debate in the oklahoma governor's race. on c-span two, the candidates for governor in nebraska. coverage from lincoln, nebraska begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern. coming up on c-span, the house a marine sergeant in a mexican prison on gun charges. between theate candidates in the texas governor's race.

>> this weekend on the c-span agoork, friday night at 10 on c-span, i conversation with john paul stevens. of founder and former chair microsoft, bill gates, on the ebola virus outbreak in west africa. , they evening at 8:00 director of the smithsonian museum. saturday night at 10:00, the history of the republican party. noon, supremet 12 court lack of her. -- biographer. historians talk about world war i. saturday,