opportunity to ask each other questions and we will have closing statements. the order of the opening and closing statements and which candidate gets the first statement was determined earlier. >> thanks for being here tonight. north carolinians need a commonsense voice that will stand up for the middle class, fight for the military, and protect the promises we have made for seniors. at the time when we need leaders, speaker tellis has built a reputation of dividing. he has gutted education, killed an equal pay bill, made college more, and said no to health care. he is campaigning on a promise to take that destructive agenda to washington. a weak grow strong and the

strong grow great. those who have the most he things should have the most help. i believe the middle class comes first and everybody had the opportunity to grow strong and great. >> last week president obama said everyone of his policies are on the ballot. senator hagan voted with obama 97% of the time. she served as a rubber stamp to his failed polcies. she promised she would go to washington to get things done, and she has broken her promise. we need a senator who knows what it is like to make ends meet while raising a family. i fulfill my promise to cut spending, cut taxes, and get people back to work. we need to do the same thing in washington.

senator hagan went to washington. she promised she would be different, and she broke the promise. if you want the same policies of president obama, vote for kay hagan. if you want to make this country great again i hope you will vote for thom tillis. >> speaker tillis has made the fight against isis take center stage. i know you have some difficulties with how president obama has dealt with this in the past, but do you support his mission right now, and are you confident he will succeed? >> these individuals are terrorist. they have attacked americans. our mission should be to eradicate these terrorists. i have been decisive. it is part of a two-part strategy. the first our airstrikes. we need to take out command and

control. the second is arming and training moderate. rebels. all of this has to be done with a broad coalition of partners. we have to have a unified front. what i have seen speaker tillis has done is he is waffling on these issues. i have been clear. i have been decisive. i think we need to hear from speaker tillis as far as what he would do. i think on the ground it is a big issue that has everyone's concern. when i look at what has taken place over the last 10 or 12 years, we have enough at two wars. we have domestic needs. we need to let the iraqis and

syrians fight this battle. i have called on the president to bring military force before congress. i would go back to washington in a moment notice to have a full debate. >> senator hagan and president obama, this is a policy that needs to be on the ballot in november. they have made it less secure. they withdrew despite what leon panetta said. the president has failed and continue to show almost a strategy of peace through weakness. these terrorists have taken advantage of it.

we should have a no-fly zone over syria. we should revoke passports. we should take several steps. we shouldn't continue to telegraph to terrorists who want to destroy our allies and tell them what we are going to do. >> when i was beginning to house weaker john boehner, he told me if others don't that forward the united dates would have no choice to put boots on the ground. >> i think the president has failed. he continues to be the leader of the free world. he rallies nation together to put down terrorist threat like isis. our friends around the world don't know where this president stands, because he gives

strength to the terrorists by telling them what we are not going to do. he should have everything on the table. >> he is waffling on all these issues. he told the newspaper he didn't know what should the done. i do think it is high time the moderate syrian rebels get trained. i did ask to arm and train syrian rebels. about vetting, he felt there are half the number of battalions that we could begin that process and get it on the ground. i think we need to look at turkey. >> what is amazing is someone

not getting briefings, senator hagan in the last year has failed to show up to more than half of the foreign affairs committee to get an update we would like to see our senator asking. we are the third largest military presence and any nation. i think if you move heaven and earth you can get rid of the obstacles. i would like to know what priorities there are that cause you to miss over half the meeting so we would have a better idea of how you are acting. >> i want to go to my second question on the issue of education. as you know, common core education standards were created a governors in 48 states. the governor had legislation which results in replacing those standards.

do you support any national education standards? >> we need to know how our kids are matching up to others rates and other nations. what i propose is a bureaucracy with 5000 bureaucrat making on average $102,000 a year, stifling what teachers want to do in the classroom. the problem with common core is the teachers were more worried about how they meet the standard than what a want to do. common core, no child left he hide, race to the top, all has strings attached to them. about 15% of our funding comes from the government, but the government is controlling the classroom. i want to make sure the teachers have their power to educate these children.

they want government out of the way. >> once again he did not answer your question. it was not put together by governments and states so we could not only compete against one another that we would be more competitive on a global base. he has cut $500 million from public education. that means fewer teachers. that means outdated textbooks. i can imagine which teachers are saying what text books.

i am told a little girl raises her hand and is no longer called on because there are 32 students in her class. >> a lot of times you are going to hear senator hagan make that claim. it is simply false. we are spending $1 billion a year on education. we had to get up to newer teachers because we were getting behind and weren't competitive with neighboring aides. we are going to give them a raise. that is what we are doing to turn education around. the things proven false really just distort the argument. we need to understand the good things we are doing for our students.

>> speaker tillis is incorrect. we are now 48 in the nation on what we spend per pupil. the 7% raise, i have talked to teachers that are getting a .29 percent raise. he took away longevity. we need to do more for education because it is our future. >> this marks the one-year anniversary of the affordable care rollout. are there any legislative changes you would make to the affordable care act? >> it has been a year. i think when we look at the affordable care act i think there are commonsense fixes.

what they are sharing is they want the politics taken out of this. they don't want to go back to a broken system. they don't want to go to a time where if you had a pre-existing condition you don't get health insurance. we have taken care of the small business paperwork, the 1099s requirement. i think we need to look at the 30 hour week. the other is to have a copper plan. i think people are aware of gold, silver, and bronze. we need to look at copper, that would be cheaper and appeal to young people. he would take us back to a broken system. >> speaker tillis mentioned the comments the president made this week and said that was in the

ballot. >> speaker tillis wants to make this race about the president. i think north carolinians want a commonsense voice. >> when you vote with the president 96% of the time you represent the president's policies. obamacare is one of the most disastrous regulatory frameworks ever passed in the united dates. it is he stabilizing health care for 250 million americans that were satisfactory to try to solve a problem. senator hagan broke a promise 24 times. senator hagan promised 24 times if you like your dr. you can

keep it. we know that is false because people got cancellation notices last year. the president decided to delay that until next year. over the last couple weeks 50,000 retirees in 11 counties are getting cancellation notices. what they are going to get on the 15th our premium increases and fewer options. it is a failed policy. it needs to be repealed, and we need to come up with solutions and not broken promises. >> how is that going to happen? how are you going to be able to come up with policies that care for children 26 and under? >> implement them. senator hagan said it is time to finally have someone who would reach across the aisle and get it done. i believe there are those who say, that makes sense. adding $1 trillion to the debt does not make sense.

robbing medicare by reducing doctor reimbursement and hospital reimbursements do not make sense. having a child under 26 on the parents health care plan makes perfect sense. having treatment for pre-existing conditions makes sense. i think americans would embrace this. i think he would not embrace having the two and a half million jobs lost in the regulatory overreach. >> let me tell you what he has done for the state of north carolina. no state exchange. the other big factor is rejecting medicaid in our state. 500,000 people unable to receive care. people get sick. what do they do? they go to the emergency room. it is the most expensive care, and it is not even treatment.

he could have made that happen. his former company has written a report that said states that did not expand, their hospitals are suffering. we have already had one hospital close because of no medicaid expansion. >> we did not implement an exchange because we predicted what would happen at the federal level. it was a failure. do you know how much it cost for the website? $2 billion. we know that was to advance the policy that is robbing medicare of 700 billion dollars, breaking a promise to seniors. i am answering that question. i think you need to answer why you told people 24 times if they like their health care they can keep it. why did you continue to say it?

>> moving to the supreme court. as you know the supreme court decided not to take up the issue of same-sex marriage. the decision to strike down the ban will apply here as well. i know you said you will fight this. on what grounds, and can you win. >> two years ago 60% of the voters said they wanted to define the institution of marriage as between a man and a woman. i feel it is my responsibility to defend the law of the state. i believe we are at the time when the president has appointed liberal judges that are trying to legislate from the bench. senator hagan asked our attorney general to sue north carolina. 70% of north carolinians to get

makes sense to present an id. senator hagan asked the federal government to sue us. the judicial system is insinuating to become an active legislative grants. it is denying states to do what they want to do. what north carolina may want to do is what north carolinians should decide. >> if this follows through on the supreme court decision and rules the ban uncostitutional, is that the law for north carolina? >> we are going to continue to take our case. there are other circuits not decided. we hope this goes to the supreme court. >> no two families look alike, but all families want to do the

best for their children and grandchildren. i do not anyone, including the government, should tell anyone who they should love or who they can marry. he put it on the ballot in a may primary because it wouldn't have passed in november. he is also hiring lawyers, paying for lawyers out of taxpayer dollars to take this suit to court. speaker tillis has had they will continue to fight this case in spite of what the supreme court denial has eaten as far as letting these issues stand. i opposed amendment one, which banned gay marriage in north carolina. i want to focus on one of the issues. who wants to talk about percentages? 100% of the time his policies have hurt north carolina.

that is what he said is effective. >> 96% of the time senator hagan voted with president obama. president obama says when you vote you are voting for his policies. senator hagan went to washington and has voted with the president 96% of the time. she has confirmed liberal activist judges that are denying the right of the state to govern themselves. i would like to have a senator who goes to washington and the only independence is from north carolinians. i would like her to represent our interests better. >> i think the people know i come home every weekend. i hold a town hall meeting in every county. once again he is talking about percentages. 100% of the time he has failed people in north carolina.

i have been ranked the most moderate senator in the country. they rank senators one to 100. that means i can work across the aisle. the middle is exactly the place where north carolina is. >> the next question -- we saw images of children coming across our border illegally. more than 1600 of them have been brought to north carolina. should these children be returned home? >> the immigration system in our country is broken. i think inaction is not an option. after listening to the farm bureau, the national chamber of commerce, i support immigration reform. i am one of the senators who

voted for the common sense, bipartisan immigration reform. along with me, john mccain, marco rubio, lindsey graham have all supported that bill. the speaker will tell you he does not support it because of security issues. as far as these children coming up from central america, i think we need to help fund the southern command of our military, that can get to the root cause of why these children are leaving. some of the families are paying traffickers to bring their children up north. without doing that we are not going to solve this problem. i think the children will go through the court system. i think some will get asylum. >> not all of them are going to return home. >> i think a large number of them will be sent home to their

families. >> let me be clear. the tragedy these children are going through is truly a tragedy. they need to be reunited with their family. those who are taking these children through horrible circumstances need to be told if you do that there are going to be consequences. a strong nation needs a strong border. we need to get the border secure. we need to make it clear there is another policy the on the ballot. president obama said he is going to wait and do immigration after the election. we all know he is going to do amnesty. we need to get serious about sealing the border. do that first. make it or a clear people are not going to break in line, and

solve the problem versus the empty words that continue to come out on immigration. >> speaker tillis will not say why he wants the support immigration reform. a number of senators have passed this bill. it does not include amnesty. i did not think speaker tillis understands the definition of amnesty. it is not amnesty. i have called on the president not to execute executive orders. i support the common sense, bipartisan immigration reform bill we passed, and senator tillis should say why he will not. >> senator hagan says one thing but does another.

she voted against an amendment trying to be offered i the senate to do just that. senator hagan has filled the people of north carolina and the nation by not securing the border. we have an ebola outbreak. we have bad actors who can come across the border. we need to make it clear blanket amnesty is not on the table. we need to solve the problems we have with immigration in this country. >> i want to talk about the ebola outbreak. you have called on president obama to ban travel. speaking with the director of the center for disease control, he told me this type of ban can backfire. >> it is very clear the president doesn't know what to do. you can see the protocols were not followed. we have potential threat of

exposure. the reason i suggest the common sense ban on travel was to give the cbc time to figure out how we can make sure when someone gets on the commercial airliner and fly to dallas they are not exposing hundreds of people to the virus. we need to protect the safety of the american people. you do that by eliminating the threat is much as possible. other nations in western africa have done that. they implemented a travel ban to make sure they are keeping their citizens safe and secure. we need to do the same. we need to make sure we are sending resources to try to help solve the problem and help those countries. >> i think we need to work with the coalition of international

partners on how we can fight this epidemic and stop it. a travel ban could be part of a range of issues on how we can work on this. but you are open to that? >> i am open on a broad range. if you isolate those countries you are not going to solve the problem. the problem is how do you contain it and ultimately kill it? we passed close to $100,000 that will go to ebola and global health. i have talked to infectious disease physician and hospital officials. they have assured me are hot adults have the tools they need and are prepared. i also expect every official to be on high alert and take every precaution necessary in case the patient comes before the

hospital. >> senator hagan it equivocated on what a ban would mean for her. we have got to prevent them from traveling here. we need to make sure we get specialists to the nations that have been a flick did by the disease. we have to affect the security. there are a number of policy issues where our security is at risk. >> i think this should be part of a broader range of issues. i am pleased one of our own companies have put forth research and development, and a trial medication is being used in dallas right now. i think that shows positive movement, but i do think we

cannot use scare tactics on an issue like this. i think he is using that in a serious way. >> i want to move to the economy. unemployment is six .8%. national rate is 5.9%. given the fact congress does not seem to be stalemated, is there anything you believe president obama should be doing to strengthen the economy? >> we have great places that are hot in the job market, but we have high unemployment in our rural area. without fail, jobs and economic recovery is the number one priority for people of north carolina.

i think we need to work together. i think we need to have tax reform. i think we need to bring more advanced manufacturing to this country. i have the repatriation bill. there is $1 trillion sitting overseas based on our tax policy. to bring that money and they pay 35%. my bill would allow that money to come in at 8%. they can bring that to five if they hire american workers. we would have $1 trillion coming into this country. we could put the money into an infrastructure fund we could leverage and put people back to work, and that would increase jobs. >> senator hagan's solution is spending more money. we need to get our spending under control, and we need to

reduce regulation. senator hagan voted to kill the equivalent of two and a half million jobs. this silent consent for regulatory burdens on businesses that are going to kill hundreds of thousands of jobs. her vote on sequestration, cuts on the military are going to result in 20,000 to 30,000 jobs being lost down east. we need to stop putting burdens on them like the burdens senator hagan allowed them to place on evergreen packaging. i had to sign a bill to prevent 1000 jobs from being lost. the overreach is destroying our opportunities. we have got to get to a point where regulations are responsible and allowing

businesses, not governments to create jobs. >> he is sending it to 28 states. when he cut taxes for the wealthy he gutted our education system. he is making college more expensive. he did away with the 529 tax saving plans. i know a sound education and a strong university community college system is what makes for a sound economy. speaker tillis has the wrong plans for people in north carolina. >> when senator hagan chaired the legislature, she made a promise to the citizens. she needed to implement a sales tax. it harmed poor and working

families more than anyone else. senator hagan went so far as to break her promise. she voted to make part of it permanent. editor hagan has continued to misrepresent what we are doing. we cut the sales tax. we cut the sales tax and helped the poor and working families most of all. those are the kinds of things we need to do in washington. >> let's talk a little more about washington. we agree washington is broken. the question is how can you change that. i want you to start by naming at least one big issue you would take on your party's leadership. >> i think we ought to talk about the things we can do to move legislation.

350 bills that went to harry reid's desk. let's talk about repealing obamacare. let's talk about putting the epa back into check instead of destroying jobs. the problem we have with washington is it is broke. people are not communicating across the aisle. senator hagan has not authored a single bill that has gone to the president's desk. that is a problem. in areas where we cannot agree, do not take the time and move into areas we can agree. take the time to create jobs. 600,000 jobs with epa overreach. let's reduce regulations to create jobs. that is something i think he can all agree on. >> on which issue would you take on your party's leadership?

>> it is hard to say. in the senate harry reid hasn't allowed anything to be passed. when you have 350 bills in the senate and you only have a dozen votes in the house and only a few dozen in the senate, it is hard to figure out where the differences would be. they are not debating. senator hagan has rubberstamped harry reid's policy to shut down the senate. save these tough votes until after the election. you need to understand. delaying the mandate is on the ballot. >> i think we need to talk about the keystone pipeline.

i have voted against trade deals because they sent too many jobs overseas. speaker tillis would have supported a budget that would turn medicare into a voucher program. he would have supported sequestration. he would have supported a government shutdown. he would have supported a government shutdown in north carolina at the height of our fishing season in the east. that is what speaker tillis would have done. >> i am glad senator hagan brought up sequestration. i wouldn't have supported that. senator hagan did. she voted for indiscriminate cuts that are harming our military and jobs.

20,000 to 30,000 jobs. i would have opposed the leadership. there are a number of modern examples. the big issue with the government is it is broke. she would have allowed senator reid to shut down legislation. >> it is the part of the debate were you ask each other western. senator hagan will receive the first question. do you have a question? >> last week president obama said all of his holidays are on the ballot in this election. you voted with the president 96% of the time. my question is now that you claim to be a moderate, which of the policies you supported do you regret? >> as far as the president's policies on the ballot, i don't

think you understand two things. one, i don't think you know my record. it is being effective to the people of north carolina. your idea of being effective is tax cuts for the wealthy, gutting public education by $500 million. that is a fact. the fact you have made college more expensive. a tax on student meal plans. your idea of effectiveness is hurting the people of north carolina every day. >> i assume by the fact you haven't mentioned as angle vote you regret you are proud of the fact you voted with the president 96% of the time.

i think it is fair to make this election about his policies. senator hagan voted with the president 96% of the time. policies that are killing jobs, policies making our nation less safe and secure, policies failing to match the threat against isis, policies that are not right for america. we need to make america better again. we do it by tough decisions. we came from far behind, our fourth highest unemployment rate when i came in. we need leadership and people who will stand up to the president. senator hagan told you tonight the president's policies are on the ballot. she supported them 96% of the time and doesn't regret a single vote.

>> north carolina women earn just $0.82 on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. you said you don't support a proposed equal pay bill in congress. why don't you supporr the bill that ensures women get equal pay for each work? >> you know there are laws on the books that it is against the law to do something any employer does, he should pay the consequences. men and women, my mother, who worked hard and helped us make ends meet. my wife, my daughter, women deserve the same pay as men. let's enforce the laws on the books, versus campaign gimmicks that are going to put more regulations and make it more difficult.

women in north carolina are disproportionately out of work. minorities are disproportionately out of work. let's focus on getting a business environment that will make it better for these women. we need to focus on policies to get the economy back on track, not just another rubberstamped that makes it harder for businesses to grow in north carolina. >> i think you need to read reports. women in north carolina earn $.82 on the dollar. i didn't raise my daughters to think they are worth $.82 on the dollar. the first bill i cosponsored was the fair pay act. we need to build on that law. speaker tillis, i don't think you understand the bottom line

when women get more money affects not just women but the entire family. husbands want their women to get equal pay. i have been a woman in the workplace. let's just give women equal pay for equal work. >> i absolutely support that. my grandmother had to work every single day. i know she was discriminated against. we need to make sure my daughter had better get paid the same as a man of the same skill set. what we do not need is all of

these things that are harming women in disproportionate numbers in this state. >> he says the equal pay act has been passed. it has not in passed. he even opposes the minimum wage. he says it is a dangerous idea. mitt romney thinks we should increase the minimum wage. you have done nothing to increase the minimum wage in our state. speaker tillis does not want hard-working north carolinians to get $10 an hour, but he sees nothing wrong with the ceo making $10 million a year to deserve an extra tax break. >> time for your second question. >> last year this threat of isis was clear. in the early part of this year president obama called isis the jb team.

you have sat on the foreign affairs committee. you missed half the meetings. you haven't had a single meeting on the threat of isis. can you explain what other commitments you have you thought were more important than sitting in the committee, getting advice from military commanders, and making sure you are asking questions north carolinians want us to know so we have a better understanding of what is going on and what you are going to do to help improve safety and security? i am mainly interested in where were you. >> let me clarify. i am not on the foreign affairs committee. i stand on the armed services committee. >> were you not present for 50%

of the meetings? >> it seems you are saying i am not briefed on the issues at hand having to do with isis. please note a year ago this past spring i actually asked about arming and training moderate syrian rebels at the time. that was before we knew what isis was. i really think if we had taken that step we would not have seen the proliferation of these barbaric terrorists rise to the extent they have today. please note i have chaired numerous counterterrorism hearings. i have met general dempsey, secretary hagel on numerous occasions. recently we had a closed briefing and then open meeting. i asked numerous questions. i was probably the last senator

to leave after three or four hours of open dialogue about what we need to do for isis. i am well informed on these issues. i have been decisive on what to do. once again speaker tillis has waffled. he said he had no idea what he would do. he has no idea what his plan would be. >> i wonder how much more information i would have if my senator from north carolina would show up for work. she missed more than half the meetings. those are to inform you and me about what the threats are and what the military commanders are going to do. senator hagan thinks it doesn't matter to show up to public meetings. she had to be somewhere. i would like to know where she was. we have to make sure people are informed. people are worried about our

safety and security. i will go to washington and show up for those armed services committees. i will make sure they know that i care. i want to know what the status is. i want them to be informed. >> then you ought to say what you would do with isis. i think the people of north carolina, our service members should know what you will do, but you will not say. his hometown newspaper called on him to resign because he missed so many days in the session because he was out fundraising. >> time for your second question. >> many north carolinians depend on student loans to finance their dream of going to college.

why do you oppose a bill that would allow graduates to refinance at a lower rate when it would help more than 600,000 north carolinians and they would benefit from common sense reform? >> it is another example where senator hagan is out of touch with what we have to do to get our economy healed and make us safe and secure. we need to create jobs. if we cut the interest rate to zero, many of the student did not have jobs to pay off their loans. senator hagan is trying to find another regulatory solution, things that are killing jobs. these students should be admired for what they did to get their degree. instead of thinking about thing, creating job opportunities that will let them pay off student loans, she wants to go into this new mentality were all you're doing is helping people pay off debt versus give them the resources to realize the american dream, to have a job.

why don't we stop regulating? when don't we start creating job s so students are less concerned with the interest rate and more concerned about how to spend their vacation. >> he does not support allowing students to refinance student debt. we have graduates whose debt is crippling them. they cannot buy a home. they cannot start a business. interest rates on some of these graduates are up to 13%. you can get a fixed rate 30 year mortgage for under 5%. this is a commonsense measure that could help thousands of people just in north carolina. he has already made college more expensive.

a meal tax on the college student attending the university. speaker tillis has made college more expensive, yet he won't do the simple thing of allowing students to refinance their debt. you can refinance everything but not a student loan. do you know student loan debt now surpasses credit card debt in this country? >> i believe those students have graduate degrees in undergraduate degrees would love nothing more than to hear a senator say this. this is what i am going to do for you when i am your senator. i am going to create an opportunity for you to get a job. your student loans will be paid off because i am going to focus on kids like i was. it took me 16 years to get my degree. i didn't go into college when i came out of high school. i went to a warehouse. i never thought i was going to rely on government to get a job. i wanted to get a job. i wanted to get out of debt.

>> now it is time for closing statements. each speaker gets 60 seconds. >> you can see senator hagan and i have very different visions for america and how i would deal with president obama versus how she would deal with president obama. rubberstamping his policies is not the solution. having an independent voice and going to washington and working for you is the solution. we need a government that understands government doesn't create jobs. it kills jobs. we need a senator that will go to washington and fulfill promises they make. not make amendments they will not deliver on. when i was a kid, i cut lawns. i was a paperboy. i didn't go to college right out of high school. i went to work in a warehouse. it took me 16 years to get my degree. i was struggling to make ends

meet. i was raising a family. i am here as a realization of the american dream. i want every american to have the opportunities i did. senator hagan became a rubber stamp for president obama's failed policies. six years later people are suffering. they are worried about our safety and security. a vote for senator hagan is a vote for failed policies. i want to go to washington and help make america great again. i am asking for your vote, and i appreciate your support. >> speaker tillis, it is not how you grow up. it is how you treat people. speaker tillis has slammed shut the window of opportunity for so many people

because of his policies that have harmed north carolinians. i want to talk about what i have done to help people in north carolina. our veterans. daughter died of leukemia because of toxic contaminated water. when i first got to the senate, i worked with gerry to help get answers and health care for the victims. because of my bipartisan work, we passed the law. no families who work and live at the base can get health care. that is what i am about. helping people. united people. north carolina is the place where the week grow strong and the strong grow great. i'm about supporting the middle class. making sure everybody in our great state has that opportunity

to grow strong and great. thank you george. i wanted to thank you for being here. i wanted to ask all the voters, i would appreciate your support come november the fourth. god bless you and the people of north carolina. >> i want to thank both of you for participating. an honor to be here tonight. this concludes the second carolina debate. brought to you by the north carolina association of broadcasters. thank you for watching. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> the entire north carolina senate debate is available on www.c-span.org. here is a look at the ads running in the debates -- the state. >> special interests are spending millions distorting my record. i approved this message because

i can keep key in desperate because i can keep taking the punches -- i approve this message because i can keep taking the punches. protecting medicare and social security. the next time you see attack ads, ask yourself, who side are they on? my first job was a paper route. at 15, i was a short order cook. i went to work, got my degree two decades later. 25 years in business, partner at ibm. my story is not special. and america, it happens all the time. but washington puts that at risk. washington has it wrong but americans can make it right. >> i am anna. i am from black mountain. education was my way out, but i worry it will not be.

under tom tillis, they have cut textbook funding so much, i cannot help my son. i think it is clear he once only certain class of people to have help. i'm a middle-class mom. >> seen those ads attacking tom tillis? they are false. theis paying for sleazy ads? it is harry reid. the press says the democrats illis the most. he brought a conservative revolution to raleigh. that is why we need him in washington. >> i approve this message. donnayland representative edwards is the first african-american woman to represent her state in the house. keynote keen eight desk

-- she is a keynote speaker. ve coverage at 12:30 eastern on c-span. 2014 coverage continues with a week full of debate. on wednesday at 7:00, live coverage of the pennsylvania governor press debate between tom corbett and tom wolfe. and live coverage of the illinois house debate for the bobbyistrict between schilling and her opponent -- his opponent. and the illinois governor's debate. friday night, the wisconsin governor's debate between scott walker and mary burke. and live coverage of the iowa senate debate.

sunday, live at 8:00 p.m., the michigan governor's debate between rick snyder and fark shower -- mark schauer. >> now the colorado governor's debate where john hickenlooper bob. republican challenger debate courtesy of political and the general -- denver metro chamber is 45 minutes. governor hickenlooper says his record has added jobs introduced the unemployment rate. you have been critical of his toord in comparison

surrounding states have read specifically, what is your first first policies to reverse course? >> thank you for the opportunity. for what i thought coloradans about was an attack, it are clearly hitting enter. here is -- they are clear about the answer. it is government. government, wonder if any body thinks what is holding us back is we haven't been regulated enough.

i don't think so. can't prove it if it is not pulled jobs, though economic opportunity. -- all caps -- pro >> why not freeze the regulations? >> the -- constitutionally you can't freeze the regulations. there's a process you have to go through which is what we've been doing. we eliminated over 1,500 regulations, significantly simplified or dramatically changed over 5,000 regulations. the important thing is we're trying to work with industry to make sure that the regulation there is -- there actually provide the safeguards that are necessary. when we went after methane, the first state in america to regulate methane emissions but we didn't do it by imposing regulations. we sat down with the environmental community and the oil and gas industry and spent the time to agree on definitions and created regulations that are now a national mold. that's the challenge in

each of these cases to go out there and say, you need some regulation bus how do you get rid of red tape and the stuff that's getting in the way of the business growing. >> is it -- is the governor right about that, that you can't stop regulations? >> but you don't have to sign regulations. the governor in utah did what i said. freeze regulations, eliminate the anti-business ones, and that's what he's failed to do we've got parts of the state, grand junge and el paso county, colorado springs, have had negative growth five years into this supposed obama-hickenlooper recovery. we had some decent recovery n this state, i'll stipulate that, but there's a lot of the state that's ondering, where is the recovery for them? five years into it this ought to be a robust, full-employment economy and frankly we're about 200,000 jobs short of where we

would be if we had full labor participation rate like colorado historically has. it's declined 2% on his watch. >> would you like to respond to that? >> do i get double the time as well? >> take the time you need. >> you can measure -- the entire country is lagging in this recession. it's been a slow, steady recession and certainly nobody likes that. when you compare us to surrounding state the congressman states that our rate has been worse in our state. our unemployment has come down about four points. the average of all the states around colorado is a 2.2% drop in unemployment. we're outperforming them. certainly in terms of new job creation, entrepreneur, we're four of the top communities for technology startups are in colorado. that's a remarkable achievement for something

that supposedly has too many regulations. >> moving on to the next topic for the governor. talk about common core. critics of common core say that the program is too rigid. is a one size fits all education system. and that washington should back off and give states and schools the ability to raise standards on their own. supports of the law say it gives states and schools ample flexibility while ensuring that schools meet the high standards. if you win a second term, would you commit to keeping colorado in common ore? >> well, i don't even call it common core, i call it colorado core. just so we're clear, what common core was 10 years ago, governor, nobody in washington, but governors came together, the majority of them republicans, saying we need higher standards. this was part of no child left behind from president bush which comes from -- which mr. beauprez upported at that time. we need to know that an a is the same in grand

junction and in denver. we need to measure improvement in student achievement against other states. and against other countries. this globe is becoming smaller and smaller and education is going to be key to more and more jobs down the road. the point of the colorado core, each of these assessment systems have been personalized to colorado. they aren't a common core anymore. they are a colorado core. and i think they're going to work. >> and your response, mr. beauprez, i'd like you to address your opposition to common core in a vote you cast that would allow states to avoid being penalized for failing to meet no child left behind. >> what i introduced in congress is what i'd like to see happening in colorado right now. the federal government should block grant to the states the money and the authority to address education. you start by understanding that nobody loves a child more than their mother and

their dad. why in the world do we need a federal government intervention into how and where that child gets educated. colorado historically has had great standards and we started that effort under governor bill owens. we've got good standards now. but here's the reality. talk to principals as i have, there's probably some in the room of course high performing schools and they'll tell you common core will actually cause them to have to dumb down their standards and their performance and increase testing so they have less instruction time and more testing time. thon governor's watch, ladies and gentlemen, it's -- the scores don't lie. our third grade reading scores and our math scores in colorado have deteriorated. that is a tragedy and a scandal and one that frankly i will promise you today will be addressed on my watch. let's give opportunity to every child in colorado and it starts with the ability to learn how to read. >> why have those scores deteriorated? >> they deteriorated a small amount but i think the fact remains that we

have serious challenges in our education system. we passed the reed act specifically to make sure that third graders are able to, when they finish third grade they know how to read. if they don't, we know they have a harder time catching up. we couldn't get it fully funded last year, we will get it fully funded this year. and i think then we'll see improvements. we worked with programs like reach out and read, a program to give every parent a book and each time they visit their pediatrician they get another book to make sure they're reading to their kids. literacy is a big part. i agree there might be in certain places too much testing. we should look at how much testing. but we need common assessment standards. we have a legal obligation to have common assessment standards. if we pulled out of the colorado core, there would be $25 million or $30 million to replace all the

work that's been done. >> you have 15 seconds to respond to that. >> you said scores deteriorated a little bit, when does it become unacceptable that scores deteriorate at all. how do you explain to the 2% of additional children who can't read at grade level, maybe next year it will work out better. this is a scandal that's gone on for too long. we collectively as coloradans ought to commit to solving that scandal to give our kids a fighting chance, to teach them how to read. >> staying on the subject of education, the jefferson county board of education has spawned a heated debate over how to teach advanced placement course material. some want to teach them the free enterprise system while avoiding lessons that condoned civil disorder, social strife or defiance of the law. is it appropriate for schools to play up the good part of the history and dun play the negative? >> in my view it's important to instruct children. we've had too much

instruction time lost because children and teachers have been out of the classroom and not instructing kids. this is something brewing between the school board elected by the people and by a teacher's union and teachers specifically. i think there's a way to resolve that i think they ought to resolve it as adults should, professionally and outside the classroom, but let's, for heaven's sake, get on with the main mission of schools and with teachers. >> you think that proposal is a good idea? >> i think an intersected -- an elected school board has every right to look at curriculum, they have an obligation to look at the curriculum and if they get out of kilter that's what we have elections for. to resolve those difference between voters and an elected group of officials, in this case a school board. >> governor, what do you hink about that?

>> certainly our system delegates authority to the school district. i think it's more about the students, right. and i think their right to go out and protest for a couple of days is not going to endanger their final test scores. my understanding is that their parents are committed to them staying current with their classrooms. but in the end, it is an obligation of every school district, they are elected by their citizens to judge what is history? and for the life of me i can't see how you can get in that big a fight, we should be able to have our kids learn about the tea party but also about martin luther king. nd i think that's just basic common sense that you want your kids to get the full range of american history. the good, the bad, the expansive, the challenges, and let them sort through. part of a good education is teaching kids, you know, where we made mistakes and where we need to do better and to sort through complicated information and come to their own opinion. >> so you have concerns with the proposal work the jefferson count dizsh -- county -- >> some of the approaches

were more than i would have gone for. but i agree with congressman beauprez that it is that school board's responsibility to supervise nd nag curriculum. >> ok. do you want to respond? >> tonl point out one more thing that i think needs to be point out and that's that, you know, the governor's term, we have now fallen, according to the obama census epartment, to 50th in rank among the various states in getting our federal tax dollars back to fund our schools. we all are concerned about adequate funding, we ought to start by getting at least dollars back from washington that we sent to washington that we've got every right to expect to get back to fund colorado schools. >> if you don't want to respond, i'll move on -- >> i'll just teleout, those measurements, we did apply, we won over $35 million for early childhood education. those formulas the congressman is referring to

are based on affluence and how much money your state government spends on education. the poorer our your community and the more money the state spends on education the better you do in that. we've always been in the bottom five or 10. we are right now either at the bottom or close to the bolt tom but that's a combination of our financial success as a state and also the funds, the lack of funding we've been able to give the schools. >> i've got to respond to that >> 15 seconds. >> i've got to respond to that the reality is that we have fallen, average household income, he talks about the affluence of our state but the average household income has fallen $4,000 in four years and four years ago we were ranked 42, not in the bottom five, but 42. we're not talking dollars and cent bus tens of millions of dollars of difference. the job of the governor is to go get what you have every right to have back as citizens and the retail is that colorado gets 84 cents back on every dollar we sent to washington.

i don't think that's dequate. >> i'm going to move on to the next topic, the issue of fracking. hot button issue here. and local control of oil and gas. you engineered a compromise to ensure that ballot measures on the topic were removed on this november's ballot and tried to cut a deal in the legislative as well. what would you do if that was deadlocked, what are the limits you would set in regulating this practice? >> first, i think it's fair to go back and look at that negotiation that got us to having commission in the first place. congressman beauprez wanted those, said he wanted to keep those initiatives on the ballot, that they would not have passed. we would have had a $50 million food fight and no matter who won, we would have been doing the same thing in the next two years.

what we have now san opportunity with some of ur, i think, leading citizens from across the state, really look at that conflict, right. we have an issue where we've got someone's right to quiet enjoyment in their home where they live and also someone who has private property, with mineral rights, in close proximity. how do we plans those rights? there are ways to find compromises and solutions that mitigate the impact of that activity on someone's enjoyment of their home. i think if he we do this, this isn't just a problem n colorado, it's in ohio and pennsylvania, it's in texas and wyoming, and we're really the first state to sit down and make sure both sides are at the table and how do we find a compromise so we don't find it on the ballot in the next two years. >> before i move on, what would you do if that commission does not reach a deal? how would you proceed on this issue? >> i think that they, the commission, they can't reach a 2/3's majority which is what we set up,

they've got to get to a 2/3's majority to recommend something for legislation, but if they can't do that, there'll be a majority opinion and a minority opinion and the legislature will tackle it. it's too big a deal, too important, this is a $30 billion part of our economy and to allow it to be put at risk is -- it affects almost every other business in the state. >> would you commit as governor if you win to listening to whatever that commission proposes is this? even if it calls for strong local control? >> i'll listen to it but i think it's a solution in search of a problem, frankly. here's where i disagree with strongly with the governor. by doing what he did he, perpetuated uncertainty which has been the problem with the oil and gas industry now for several years. that's what's been chasing investment out of the state. not only in the oil and gas industry but industry in general. overregulation and uncertainty breed just exactly that. chase jobs somewhere else

e referred to it earlier and denies it's reality but the labor department's own numbers say that the total employment numbers in the five states surrounding us are better than ours. when you add in involuntarily part-time employed and people who have given up looking for work. colorado lags behind our five neighbors. part of the reason is what he's referring to right now he said that he would create regulation even if his commission doesn't come up with something, they'll find something to sign again. that's exactly what's been the problem. regulation after regulation after regulation, year after year, breeds uncertainty and investment will go somewhere else. >> is it too close? s there a limit to how close these rigs should be set? >> we have done this and i've personally done this because we had it impacted on our land. we have solved these problems in colorado historically for decades, and almost a century, by all sides coming together

and signing memorandums of understanding and meeting in the middle. they've done it community by community. what we're trying to do now is regulate not -- not better regulate an industry but chase an industry out of a state. ladies and gentlemen, we've never been table harvest natural resources safer, more efficiently, wiser than we can right now. we ought to be celebrating that, not punishing that. >> are you chasing major industry out of the state? >> i think this is going to go down, next year will be the largest year of investment in the oil and gas industry in the history of the state this year was close to that. clearly this negotiation was done with the industry, side by side, talking to them, back and forth, back and forth, making sure that the compromise in this commission really had a chance of succeeding. and trust me, the major players in this state, the largest operators, the handful of half dozen companies that drill 75% or 80% of the wells support this commission 100% and believe we're not

overregulating. they supported the methane regulation to make sure we can guarantee people. what did i say when i came in four years ago? we're going to be the most pro-business state in america. we're going to hold ourselves to the highest standard. we'll have the cleanest air, the cleanest water and the way to do that is to get both sides, the nonprofit community, the environmental community, side-by-side in the same room and let both sides have their share on the floor and figure out what is the solution where both sides feel they've succeeded. >> why not take the environmental community's concerns seriously on this? >> we have historically done that. i've got to push back on what he just said. he's right he, brought a couple of bigs into the room but he just threw the small independent guys that need a voice under the bus and i hope you heard him say that. i won't do that i won't do that in colorado. the little guys who need a champion, need a real champion. they'll have in a this govern yo beauprez. >> ok. moving on. to you, mr. beauprez.

immigration reform. of course, major business issue here in the state. dealing with illegal immigration remain a centerpiece of that effort. you said in a radio interview in july that if washington doesn't act, quote, governors ought to be allowed to do it as jan brewer tried to do in arizona. of course that arizona law requires state law enforcement officials to determine the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest if there's reason to suspect that they -- that the individual might be here illegally. would you, as governor, try to enact a similar law here in colorado, and how specifically would you target undocumented immigrants? >> that is a mischaracterization. what i was referring to with jan brewer is she defended the property rights and lives of people on her border. it had nothing to do with legislation. it had to do with jan brewer standing up when the federal government wouldn't for farmers and ranchers especially on our southern border whose ranches became

uninhabitable and unusable because the federal government failed to secure the border. that's what i respect not only about that governor but other govern kwlors say, wait a minute, federal government do, your job, and that's been the problem with illegal immigration frankly for both parties. there's been a lot of dialogue and a lot of back and forth for political gain and trying to get votes but there's been a complete lack of will to solve the problem. the governor said four years ago when he campaigned he was going to lead a march on washington to somehow resolve this problem and i wonder how the walk is going. we've had absolutely no solution and i think governors are pretty much fed up with washington and are going to demand that washington once and for all solves the problem. >> would you try to do something similar, similar to what arizona did? >> i have never had any

reference to the law. no. the answer is no. i was referring to her protecting the private property rights and the lives and livelihoods of her citizens in her case, especially on the border rm >> do you want to respond to that? >> i'm not sure he said that before huh but he said before the 10 million to 12 million undocumented people here should have to leave the country first before any kind of process goes forward, even if families want to stay together, even families should leave, cleansing or something was the term there. you said you want to take away the driver's license and repeal that utah supports, has the driver's license for undocumented. nevada. they look at it as a crucial part of highway safety. i think there are four key ingredients we should get to get a national agreement on comprehensive immigration reform. i am working with the governors. i'm the chair of the national governor's association, i have 27 or 28 governors lined up, get an i.d. system that works, make sure there are consequences for people

hiring people under the table and have a guest worker system that's robust. it's not just for technology employee bus agricultural employees, people where we have trouble filling those jobs. if we get enough governors together and we will do this i think governors can, i mean, we're not like congress. we work together pretty well. i can sit down with republicans and democrats and talk about immigration and really move forward. i think we can pressure congress and after this mid temple election i think we'll make some progress. >> he mentioned self-deportation. do you favor that for people who are here illegally? should they go home on their own? >> i don't think that's necessary at all in the america we live. in one of the things i talk about frequently is that, shame on us, frankly, all of us, for allowing this to last for the last three decades in a nation as great as america and a state as great as colorado, we're more dignified than this. >> how do you deal with the immigration problem?

>> he heard me say those same four things. you secure the border, modernize, enforce employment laws and have a system where people can self-identify, apply for legal status if they can pass a background check, they have a sponsoring employer, pay some sort of restitution, i think we can resolve that problem. but you have to start with securing the border and modernizing legal immigration so employers and immigrants can get an answer in a hurry. >> do you want to respond? >> i guess the one part, and we worked hard on trying to put together the colorado compact and i still, i don't think you've signed that, right? i haven't taken a position, but the colorado compact supported by the colorado catholic conference, the denver metro chamber, attorney general southers, it's similar to the utah compact, it has six basic core values. it's the kind of thing that

if we want to get to a solution. >> why didn't you sign the colorado compact. >> i want to ask him a question, why, with his president in the white house, and the president had a democrat senate and a democrat house, if they were so all-fired interested in solving this problem as the president said in 2008 and he said in 2010, why is it still out there? ladies and gentlemen, it's a failure of will. and we can talk about, well, after the election we'll fix it. but it's always after the election and then somehow people forget. this is an issue that america is bert than and we better get after it in a hurry. if he's -- if he's in the big influential position of national governor's association chair i would think he could influence the white house but we're having no movement. we're having a lot of talk. >> i want to ask him a uestion. >> you have one, you can do it. >> just kidding.

>> so moving on, the state here of course, governor, to you a number of states are looking at what colorado has done when it comes to recreational marijuana, including the district of columbia. what would be your advice to those states? should they follow the colorado mod well the this hopes of increasing their own revenue streams and creating jobs in a new industry or was colorado's ove a mistake? >> you know what i'd advise other governors, and i'm asked -- as you can imagine, i'm asked frequently, i oppose it, almost every elected official in the state opposed it. we're not only the first state to do this, we're the first, literally the first country. even copenhagen and amsterdam they never legalized it, they just decriminalized it. and there are serious challenges when you're building something from scratch. i think other states -- what other states should be doing is taking a long, slow, careful look and see how it goes here. we continue to be very

concerned about young people. right? we don't see any data that shows a giant spike of adults suddenly smoking marijuana now that it's legal. but we are worried that teenagers whose brains are still maturing and the studies, when we talk to neuroscientists and there's no study yet but neuroscientists are very, very concerned, they think there's a high probability that even once a week if a kid smokes a high-t.h.c. pot, it will have a probability to diminish their long-term memory permanently. that's like taking away i.q. points system of i think any governor that looks at doing this before we see what the consequences are, i would view it as reckless. >> was it reckless here for the state to do it? >> i think that for us to do that without having all the data, there is not enough data and you could say it was reckless. i'm not saying it was reckless, because i'll get quoted everywhere, but if it was up to me, i wouldn't have done it.

i said that from the beginning. oh, i'll say it was reckless. >> do you agree? was it reckless? >> so will i, john. >> so as governor, would you try to repeal the law? >> when you take an oath to enforce the laws of the state of colorado, you have to recognize that it's one of them now too. i think this is an area where john and i see things similarly. we've got to regulate it as tight as the law allows. i think law enforcement needs a lot more funding but a big piece of this -- of the puzzle will be honestly educating our citizens and especially our young people about the consequences. that is a bigger public safety issue, folks. i think that's part of the discussion we have to have. i know the governor doesn't like me going there, but i saw the lead story in the denver post this morning, it brings up an issue i think that needs to be

debated and needs to be part of this election. as "the denver post" pointed out, we are turning some very violent criminals, very violent, and mentally unstable criminals right back into our neighborhoods, right back out onto our streets and it's happened on his watch. the "denver post," kirk mitchell specifically said his staff asked him not to print the story. apparently you don't have to right to know the truth about who is getting released into our neighborhoods. this has been going on for a long time. >> very specific charges, would you like to respond? >> i'm not sure what this question has to do with your question. i don't know which staff -- first i heard of that was the employee evidently was worried about alarming people, certainly not our policy and not something we try to do. this has been a problem never state and all over the country. when someone has served their time, you can't keep hem.

we tried to get a law passed last year where you could have civil commitment with people who have mental illness and people we deem a real threat either to themselves or others and we couldn't get it through. for a variety of reasons. i think that challenge, whether we give alerts, right now there's federal law limiting how many alerts you can send out. the alerts we can send out, we do send out. but again, we have to obey the law just like any governor does. >> i want to follow up quickly on that, still on the topic of marijuana, you were with governor chris christie, he doubled down on the criticism that colorado's recreational marijuana laws hurt the quality of life. he said for the people enamored with the idea, go to colorado and see if you want to live there. see if you want to live in a major city in colorado where there's head shops popping up on every corner, people flying into your airport just to come and get high.

do you agree with chris hristie on that? [laughter] >> i'm glad that chris christie has come to colorado and wants to invest in colorado's uture. >> i certainly appreciate that chris christie voted for me as chair of the national governor's association, so he's not all bad. >> fair enough. now you have an opportunity to question each other, we've already had some of that but maybe this time ou guys can respond. first you, governor hickenlooper, you can ask your question and mr. beauprez, you have 60 seconds to respond. >> soy guess i would ask the part we haven't discussed right now, the -- your opposition to some of these statewide initiatives in support of

others. you supported referendum a which was a pretty big water grab, voted down in all 64 counties. you opposed referendum c and referendum d, which were balancing act to try and make sure it could work effectively. in each of these cases you opposed getting a compromise solution for the ballot initiatives around fracking. you said you wanted them to stay on so we could get a resolution to those. those stands seem, at least to me on the surface, not take into consideration the long-term consequences for the state. i wanted to ask you to give some reasons for or a reason for them. >> somebody who is a third generation coloradan on my dad's side and fifth on my mom's side, for somebody to suggest i don't have the long-term interests of colorado in my heart, that's not very well thought through, governor.

i do have the long-term interests at heart. referendum a was a long-term storage project. i did disagree with c and d because i thought there were other options, very good options, such as securitizing tobacco receipts. that's a difference of public policy you seem to have a habit of getting paralyzed by, you call it collaboration or conflict. i don't. i don't have a problem looking at an issue, sometimes very difficult issues, making a decision, and then leave. that's what i would have done on these energy, so-called, initiatives with your friend jared polis. i would have beat them back and created some certainty in the marketplace which has been desperately lacking. instead of kicking the can down the road and perpetuating uncertainty, i'd like to resolve it. >> your turn to query the governor. >> governor, picking up on the point we were just at, it strikes me as curious that you took some exception with what

your spokesman said in the newspaper and what the newspaper said about your office. you said you weren't trying to keep this evident this information, about parolees, violent parolees away from the public but in fact, kirk mitchell of "the denver post" said your office tried to keep them from publishing them. you said you didn't know, he said they contacted your office, you weren't available for comment and your own spokesman was on record as contradicting what you did that said your department of corrections head said that legislative fixes weren't on the agenda, certainly not this year. so why don't you just tell us where is all that? because it alarms me, these aren't isolated instances of grave concern, i think, to the citizens of colorado when people this violent, that are sworn to, once they get out, go commit

mass murders, as the newspaper chronicled this morning, this is a very serious public safety issue. i think sentencing and parole policies in colorado do need to be addressed. >> certainly we have been addressing parole issues and the reform of things like solitary confinement more aggressively than probably any state in the country. i don't think it was someone in my office. i think it was someone in the department of corrections that said they hoped it didn't get publicized. that's the part i hadn't heard about. i did hear on friday they were asking questions, i talked to rick ramish and questioned him, these folks make threats, if i get out i'm going to get a gun and kill everybody in the department of corrections. well, that is a threat that should be taken seriously but it's hard to prosecute and the district attorney, there are so many threats coming out of these prisoners that especially the ones who have mental illness challenges that they're having a hard time to work through that. is there a way to do legislation

that could address that? there might be. and i'm happy to look at it. you're going to accuse me of taking too long, why haven't i done it before -- deliberation isn't necessarily a weakness. some people see it as a strength. >> moving a topic of interest in this room, labor. mr. beauprez a number of republican governors have moved to weaken the power labor unions and collective bargaining restrictions and turned their state into right-to-work states. would you push to amend the state constitution to make this state a right-to-work state or is the current system working? >> i've always favored right to work and i wish colorado was a right-to-work state, yes. i don't know that it's a top legislative priority right now given the makeup of our state legislature, there's a political reality. do i favor a competitive work environment? yes. i feel it will benefit colorado's business community, colorado's economy and if it's a benefit to that economy and job creation and growth and

opportunity, i'm for it. >> but you wouldn't make it a top legislation priority. >> if i can get it passed i'd be gld to sign it. >> similar issue on the minimum wage, governor hickenlooper. at the denver post debate, you said yeah, sure, when asked if you backed a minimum wage increase, it's about $8.00 per hour pursuant to the requirements in the colorado state constitution. democrats in washington want to increase it to $10.10 an hour. if you could expand on your thinking on this, would you put your political capital on the line in a second term to push for a change to more significantly increase the minimum wage in this state? >> i'm not sure i'd push for it. it was one of those yes or no questions and there's a lot attached to that in colorado we have our own system, it's in our constitution. so we're already increasing our minimum wage along with inflation. the question didn't really attach to our processes in colorado.

i do think it's worth discussing, how do we get more people as consumers? and within that, if you're going to have an increase in minimum wage, how do you make sure young kids coming out of school, that there's an allocation or capacity so they can get that first job, so some kid who is 16, 17, 18, dropped out of school, they're trying to start out and maybe they should have the opportunity to have a lower wage. same thing, one of the battles we had when the state minimum wage issue went into the constitution, a lot of us restaurant folks, we have many of the highest paid employees in our restaurant are bartenders and wait staff. and the federal minimum wage has what's called a tip credit. it means that the -- their minimum wage is essentially half of what the other minimum wage is. i think that opportunity to, when we put in our state constitution, we just glossed over that and that tip credit wasn't included. when you're trying to pay more money to your line cooks and people in the kitchen which

almost every restaurateur i know is trying to figure out, your hands are tied because you have to give a raise to some of the folks with the highest compensation. that's something i would work on. >> in your rebuttal, i'm wondering if you would agree with concerns raised by this philosophical objection to the minimum wage saying the market should set the wages not the government. do you agree with that criticism and do you think the minimum wage should even exist? >> well, i certainly wouldn't increase it and the reason is because the evidence is overwhelming that every time you increase it you actually do just the opposite of what the stated objective is. instead of creating jobs, you reduce the number of jobs. >> should it exist? should the minimum wage even exist? >> well, we have it. i'm not for eliminating it but i'm not for raising it right now. here's a piece -- another piece of reality that i think is important. i talk a lot about where we're at relative to other states

where the economy stands, the fact that we're supposedly five years into a recovery and we've still got negative growth in parts of colorado. i looked deeper at some of those numbers and where the negative growth is also happening is the people that this administration, including the governor, were pledged to help. low income people and especially women or minority communities, that's where the jobs have been the slowest coming to. and the data is pretty clear on that. and i think that's a tragedy. doing things like increasing the minimum wage, nice window dressing but it's counterproductive. what we have to do is get the whole economy moving again. you do that by incentivizing investment and growth, not by punishing it. we've had quite enough punishment. >> we're almost out of time and time for closing statements. mr. beauprez, since you have won the drawing you get to go first. you have 90 seconds.

>> thank you very much for being here today. not only the ones in this room and kelly and your chamber, your partners, but all those who might be watching and reading about this later. colorado is a special place. i think we'd all agree on that the fact that we're here, we say, gee we're doing pretty good, we're in colorado, after all. isn't that great? it is. it's the only home i've ever had my wife claudia is with me today, our daughter two granddaughters, it's the only home we ever want. when i ask people how you're feeling about colorado, you say, you know, we don't feel quite as good as we normally do. just not colorado. why is that? because we've turned things on its head. instead of government of, by, and for the people, the state that big dreams always happening, dreams that claudia and i never imagined came true for us. people tell us they're not sure that's going to be the future of colorado. why is that? teachers, small business people, large people people, farmers and ranchers, say government is

getting in my way. government is holding me back obviously the governor's watch this has all happened and it wasn't supposed to be like that. he didn't veto a single bill in 2013. the most anti-business legislative session people called it in colorado history, not one. he's got sheriffs that want to talk to him he, says he doesn't know they even want him to speak. colorado rural counties said they didn't want a renewable energy mandate he, signed it anyway and then apologized for it being inadequate legislation that, well, we'll have to fix later. folks, governors have a responsibility to be decisive. to make decisions and know where they want to go and how they want to get there you may not always agree with me but you will know where i stand. and i'll assure you that i'll make the tough decisions and lead this state. with your help, and the grace of god, we can be great again and we can start very soon by doing one profound thing.

by believe and trusting in people rather than by believing and trusting in ever more government. god bless you and thank you for allowing me to be here. >> governor hickenlooper. [applause] >> i want to thank kelly and the chamber and all the partners putting this together. when our company got sold in 1986 and everyone got laid off, i was out of work for two years. we those opposed, no wine coop in 2008. the rent because $1 per square foot per year. we started getting other hotels and restaurants to work together to define lodo as a special place. it still took more than five years to begin to get momentum. i think that's a little like colorado today. when i was elected mayor in 2003, we started working immediately with the suburbs, we got all 34 mayors, 2/3's of them republicans, to support fast tracks. when funding was blocked for union station, i was the one who called d.c. to solve the $375

million impasse. look, we were 40th in job creation in 2010. we had $1 billion deficit. we created statewide economic development plan a bottom up plan, got all the counties to merge into a regional plan, create a state plan. then we had 13 federally declared disasters, more than any other state in the country. i was in the middle of every single one. we had shootings where i visited almost every hospital room and attended almost every funeral. but we stayed focused. we cut or simplified over 6,000 regulations, we expanded access to capital and when major channels appeared like last summer's ballot challenges, we did everything possible, i did everything possible, for as long as it took to get that off the ballot, to create a process that could have the potential to create a lasting solution. colorado, like denver is a place that's going to be defined more

by its future than its past that future is going to be focused around innovation and collaboration. we're now -- now we've gone from 40th to fourth in job creation. we are the number one fastest growing economy in america. but we need to be the number one job, number one state in job creation. we need to be the number one state in education achievement. and we have to be not just the thinnest state but be the number one healthiest state in america. and i think we will. if we can continue to keep the focus and keep that collaborative spirit together, there's no limit. like that old dutch farmer said 150 years ago in illinois, when crossing streams it's better not to change horses. >> thank you governor. thank you, mr. beauprez. \[applause] \[captioning performed by national captioning institute]

\[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] on our website www.c-span.org you can see the ads running around the country. here is a look at the ads in the virginia senate race. >> im am mark warner and i approve this message. >> enron, the largest corporate fraud in history. enron paid gillespie and his firm $700,000 to block regulation of the energy markets so they could raise utility rates. then it got worse. enron, and gillespie, million dollar lobbyist to put enron ahead of you. >> through a direct carbon tax or directly through cap and trade, we will put a price on carbon. >> mark warner and obama want to kill coal.

>> the obama-warner program will killed thousands of good paying virginia jobs. i will fight any coal tax. my plan will lower the economy. >> ed gillespie, the enron part in the sin is attacking with false as the experts call misleading, completely made up. the truth, mark warner is working to fix health care and find a bipartisan solution to cut the national debt. it is why republicans, including a former governor, u.s. senator, and 14 legislators, have endorsed him. >> i'm mark warner. i approve this message. >> i'm ed gillespie, i approve this message. i worked my way through college. i worked from the parking lot to the white house.

there is opportunity and dignity in work but today too many virginians are squeezed by mark warner's and president obama's policies that raise taxes, increase prices, and kill jobs. it is time for a new direction. >> today the council hosts a distraction -- discussion about online voting. you can see it live starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span two. our campaign 2014 coverage continues a week full of debates. coveraget 7:00, live of the pennsylvania governor's debate. thursday on c-span, live coverage of the illinois u.s. house debate for the 17th the

district between cheri bustos and bobby schilling. 9:00, live coverage of the illinois governor's debate with pat quinn and bruce runner. night, live at 8:00 eastern, the wisconsin governor's debate. between scott walker and mary burke. saturday night at 8:00 eastern, live coverage of bruce braley and joni ernst. and the michigan governor's debate, between governor rick snyder and republican mark shower. nauer. >> now the maryland governor's debate between anthony brown and republican challenger larry hogan. as leans is viewed democratic.

it is one hour. is wjztv, baltimore. >> the candidates for governor debate. now from inside the studios. good evening everyone and welcome. over the next hour we will hear from both candidates running for governor of maryland. the debate is sponsored by "the baltimore sun." we want to thank the candidates for being with us this evening. candidate anthony brown and the republican candidate, mr. larry hogan. will make ane opening statement and then we moved to the issues. i am joined by andy greed. we will establish a topic and then ask one of them a question. each of them will then get up to

one minute 45 seconds to present his views. the first candidate to answer will then be given one minute for a bottle. at the end of the debate, each will be given one minute for closing statements. the viewers who have e-mailed their questions over the past week. we read them all and included many in tonight's topics. broadcasts before the has determined that anthony brown will begin first. >> thank you, i want to thank the sponsors and "the baltimore sun," i want to thank the audience in the studio and that are watching the broadcast. maryland is a great state and we have a cop was to a great deal in the last several years. we lead the nation in college affordability. we have driven crime down to levels we haven't seen in four decades and we are only one of six states who have come through the depression with a aaa bond

rating. this election is not about the past and where we had been, it is about the future and what is next. i spent 30 years in the army and had the opportunity to lead soldiers and train them and their families. to send them on missions in unforgiving environments. ,iving in the leadership training and resources to complete their mission so they could come home safe. have the privilege of struggling with patriotic men and women. today i am on a different mission. the fight is different but it is just as important. this november, voters will decide that they will make a choice. they wake up every morning fighting for families and will -- middle-class values. up favoring the small group of the largest, wealthiest corporations.

we will wake up every day to fight for you, maryland and the working-class values. >> thank you mr. brown. to the republican candidate, larry hogan. >> first i would like to thank w jay-z and the baltimore sun for giving us this opportunity. i am not a professional politician, i am a small businessman and a lifelong melander -- marylander who loves this state. i'm fed up with politics as usual and i believe that our state is way off track and headed in the wrong direction. tax hikes has taken an additional $10 billion out of the pockets of struggle he -- struggling families. we have lost 8000 small businesses. unemployment has doubled to read 200,000 marylander are out of work.

zero economic growth in our state economy ranks 49th out of 50 states. taxlargest mass exodus of layers fleeing our state of any state in the region and one of the worst in the nation. marylandersof all want to leave the state. deservele of maryland better, that is why i am running for governor and that is why i need your help and votes to turn this economy around. >> let's get right to the questioning. mr. brown, it seems to be the consensus that taxes in maryland are too high. for example susie asks, if you are elected you commit to lowering taxes or at least not raising taxes or creating new taxes for individual taxpayers? asi don't see the need governor of maryland to raise taxes. there will be no new taxes in

the brown administration. picture, wete the were faced with a 40% increase in college tuition, overcrowded classrooms in the most congested streets on the highway and part toers did their protect our schools, safe neighborhoods and the environment. also we could ensure that we have a vibrant economy and community. there will be no new taxes. what i propose and mr. hogan and i agree, and the need for tax relief. where we differ is that my tax release starts with the middle class. it starts with small and entrepreneurial businesses, the innovators and job creators. small businesses create two out of every three jobs in maryland. that is where we start. small businesses that create two out of every three middle-class jobs. where i disagree with is mr.

hogan's approach where he begins by providing a $300 million tax giveaway annually to the smallest group of the largest corporations, many of them headquartered out of the state of maryland who need it the lease. in a brown-allman administration, we will fight for working families and middle-class jobs which means we support entrepreneurial businesses so they can create the jobs that put marylanders to work. >> what the lieutenant governor just said sounds good, unfortunately it is the opposite of his eight year record of failure. you can't say it you will help middle-class families and yanders, when for the past eight years your past 40 consecutive tax hikes that are crushing these families. you of the tax likes that have pushed have hit people at the lowest end of the income

scale the most. i am out there every day. people have had enough. 71% of the people in maryland think taxes are too high. again with this nonsense about the corporate giveaways. i have talked about the fact that we need to roll back as many of these tax increases as possible. if you want to talk about corporate giveaways, you are want to talk about giving away special tax credits for specific big corporations. i am talking about tax relief for all marylanders. the corporate giveaways now is that we are giving away our corporations to virginia to north carolina and other states. we have lost 8000 businesses. taxpayers in maryland are suffering. they can't take it anymore and that is why i am running. you say that you now agree but why having you done anything for

the past eight years? you have been in charge. the largestded over tax increases in history and now you say you will have a blue-ribbon commission to review tax reform. the last time we heard that was 2007 he for one of the largest increases in history. we need real tax cuts. remembert marylanders and don't want to go back to, was the largest expansion in state government under your administration, $300 billion in increased taxes and fees and you jacked college tuition by 40%. as he employment secretary your the 14 members who voted to increase tuition by 40%. you left classrooms overcrowded, no plan to reduce congestion on the streets. those days remember and they do not want to go back. this is not about the past, this is about the future.

no new taxes in the brown-allman administration. started in his grandparents garage. announced he eclipsed adidas. under armour had targeted tax credits. they are now the number two sports apparel company the world. >> maryland has increased investment in k to 12 education. meanwhile, baltimore got approval for a school construction plan that will allow them to accelerate the replacement of aging buildings. could you evaluate for media effectiveness and affordability of spending on education? outline any changes you think would be necessary going forward? >> i think we have done a good job spending money.

we have doubled spending on ducation and maryland. i would say the results have been. next we have -- have been mixed. we have some of the best performing schools and the lowest performing schools in the country. the gap between them is 50th in the nation. the gap between white and minority students is the largest in the nation. we need to invest a money. we also have to look at other ways to improve education. i want to improve -- push more dollars to the local level. make decisions at the local level. we will push the button on common core, which has been a complete disaster. i want to push for charter schools. we are 50th in the nation in charter schools.

i believe every single child and maryland it deserves a quality education. we have to work hard to try to make sure that happens. >> mr. brown? >> once again, we agree. i believe every child deserves access to a world-class education. we have made progress. i take issues with your fax. we are closing the achievement gap faster than any state in the nation. we are making good progress reducing the achievement gap along racial and ethnic lines. in my vision for a world-class education, that starts with investment in pre-k education. i think every maryland for euro to have access to pre-k. when you ask how to prepare kids, they started with the pairing -- expanding pre-k. mr. hogan says we cannot afford

it. i think we cannot afford not to do it. i support investments in school construction. we will not raise taxes or jeopardize our bond rating. we have the ability to make investments with our bond ating. i look forward to working with baltimore county, montgomery, prince george's, and every executive that once to deliver modern classrooms. mr. hogan calls for a $450 million cut to school onstruction. that would cut us -- set us back years. we want to move children from trailers to technology ready lassrooms. your cut would take students back to a place they do not