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competition is underway. 150 prizesward totaling $150,000. videos need to include his c-span programming, show varying points of view, and must be submitted by january 20, 2015. g for moreentcam.or information. >> now, the third debate between the candidates for governor in maine. incumbent paul lepage, democrat mike michaud, and eliot cutler. the cook political report lists the race is a tossup -- as a tossup. >> good evening, and welcome to

the augusta civic center and the annual meeting of the chamber of commerce -- commerce and the first televised forum for the governor of maine. let's meet the candidates. the independent is eliot cutler, a former staffer. he has never held elected office. the republican is paul lepage, who is seeking reelection. the democrat is mike michaud. he is finishing his sixth term in congress representing the second district. is a former president of the main state senate and a former paper mill worker. please welcome the candidates. [applause] over the next hour, i will be posing questions to the candidates. we will not be running a stopwatch, but if things run

long, i will step in and keep things moving. they will be able to engage each other and respond to claims. this should allow us to have a substantive discussion on as many issues as possible. candidates will be given the opportunity to pose a question to each opponent later in the hour. each man will have one minute for an opening statement. lots were drawn, and wouldn't you know it, it cannot alphabetically anyway. -- came out alphabetically anyway. .et's begin we are about to hire a leader for maine. eliot cutler, although you have run before, your something of a mystery. i am not sure that you have managed anything in the last five years that they can identify easily. why should you be next governor? >> first, thank you to the state chamber for having this debate. i appreciate the opportunity. i have spent a career in both

the public sector and private sector managing businesses, starting successful businesses, working in the white house for edward muskie, helping to write america's environmental legislation and helping to manage $160 billion of government spending. i understand management. i understand politics. i understand public service. and i understand the state of maine. i grew up in bangor, and my parents and my grandparents are anin bangor. i think the next governor needs to have a vision for the state, a plan and a strategy. calledwritten a book "state of opportunity" that explains what i do and why i do it. can takeomeone that

maine into a 21st-century economy with 21st century ideas. governor lapage, people have come to know you over the last four years. one thing they know is that you can be highly partisan. given that, why should you be the governor for the next four years? >> i think my critics say that. and, unfortunately, we need less critics and more role models. in the last 49 years -- let's take the last two years. my opponents say that i do not .ork well with others when you have good public policy, i work with you. if you try to get me to do bad public policy, it goes in the garbage. i do not have time. that me to you this. in the last two years, when the democratic-controlled -- with the democratic controlled ure, 80% of the bells pentagon -- bills

across my desk i become law. two thirds of those were sponsored by democrats. thehe other hand, of all of bills that i ascended to legislature, 54% died in committee. who is working with who? mike michaud, you have no executive experience to bring to the job. why are you the man to lead the state? >> thank you for having us here, and i want to thank the main state chamber as well for hosting the event. as most of you know, i am not the most entertaining or an ord. --orator. i am more of a listener. the reason that i will make a great governor is that i have a mission, i have experience working in the legislature and in the senate, and the 12 years

in congress. i know how to bring people together. if we are going to solve problems here, whether working with the legislature, republicans and democrats and independents. or whether it is working with , we werenterest groups able to get the issue solved in the legislature. so i would be a better governor. thatwould just like to say , in the last 12 years as a congressman, you have voted 93 -- 93% delay nancy pelosi and the democratic leaders have asked you to vote. -- the way nancy pelosi in the democratic leaders have asked you to vote. that is not working both ways. if you look at what is happening in maine, as much as you say that i do not work with others, two thirds of the bells that wentinto law b --ills that into law, your party brought up.

>> congressman? >> i am very glad that pelosi in collegeeagues have accepted ideas that i brought forward so i could vote for the bill. you look at the affordable care act, that was legislation that i was not comfortable with until we took care of the reimbursement rates of the medicaid population. the cap and trade legislation. when of the issues i did with the cap and trade legislation, we were able to enhance what maine has been doing for quite some time. is about working across the aisle to get things done, not headlines. >> mr. cutler? >> do you want four more years of this? [laughter] really? if we keep arguing with each other in this state of 1,000,300 , the size of buffalo, if

we keep arguing with each other -- which party is doing this, which is doing that, who was a better partisan than the other? if we keep doing that, we will not allow ourselves out of an 11 year nosedive that the economy pulleen in p --u8 -- ourselves out of an 11 year nosedive that the economy has been in. >> last word. >> in the last four years, i have reduced structural damage 60%. largest tax cut in maine history . we have created 22,000 jobs, i wish it had been 60. i could not budge one area, that is energy. the democratic party is stuck in not reducing energy costs. beside that, we paid off a debt due hospitals, $750 million.

we never had to raise taxes. the last two years, we balanced the budget. we close the year with a surplus . and incidentally, this last year, $94 million surplus. the tax increase generated $90 million. we did not have to take $90 million out of the mainwe people last year. want toay that you focus on jobs that pay $50 an hour, not minimum-wage jobs. as you brought and a dollar an hour jobs to the state -- have you brought any $50 an hour jobs to the state? >> absolutely worried we brought many doctors to the state that make more than that. the lasthe last week, 12 days, we have had over 12 ribbon cuttings. hundreds of millions of dollars invested in here.

we are currently working on some jobs that are going to be p aid exactly that. aud,ongressman mich you're virtually ignored cutler in the earlier debates. what issue you must defer with what issued -- in to you most differ from eliot cutler? >> i will be a better governor of the night fellows on the stage because i have the experience i mentioned earlier. the governor talks about using hospitals,back be but what it does not talk about is using a credit card to pay it back. the thing he does not talk about he is notecause accepting the expansion under the affordable care act, hospitals are actually going to lose from $75 million $200 million.

new thing the back with a credit $100over here -- to million. i differ with mr. cutler because ofo have the experience being able to work across the aisle. does not have a voting record, i have a voting record and i have that experience. when the governor talks about given the largest tax cut, when he is not mentioned is that when i was in the main ture, we did the largest tax cut me state history. the difference is that we actually paid for it. they put because back into the minutes of quality. cost back into the

municipality. when mike michaud was in the senate, there were no tax breaks. in 2012, there were tax cuts given. however, right after the election, governor angus king repealed them, so they never took effect. mike, i am sorry, that is not true. two, when he says off budget, i do not understand, we have corrected him several times. the text that came in the 2011 budget, mike. we paid it with revenues that we knew we would get in future times. i do not understand the credit card -- i will ask you one question. if you were going to pay with cash, or would you have gotten

the cash, number one? >> eliot cutler wants to get on this. the question was about him. [laughter] >> i would like to go back on the medicaid expansion. >> we will. >> mike, i'm glad i do not have your record. >> me to. o. >> you have crossed a lot of aisles. you voted over 17 years, 19 ,imes in the legislature against equal rights for all mainer. s. the last time, you were the only democrat to join four at republicans in voting no. is that an example of crossing the aisle?

>> that deserves a response, i think. >> i want to respond first to the governor on the budget. [laughter] understand -- what the governor did is he did the huge tax cuts in one budget cycle. the effect of the biggest part of that tax cut when in effect outside of the budget cycle, so effectnot -- went into outside of the budget cycle, so he did not have to pay for it at that time. he eliminated municipal revenue sharing. that is a cost shifting. i can understand that you might refuse to understand that, because he has refused to submit a supplemental budget. to eliotget back cutler, because he is talking about you changing your position. how do you respond to that charge? in the mainerted legislature, i was 27 years old at the time. growing up in a large family in

the rural part of maine, at that point in time, the reason iran -- i ranse of the jobs was because of the jobs, the economy, and the environment. i was not focused on the social issues. since then, i have had an opportunity, particularly in congress, to hear the personal stories of women who had to make a personal choice. whether you have an abortion or not. those stories were heartfelt stories. and yes, i have evolved on that issue. but what is wrong with evolving? .ou look at the lgbt issues when they did a 30 year anniversary in bangor, i went back -- they were going to interview me. and i went back and read the newspapers at that time, and "the bangor daily news" actually editorialized on the charlie howard murder.

it insinuated that he was asking for it. you look at the stories during that timeframe. didyes, the legislature pass legislation, and i voted for that legislation. at that point in time, the we thought, we were moving forward in a progressive way, and we found out that we were not. mr. calder is upset because of equality maine and hrc, planned parenthood. they look at my history and i received their endorsement, because they know that i am the candidate for governor that will run the state is efficient way for the next four years. >> is it bad for a governor to changes mind -- change his mind? that he and i'm glad

has changed his minor women and core issues, but he is not being honest. he is pretending that he cast those votes when he was 24 years old. the fact is that he cast" when those votes- cast when he was 24, 34, 44, and even 54 years old. it took them nearly 30 years to figure out why women feel so strongly about their bodies and about their rights. and he says he is the only person on the stage -- he said before when we are on the same stage -- who is ever cast a pro-choice vote. he is the only candidate with a record. what you know something -- well you know something? person whothe only is cast 27 years of anti-choice votes. he is the only person that voted to deny abortions for poor people when it was legal for others. he is the only person on the who voted to give a

personhood in the eyes of the law. he had to go to washington to learn that he was wrong? women did not come to him in augusta during those years and years and years when he was in the legislature? >> i have to interrupt, we want to move on to i have a question for you. you have criticized your opponents for taking money from special interests. but your law firm took in lobbying fees for special interests like monsanto and dow chemical. i was the money you earned as a client different than the money that they are receiving for campaigns? that money, earn because when you're a council, a receive ansel, you salary. i never lobbied for any of those clients, never did any work for those clients.

this is a law firm of 900 people. what mike was doing and what paul has done is take their money and then go vote for them. >> governor? vote. sorry, you did not >> you did not vote. [applause] -- [laughter] >> are you beholden to special interests? >> absolutely not. this year, someone was going to do a big fundraiser, and they asked me to do something, and i said, i am sorry but i will not do that. i do not -- i am only beholden to one conscience. it is the one inside of me. i am not beholden to anyone. staff,a great, senior who give me great advice. i take it most of the time, although there are times when i just say no because it is the wrong thing to do. that me tell you how i look at

things. -- let me tell you how i look at things. wrong is wrong, no matter if people are telling you to do it. right is right, no matter if no one is telling me to do it. congressman, over the course of your years he over except in money. how is it affected you? >> it has not. i have always focused on what is right for the people of maine. when i first ran for the legislature, that was to clean up the river. i felt strongly about being able to clean up the river. that you money mention, monsanto and some of the money that they gave, i do not have the means to write my own check to run a campaign. so we have to do a lot of fundraising. that does not mean that i am going to vote the way that those individuals want.

for instance, on monsanto, that is a good example. cosponsor of the gmo labeling bill, which monsanto is absolutely against. be ands continues to will always be focusing on what is right for the people in the state of maine. >> mr. cutler, is there an you can give of him voting for special interests? , you began taking thousands of dollars from monsanto's pac. then you voted for a bill that would've been the label that allows -- that says no growth hormones, because monsanto did not like it and had re: sued them in boston --get rid of that language had already sued them in boston to get would've that language, because monsanto makes artificial growth hormones. the congressman just made a

comment, and i have to hold them to it. that he cast his vote for the people of maine. mainer, the people of have enormously high energy , and just two weeks ago, he, for a second time, voted thatst hr 1900, claiming expedited energy, the expansion of natural gas in maine, is voted against it twice. he claimed he did it because there were eminent domain issues in massachusetts. there are no eminent domain issues in hr 1900. it is not about eminent domain. he voted against the main people. -- maine people. >> i am glad you brought that up, governor, because you have no energy policy, number one.

secondly, i believe that natural gas is a good transitional fuel. you are correct, the legislation does not talk about eminent domain. however, under the legislation, it says to approve or deny the permit. by doing so, what it would do is issue, allow, and out-of-state corporation to use eminent domain for that pipeline. that is under current law. and that is one of the things that -- when you look at legislation, york to look at not what is in the law but the effects it would have outside of the law. the governor is just using this as a diversionary tactic, because of his inability to work with the new england governors to deal with the expansion of the pipeline here in the state of maine. fred going to have the pipeline, we have to work with new england governors. >> this is going to surprise everybody. they are both wrong. [laughter]

this, my, listen to you might learn something. -- mike, you might learn something. [laughter] number one, the bill does not give eminent domain authority, the license gives the authority. number two, the problem is that it gives the federal energy regularly commission, at the end of the day, the authority to make all of the environmental decisions, all of the other decisions that any regulatory agency has failed to make. you know something? that is why edward muskie rewrote it before i became law, so that the foxes would not be guarding the chicken coop. >> there is an error here, as well. hr 1900 only deals with the prefiling issue. it is just trying to streamline the process. >> we're going to move on.

.et me ask you, governor yesterday, referring to a nation being observed for ebola symptoms, after the individual was released, you said that the biggest issue is whether or not the individual has proper papers. what did you mean by that? why is that the most boring thing if an individual is hospitalized in the state? >> my concern is this. there are three types of ways that a person can come to maine. from a foreign country, a foreign land, legally. we all know of the ones that are illegal. you can come over as a primary refugee, secondary refugee, or a finally. .- filee the primary and secondary have medical assessments, so we already know their contestant -- conditions. e, we do not know read the

first thing that we want to know is if they have a visa so we can see if they have a medical assessment. not everybody in maine is here legally. as the good congressman -- henit, he is against favors my position of not providing for illegals. >> congressman? >> and a contagious outbreak is a real cause for concern. a any contagious outbreak is real cause for concern. you look at what is happening in west africa, they do not have a health care system. maine cannot solve the problem alone, but they can play an important role. the first ebola patients showed up at the dallas hospital with 8103 fever. because he had no -- with a 103 fever. because he had no insurance, they gave him aspirin and sent him on his way. he had contact with 50 other

individuals. the virus does not pick who is infected. the health should not pick and choose who we care for rid effect of this governor has vetoed five times the expansion of the if formal care act, that is reckless, it is wasteful -- affordable care act, that is wasteful, and it leaves us vulnerable. ebola issue,t the the reason they were turned away is because they had no insurance. >> i do not think any of us here are worried about a particular individual. wasay be that there was a not a good health assessment made of this particular person. was not a good health assessment made of this particular person. the question is if the state of maine is prepared to deal with problems like this, whenever and wherever they occur. according to the department, we are not ready. >> governor?

>> which department. >> homeland security. >> i beg to differ. we are in contact with the federal government, neema and cdc both. have said that, you are the only one to have set it to rid they have not set it to us, because i been working with them on a daily basis. michaud's to mr. comment on medicaid expansion, folks, we -- myself, my staff, ,nd the commissioner of the hs have been trying to tell the main people for a year now that not everybody qualifies for the expansion. we have a letter from the cdc, and i had an enlarged for the camera. >> a prop.

[laughter] >> i would like to camera to read this. between 100 and 133 who could be enrolled in the new adult group cannot be qualified as newly eligible and the newly ineligible --is inapplicable. everybody says that we are leaving money on the table. the fact of the matter is, there are only about 20,000 people of the uninsured that can qualify for the 100%. majority people, the of them, do better above 100%, qualify for the exchanges. opponent,ent, this they tell me that we are leaving money on the table and hospitals will go broke. if they get insurance on the exchange, they get commercial

insurance, subsidized by the federal government. which is a much higher reimbursement rate than medicaid. --if they go to the exchange and we work at making sure that people at 100% or greater -- than the federal poverty level, then people will have insurance. aminers were70,000 whoed access -- mainers were denied access, including veterans. hospitals give up, over a 10 year time frame, $30 billion. eliot cutler, quick response. >> the hospitals want medicaid expanded. the hospitals want you to take the money. these are your friends, the

people whose that you paid by selling the liquor business. debt you paid by selling the liquor business. >> no, we brought the liquor business back in. >> whatever, you know what you did. when you see the hospitals go back in the red, you do not have another business to sell. there has to be a reason that the hospitals, along with thousands of maine people, want us to take the expanded medicaid assistance. >> we need to take a break. we will be back with coverage of the 2014 race for governor from the main chamber of commerce. -- maine chamber of commerce. welcome back to our forum. thee coming to you from augustine civic center and the annual meeting of the main chamber of commerce. we want the candidates to take

over the questioning. >> i have a question for the governor. one of your tv ads boast that you have recovered $100 million in welfare fraud. that is great. i want to talk about corporate welfare. you made a deal to give millions in tax credits, state tax credits, so they would invest $50 million to save jobs and create new ones at the mill. your press secretary called it one of the most significant achievements of your administration. 11 months later, the mill closed. more than 200 people lost their jobs, great northern is bankrupt again, hundreds of maine businesses are out millions of dollars, and taxpayers are on the hook to write checks to the louisiana investors for $60 million in tax credits that you give away -- $60 million in tax credits you give away for

improvements that were never made. where is all the money? are you afraid to ask where it is? you not want to know -- do you not want to know? are you afraid to take on corporate welfare strongly as other welfare? >> the answer to your question is that i am not afraid to take on corporate welfare. we are investigating the whole thing, going back several years. but that may just answer one of your questions. $16 million. one thing you are wrong, they invested into the plant, the plant infrastructure is more valuable than it was. but that is not where the real money is. were the real money is, $40 theion in payroll -- where real money is, $40 million in payroll, when he million dollars in the supply of wood, all the wood cutters.

-- $20 million in the supply of wood. was it a good deal? no. when i do it again? -- would i do it again? yes. the benefit is just short of $20 million. -- $200 million. >> i was there in september, and i cannot find anyone that things it was a good deal. >> governor, do you have a question for your opponents. >> boy, i have so many. >> it is a question that goes to both candidates, and it is this. there is a rumor -- and i am not sure it is true, i will ask eliot. i am told that the democrat party asked you to run as a democrat before mike michaud announced. my question to you is, is it true? >> yes.

>> to mike, how do you feel about that, mike? [laughter] >> i am the democratic nominee for governor, so they chose me. >> congressman, you have a question for your opponents? >> thank you very much. this question is for the governor. someone who is watching us right now is going without life-saving medication because of your five vetoes for the expansion of the affordable care act. governor, would you be able to look in the camera until that person why you felt that they were too costly for care? >> the only bill i ever vetoed dealing with medication was to bring back the people getting foreign & of poverty, pensions about $45,000. and having the state pay for the medication 100%.

at no time is there a person in the state of maine today that needs to go without medication. , doer candidate will say not expand medicaid. the expansion of medicaid -- i have been trying to extend to them that getting, -- explain to them at that getting commercial is better than medicaid because it does not cover the cost of medication, of offices, or hospitalization. ultimately, he was tough signaling moret prosperous, 12% of the poverty level. the very morning, and think that if you are not getting medication, call my office. had a question for all of

you, eliot cutler. we have the third highest rate of food insecurity in the nation, up from seven, with one in five children. how was your administration going to address this? -- is it your administration going to do this? >> number one, and if on the side of the food bank months ago . if there is a surplus quantity of food in maine and there is a food kitchen or pantry that needs it, there is no database with common access that allows them to share that information so that food can be moved around the state. we will create that. number two, maine used to have millions of acres of land under cultivation. most of that is not growing goldenrod. we need to have twice as much land under cultivation in the state of maine, and we need to use the food we grow in our schools.

we are providing free lunch to an awful lot of kids because they do come to school hungry, and they cannot learn, and we need to do a better job of providing maine-grown food to those kids. finally, if they cost more money to make this work, i promise the people of this state -- if it costs more money to make this work, i promise to people of the state that we will find it. that there are kids that go without proper nutrition, and i will tell you, i was one of those kids. i understand poverty because i lived it. and what we need to do -- we can have all the software in the world. is we needeed to do to get the per capita income in maine up. we have to get prosperity up. there are three major issues that we have to conquer. i am going to tell you, i go to they went down right at the feet of the democratic party.

in the last four years, every ll that we sent up to lower the cost of energy, which is one of the biggest problems in attracting new companies to maine, and i hear a daily. -- here it daily. i see somebody in front of me who sold the business, and a month or two down the line, went to oklahoma. the big issue was energy. i hear it all over. energy is number one. our tax structure needs to be revamped. we need to look at ways that we attract investors. investment capital will go where it is welcomed. and stay where it is appreciated. >> congressman, how do you address the issue? 50tirst of all, maine is a

h on the forbes list for places to do business. we have not moved on economic development. we are leaving $10 million on the federal level look at children getting food during the summertime. to childrenomes getting food during the summertime. on day one, i will be working with the department of health and human services to grant a waiver, which is governor has chosen not to extend the snap beyond the free lunch. what we are on the table is $15 million. you look at hunger in the state of maine, we have more children living in poverty than we ever had. more homelessness, up 26%. according to the food bank, the good shepherd, maine is losing out on $50 million a year for snap benefits -- $15 million a year for snap benefits.

they will have to provide another 5 million meals a year because of the lack of leadership under the governor's administration. >> your response? >> my responses this. you -- might response is this. you cannot help mankind permanently by doing for them what they could do for themselves. that was said 150 years ago. what i am saying here is very simply this. we have people in maine who want to work, who want to do better, but we, the government, we, the main government, is inhibiting them on energy, inhibiting them on the way we treat our small business. ago, will agree, 25 years there was 150,000 acres being grown, now there is 49,000. why?

because we make it impossible for the small, family farm to survive. we need to look at the bigger picture. with children, this is what happened last year. i vetoed a bill that said that the governor of maine will 31,icate hunger by december 2014, with existing resources. so i vetoed the bill. it is what it was saying is, all of the schools in maine will becausethe summer -- what it is saying is, all the schools and men will open in the summer and feed the children. problem is, they do not have the money. >> the governor is half right. >> the problem is half improving. >> it is. [laughter] god help us if we give you four more years.

the governor is right that it is about the economy. but wherever i go, when i asked business owners why you can't expand your business, some of them talk about energy. not very many. some talk about taxes, not very many. but everything to one of them says that they cannot find a healthy, trained, and educated younger workforce. that is a challenge in the state of maine. governor, you say that you have created 22,000 -- 20, 20 2000, the number is changing and i do not think it is going up. rid --ing jobs every day we are adding jobs every day. >> that one places are closing their it -- not when places are closing. we are last in the number of jobs created since the recession ended. it is like saying the red sox had a good year because they won 71 games. >> governor?

>> i just had to say one thing about that, you are dead wrong. in the toper one, or four, and having the largest percentage of our population working. inondly, we are number eight the increase in wages in the state of maine. if we use a percentage, we are number five. >> if we have recovered about two thirds of the jobs lost before the recession, and we did not have enough jobs before that, what is it that you can do, what is the most important thing that you can do to improve the climate to draw good paying jobs? >> the number one priority is energy. number two is right to work. >> the number one issue is to fire the governor. he is the biggest debtor into job growth.

i did not get a chance to respond when we were talking about small businesses. the legislature voted on a bond issue, question number three on the ballot this fall, that actually will help small businesses out with the problems they are facing with capital. this governor had vetoed it. think on, the legislature was able to override the veto. -- bank god it, the legislature was able to override the the dough. we will grow by focusing on small businesses. the main technology institute says that if you look at the job growth potential in maine, the area is in clean, renewable energy, good paying jobs. the governor has given the way for offshore wind and solar. >> top priority without question is education. i am a parent, like many of you.

i want every kid in the state of maine to be trained and educated so that he or she can have a job , take a job in a growing and expanding business or a new business in the state of maine. and we're not doing that today. too many of our kids are graduating from high school and going nowhere after that. we have to change that. it is he single most important job we have to do. if we are here, four years from now, still talking about the governor's efforts to get hydro-quebec to sell us cheaper energy, we are going to have the same kind of economic record we have today. >> two things that i must respond. number one is, i have got a program, a pilot program. we have been trying to work with the legislature.

we have one of the greatest programs going on in the state of maine without the help of the legislature. we have got 24 kids that graduated from high school, and one had finished a year and a half of college, 17 finished their freshman year in college, and six out of the 24 got one semester of college. we have programs that can work. the problem with maine, not enough money of the education budget goes into the classroom. too much goes to union bosses, too much to the administration, not enough to the teachers and students. as for as renewable energies, i have to respond to this. mike, i love renewable energies. it is not ready. for the next 10 or 15 years, we have to have an interim. we have to go to natural gas. you say that your party is all about offshore wind and solar.

,ow, if you take rock mountain it has 26 turbines up there. in order to replace only the now, that is their right 290 megawatts, you need to put up 27 of those mars hill mountains, at a cost of $2.3 billion. >> we are nearing the end of our time. i want to get in a few more questions that require a yes or no answer. we will start with eliot cutler and go around. can you see yourself supporting the legalization of marijuana for recreational use? >> i can see it, but i'm not ready to do it. >> for a referendum, yes. >> i have a concern with it. >> would you sign a bill requiring businesses to provide mandatory sick time?? >> no.

>> yes yo. >> i would do it is a part of an insurance pool. >> do support background checks for the sale of guns? >> if there is exemption for family members. >> i would not exempt family members. >> i am not sure i understand the question. >> private sales of guns, should there be background checks? the maine to change constitution, and i am willing to do that with a referendum. when the congressman says family members, if it is immediate family members, yes, but distant of the members, no. >> would you increase the governor's pay? >> not mine, but i would increase paul's. [laughter] i think the governor's salary should be elevated, and i will say one more thing.

the senior management of the state of maine's salaries ought to be increased. it is difficult to find capable and seasoned executives. >> congressman, a pay raise for the governor? >> future governors. [laughter] not myself. >> would your administration support the building of a nuclear power plant? >> yes yo. >> no. >> not get a happen. voting,ere was ranked which candidate would you support? >> i would leave it blank. >> i would write in my wife. [laughter] [applause] >> we will do closing statements. we start with eliot cutler. >> they would like you to

believe this is about republican versus democrat, it is not that simple. for those that love he said as much as i do, whose love is greater than the love for one party or another, there is much, much more a state. this is about jobs -- at stake. this is about jobs, whether your kids will be a living work in the state of maine -- the able to live and work in the state of maine. all of the assets we need to succeed are available. i will be a leader with 21st century ideas. i will be your governor, not bound to special interests. i will not be obligated to them, i will only be obligated to you. whether you're a democrat or republican or independent, i am offering you a better way. not left or right but forward. i ask for your vote. >> the republican is the incumbent paul lepage. >> liberals are good at talking.

i'm a businessman and i like to get it done. this election is very clear. you have two liberals, and one conservative. we can go backwards to the last 40 years and continue down that road, or we can continue to move forward and reinvent tomorrow. because every man, woman, and child in the state deserves to carve out their piece of the american dream, as i have been so fortunate to do in the state and i will take you this. -- estate. and i will tell you this. you do not become one of the best fiscal managers in 50 states by not understanding economics. days, 12 days, we have been too many, many job openings. and ribbon cuttings. know, maine voters, i am not asking for all of the votes, just yours.

but remember the major difference between my opponents and me. that every day is april 15. i believe it is july 4. >> finally, the democrat, congressman mike michaud. >> as you are seen tonight, there is a very different vision for maine's future here this evening. you have a clear choice. you can continue with the same under ourpartisanship current governor of has cap made at the bottom of the forbes list as far as businesses, 45th economic development. or you have a choice, a choice to move forward in a positive way, focusing on our strengths as a state with small businesses, tourism. clean, renewable energy. a stable budget process. these are our strengths. and i asked the voters for their vote on november 4.

>> thank you to all of the candidates for taking part tonight and for the maine state chamber of commerce for hosting us. over the next two weeks, we will theg you forums for candidates in the first and second districts were congress. of goodongress three night from the augustine civic center. center.usta civic >> on c-span.org, you can see debates from across the country. here's a look at the wisconsin governor debate, or scott walker is facing mary burke. i am on record as saying that it should be a misdemeanor. right now, there are not enough consequences for the first offense. we have to make sure that there are consequences. it isly is it 185 deaths,

5000 crashes that are alcohol-related. this is costing us, costing our society a lot of money along with this type of personal injury that causes. we have to take a tougher stance on this. theve been endorsed by wisconsin professional police association, and i will work with law enforcement to make sure that we have in place what we need to cut down on the number of fatalities, to cut down on the number of crashes. and also work to make sure that this does not overburdened the justice system by having alternative methods to address this. we also have to make sure that people who have addiction problems are able to get the treatments in order to do this. not have tougho enough consequences that are going to make a difference in really addressing this. the needle moved enough, and it is time for wisconsin to join the rest of and realize that this is something that is important to ensuring safety on our roads.

>> this is one of those tragic issues out there, and one of the biggest problems, years ago, when i was first a state representative, one of the most heart-wrenching cases we had to talk about was a country -- family from our area who had lost a son because of a multiple repeat offender. and even moreone, so now, the problems you talk about or not just the numbers, but the numbers of people who have been out on the road multiple times committing drunk driving. that is something we have to crackdown on. with the two attorney general candidates that first time offenders, criminalizing that is not the answer. it is going after repeat offenders, toughening up the penalties. i think this is one of those issues that republicans and democrats can come together and work on. but for me, if i'm going to work with law enforcement, i have the endorsement of the men and women of the police department here in milwaukee. any wisconsin troopers association.

-- and the wisconsin trooper's association. >> your rebuttal? >> governor walker has had for 10 years to address this. you would avoid repeat offenders if you're a tougher consequences on the first offense. people need to know right off the start, before they get into those habits of greeting and driving, that there are real consequences that come from that -- drinking and driving, that there are real consequences that come from that. >> i was just at the conference on traffic safety, and i am pleased that with the good work of law enforcement first responders and others across the state, we have seen traffic accidents go down and the safety factors improve over the last year or so. we're going to continue to build on that, and the way to do that is to crack down on repeat offenders. the consequences are

serious, particularly for those who continue to go back on the road after they have been pulled over. >> c-span's 2014 coverage continues tuesday with the w governors debates. atlantic rpm, the south carolina incumbent republican faces her opponents on c-span. at 10, the kansas governor's debate between sam brownback in his democratic challenger paul davis. you can see that here on c-span. c-span's campaign 2014 is bringing you more than 100 debates for the control of congress. stay in touch with coverage by following us on twitter and liking us on facebook. >> here are just a few of the comments we have recently received from viewers. i have been battling my local

cable provider year, cablevision in new jersey, for 18 months now, to start offering >> i have never done anything like this. i thoroughly enjoyed this program. . like the history channel i live in naples. i think this was magnificent postop i was glued to my chair. i will continue to turn to this program. >> i want to start off by allowing c-span to know that i do not watch any other channel on my cable selection besides this. c-span, 1, 2, and three. i want to show my appreciation

or your services and your ability to keep it mixed up and lively. us know whato let you think about the programs you are watching. e-mail us. or, you can send us a tweet. join the conversation and like us on facebook. follow us on twitter. governorhe alaska's debate between sean parnell, the carolynthe libertarian ift.t -- cleft the debate is listed as a tossup. >> welcome to the 2014 gubernatorial debate. it's good to see so many of you

management here at the civic center recommends turning off the cell phones, please. along those lines for the candidates, if we could request during your responses in the openings and closings in the interest of time to please stay seated and we will use the mics there in front of your tables. thank you very much. finally, thank you to those of you who submitted your questions ahead of time for the debate. our intention is to post the remaining questions for the candidates during interviews at a later time. thank you for sending those

questions in. we have three gubernatorial candidates with us today. our first relates to our current governor, governor sean parnell. seated to his right is carolyn clift, and to her right is an independent candidate, bill walker. today's moderator of the event is nick bowman. nick is the ketchikan reporter who covers ketchikan and the state of alaska. mr. bowman, please. >> this bill be a 70 minute debate. each candidate will be given the same opportunity to speak. the moderator will determine who is to speak and when. the opening statement re will begin with sean parnell.

the first request will be directed to carolyn clift. then the order will be bill walker and governor parnell. after the first question, who starts will be rotated amongst the three candidates. the closing statements will begin with bill walker, followed by miss clift and governor parnell in that order. opening statements will be two and a half minutes each. answers to the questions will be given two minutes each. closing statements will be three minutes each. the timers in the front row will display the appropriate flag, the yellow, 30 seconds remaining, red means your time is fully elapsed. speaking after the red flag is displayed will result in reduction of time for closing

arguments for the one who exceeds his or her time. please hold your applause until the debate's conclusion. we'll begin with opening statements. governor parnell. >> thank you, and ketchikan, it's great to be back, and a week and a half ago i was here to make that announcement about the two ferries being built in alaska, but built in ketchikan and that was exciting news and the kind of economic opportunity that was strong leadership, visionary leadership, and a strong community, we can accomplish together, not just here in ketchikan but across the state. at your governor i have worked to grow opportunities for alaskans, not just here but throughout alaska. here in ketchikan i have fought for you, for your local jobs and local businesses. fought for the shipyard, alaska ferries, built by alaskans in alaska. i nailed down the marine highway headquarters system and i loved it when i saw five ferries sitting out there. together we brought the cruise ships back. refueling alaska's and ketchikan's small businesses, the fire hall. funding for the bridges, and i know that infrastructure is key to quality of life and economic

development. i protected the jobs associated with our timber industry and resource development in the timber industry throughout southeast, including here. supported the fishing industry with state investment and management, marketing and infrastructure. you all know where i stand. and for all alaskans i am the candidate who is optimistic about our future. i see we have a bright future because alaskans know how to grasp opportunity in front of us. i'm running for re-election because of the job of clearing paths for opportunities is not done. that path of opportunity needs to be wider and deep are for us and future generations. we'll drive more economic development to southern and southeast. we're going to create even more

opportunity for young people. i started with the alaska performance scholarships that over 3,000 alaskan people are earned. we're going to get a gas line and blow out career technical out caution opportunities. just make those even more possible for our young people. my policies are thoughtful, consistent, stable, and certain. always for alaskans. always with our future in mind, and i'm ask for your vote in november. thank you. >> miss clift. >> so, do i push this? >> the mic should be on. >> oh, ok. all right. well, first of all i want to say, thank you for inviting me. i really enjoyed my stay here in ketchikan. stayed to gillmor hotel last new england, and ate at anna p.m.'s and it was awesome, and everybody has been just wonderful, and i've never been here before and i really have

enjoyed it. i am the libertarian candidate for governor. the party was founded in 1971 as a protest to the two-party system. we felt there was really no difference in the two major parties, and one of the parties based on the principles on which this country was founded. recent events here in alaska bear out there really is no difference between the republican and the democratic party. today, you, the voters of alaska, need to make a choice between the big government candidates and the candidate who represents individual liberty. you need to make a choice between a woman who will fight for your individual freedom and minimize government, or you may choose career politicians who will do or say anything to get elected. alaska has a libertarian history. back in the mid 1970's, early 1980's we had libertarians in the state legislature. alaskans today enjoy a permanent fund dividend and no state income tax. that is why we need a libertarian governor today. i'll be able to trim and slash state budgets until we get down

to the bare bones government that we can afford, with oil revenues dwindling, only a libertarian governor can keep us from going back to the state income tax. we need to keep revenue flowing into the permanent fund. for investments. so that our permanent fund dividends will continue. alaska was founded on the pioneer spirit of rugged individualism and alaskans want to be able to take care of themselves and their own families instead of relying on big government to supply their needs. so, i am the best choice for governor today. and i believe a good leader shows by example that she has high principle. i'll be able to work on both sides of the aisle because i am neither democrat nor republican and i'm not conservative or liberal. i always make decisions for smaller government, individual privacy, and i'm out of time.

so, thank you very much. >> mr. walker. >> good afternoon. it's great to be back in ketchikan. quite a story getting here. we had an opportunity to into also but more of southeast by the fog in juneau, my running mate and you were able to come through cake and meet some folks and then on to ketchikan. it's another chapter of an incredible story we have had. those that don't know me, i'm a pro-life christian, husband of 37 years, father of four children, grandfather of two, and soon to be two more grandchildren. was born in the territory of alaska in fair banks and grew up in a construction family. i grew up poundings nails at an early age in valdez, before the earthquake. when the earthquake became

shaking we became house movers. i worked construction on the oil pipeline. the first time i swung a hammer and actually got paid for it in the family business we didn't get regular pay checks of. i have commercial fished and owned many businesses. working as a builder i put myself through college, through law school. my wife and i have opened a law firm in anchorage, and we specialize in municipal law, oil and gas law, representing municipalities. my mission or what brings me to run for governor has a lot to do with the future of this state. when i ran the first time, governor hickle came to me and said you run as independent. i did not follow his advice. and when i see emily hickle she says, wally told you to run as an independent, and i am, and it feel goods. i'm very honored to be running with byron mallot as my running mate. it's about our mission and why we are running together. it's really about the future of the state. we think we need leadership.

we need to have a vision for the state, long-term plan. we're very concerned about the fiscal situation in our state. i'm sure that will come up in the debate today. but that's not -- what excites me is not the fact we'll be able to fix the fiscal situation. we have a great future in the state. the most resource-rich state in the nation. we just have a distribution problem. so we'll build the infrastructure we need make that happen. thank you very much for this opportunity. i hope to have your vote on november 4th. >> we'll start with our questions. the first question is regarding health care and start with miss clift. would your administration reconsider expanding the availability of medicaid in alaska and how will it address the increasing

difficulty many alaskans have in finding affordable health insurance? >> i was not a -- excuse me -- no, i would not be expanding medicaid at this point. it's only two years now until the end of the offer we had from the federal government. and at the end of that two years of time, the state government would have to take over if the payments for medicare and it would be the matching funds it is currently with the rest of the medicaid payments. so, i don't think that's a good idea because we're going to get people on medicaid and then they'll feel they're entitled, and then two years we'll not be able to afford it anymore. as for expanding access to health care, i think we need to use a lot of healthcare professionals that are not mds so that we have a lot more opportunities for people to get access to health care, so we'll be hiring a lot of professionals that will be working with mds but they can work kind of like the community health aide system, i where they have contact with a doctor if they need one. and that would help people get access and would also help keep the costs down. >> mr. walker. >> i will be accepting expanded

medicaid immediately. the reason is that it helps somewhere between 26,000 and 40,000 alaskans and is not the numbers for me that helps alaskans. i'll make decisions about what is best for alaskans. there are a number of reasons i'll be doing that. number one can is we have already paid for it. somebody is getting the benefit of what we paid, just not alaska. let me put the proviso. the acceptance of it, assuming the federal government funds it 100% which they're contracted to do for three years. if that changes we'll revisit

it. in the meantime we'll be helping thousands and thousands of alaskans that do not presently have health care. the other issue creates approximately 4,000 new healthcare jobs in alaska and brings down the cost of health care in general. those individuals get health care by going to the emergency room and we pay for that. that's not a healthcare plan. by the time they do that, there's preventive health care they could have received prior to going to the emergency room. so i'm certainly in favor of that. we intend to do everything we income alaska to bring down the cost of health care. there's a number of things we can do that we have not done to bring down the cost and we have to be pro-active. it affects every area of our life. affects workers comp rates. we have to bring down -- some of the highest healthcare costs in the nation and have to do everything we took bring it down. so i will be accepting expanded medicaid. >> governor parnell? >> i chose not pursue expanded medicaid.

obviously we need more accessible, affordable health care, but i want to speak to why i did not. alaska has 700,000 people and 151,000 of those are currently on medicaid. our current medicaid system is not sustainable. nationally and from the state perspective as well. 151,000 people, the total spending and total spending on those people, who qualify, is approximately 11,000 per person. to expand medicaid requires us to pay $44,000 per person for expanding medicaid. that is to my way of thinking not a smart way to go. think we can develop a smarter way to move here. bill walker indicated we have already paid for it. we have not. our nation has a $17 trillion debt. we will be borrowing money to pay for expanded medicaid. our kids and grandkids have to pay that debt if we take the billions from the federal government today. i think there's a smarter way where we can provide accessible, affordable health care. i tasked an advisory group to work this year to come up with a way.

mr. walker also indicated that it would add 4,000 jobs. also false. that was from a report that made some bad assumptions, and the assumption was that there are 43,000 people who don't qualify for medicaid. there are actually 10,000 to 12,000. it also made the assumption that those people do not have access to primary health care, which they do through the community health centers and the public health centers and the tribal network that we pay for with tax dollars. there's a smarter, more efficient way to get access for those at the poverty level or below. i'll continue working with the medicaid review group to do that. thank you. >> our next question will start with mr. walker. regards the alaska marine highway system. the state of alaska's building two ferries and designing a replacement for the aging ferry that serves southwest, a. how will your administration address the half century old mainline ferries and maintain the vital service between southeastern alaska, washington state and british columbia?

>> i had the pleasure of riding on some of the inaugural journeys of the ferries. that was very exciting. i seem to be getting older and the ferries are getting older and it's time replace those. i applaud what has happened recently on the announcement. i applaud the bipartisan coalition that in the legislature that created the funding. we have to replace those, and my first choice is the replacement is done here at ketchikan at the local shipyard. i brag regularly about what goes on in ketchikan because you actually make a product. i love when i go to the shipyard and i meet a young lady and ask her where she is from and she says she was born here in ketchikan. the next young person was born here. i love that. that's a rarity in our state. so you're the shining examples. we need tree place the ferries and need a funding vehicle.

we need to make sure there are ferries that can be used year round and withstand the weather in alaska, go out as far as dutch harbor, so you -- our business in valdez would totally depend upon a ferry showing up on schedule, and i think that's critical. it's the main stay of our economy in this state, not just southeast and south central and western alaska as well. i'm fully support tv of the highway system. >> governor parnell. >> the alaska marine highway system is southeast highways. it connects us as communities. it takes strong leadership in communities, companies and a leader who recognizes the opportunity to build alaska ferries here. i have a responsibility as governor to make sure that the money that the legislature gives me appropriates for me to negotiate a ferry, again-spent widely.

vigor alaska said they could get us two ferries built in ketchikan for that total of $120 million. that was appropriated that i actually proposed in my budget to fund those two ferries. through some touch negotiations the shipyard came through. they do what alaskans do, and they won the bid. it was something that was -- i think it's going to be -- it's just going to set a cornerstone for a foundation on alaska having the corner on the maritime industry. a new industry for alaska, but here in ketchikan is where it starts. so i'm excited about those two new ferries being built here.

that will give the ketchikan shipyard a leg up when the next mainline ferry is built. i helped to secure funding this the its $40 million or $50 million on the first mainline ferry. but let's get the ferries best interests here, built well, on budget and on time and ketchikan will see years of ship-building to come. thank you. >> miss clift. >> think the alaska marine highway is a wonderful concept and it has been the main transportation for this area for many, many years. i think that all of the state transportation money that is dedicated to this area should go into keeping the marine highway maintained and in production, and i'm ecstatic we're getting the two ferries built here in ketchikan. i'm hoping there will be lots of jobs for the people here in this area because of the shipyards going into production on the two ferries, and i think that's a wonderful thing. i know there's a lot of talk

about the road systems in this area. but they all depend on the ferries, so the ferries are the main idea that we need to keep going, and we need to keep money flowing into that system and into maintaining the system. >> our next question relates to logging and will begin with governor parnell. how important is timber harvesting to your plan to spur economic growth in southeast alaska? >> timber harvesting is incredibly important to the job citizen families represented by those jobs in southeast alaska as well as south program and the interior as well. i fought for your timber jobs, not just in alaska but in washington, dc and the secretary's office. on several occasion is spoke with him and advocated for the big horn sale which we took a step forward on. one of the issues is d.c. has taken control away from regional decisionmaking, from local decisionmaking, and that is a huge problem because the

forest is there for us as southeast residents to use and to access, and when the federal government throws locks in our way, whether through endangered species listings, whether through delays in permitting, whether through impeding access in terms of road-building, it just doesn't -- doesn't just -- for a place for a rain forest, for tonga's forest that is supposed to be multiple use to be held on to for a single purpose. when the u.s. forest service is starting to charge money to take pictures of the forest we have a federal government that it out of control. i will tell you that i can speak with secretary vilsak in a respectful manner. when he called me and said sequestration will require me to take back the timber receipts, i didn't just give him a knee-jerk

no. i said what's your legal basis for making that request? and you could have heard the crickets. there was no legal basis and i said no. and they went and found the money elsewhere. so i will always stand up for timber jobs and will continue making sure that our families here have that opportunity. thank you. >> miss clift. >> alaska's natural resources must be developed. that's the way we have economic liberty, and timber is a very important resource in this area. so as a libertarian, i would like to get the feds away from alaska. there's too many rules and regulations. there's too much control. there's too much epa interference.

there's delays and environmental studies and there's all kinds of things they have put in our way. road blocks in our way, and i will fight with every power that i have to make sure that those road blocks are removed and we can have a viable timber industry going on from now on. we believe in economic liberty. economic liberty provides an environment that means more dollars on the table and more jobs for alaskans and as governor that's what i will bring. >> mr. walker. >> driving forest for us to become a state what our timber resource opportunitys and to have better control over that ourselves. we have watched that dwindle over the years and virtually tom could a complete halt. i'm glad to see some small sales taking place bus not enough to sustain an economy. there's much more we can do. when the president of the united

states come to alaska i'll meet with him. i'll meet with him and when he is on his way to a trade mission to asia i'll meet with him with my suitcase say, where is my seat, we have some things to talk about on the flight. we need to engage the administration. when they come to alaska we need to show them the respect that they're entitled to, whichever party they are, and encourage them to understand our state. the roadless rule has taken a toll on timber harvest in this area. infrastructure is what i'm all about. my building background, the role of government in alaska is to create the infrastructure for our economy to work, and so i will be very aggressive in that regard, very respectful but i will deal first hand with the federal government to help them understand what we need to do, and i know there's lots of litigation associated with

timber sales. we certainly have seen that. i think there's -- i would like a different approach with that. i think the approach is certainly very aggressive on the state side and also sit down and say, we need an economy, we need to work. we have the resources here, so i will be very aggressive on timber sales in alaska. thank you. >> this next question will start will miss clift and it is regarding social ills. it was submitted via e-mail and asks: what are your plans to reduce sexual assault, domestic violence, substance abuse, and suicide in alaska? and how specifically do you intend to reduce or prevent the impact of these social ills on children and adolescents. >> let me get that repeated so i can touch each of those things. there's a lot of stuff there. >> what are your plans to reduce sexual assault, domestic violence, substance abuse, and suicide in alaska, and how

specifically do you intend to reduce or prevent the impact of these social ills on children and adolescents? >> first of all, i have studied this quite a bit. i would like to say that we -- it all starts with education. we need to make sure that people understand that pain and suffering is not part of affection for your family, and i think this is something that is engrained in certain cultures, there's some kind of pain involved with being in love with somebody else, and i think that this is -- we have got to be educated. people have to be educated about the fact that when you love somebody, you don't hurt them. and i think this is a terrible thing, and there's a lot of people that are dependent on these relationships and they think they have to put up with a lot of abuse in their home to maintain the relationship.

so that's the first thing that i would do about domestic assault, is i would make education available. i would also make support groups available in each village and in all of the towns where we can find out where there will be somebody to call if you are in a situation where you need to get out of that situation, you need to have somebody to call, a friend to go to. you need all of that. substance abuse, again, it's a problem with education, it's a problem with people taking personal responsibility for their own lives. a lot of our villages are dry villages but that doesn't keep people from using drugs or alcohol just because the village is dry or because it's illegal. suicide is a factor of not having enough future ahead of you, of graduating from school or leaving school and not having a goal, not understanding how

you can advance yourself. i think, again, it all starts with the children and adolescents and we need to protect them. thank you. >> mr. walker. >> alaska unfortunately has the highest rate in all those of any place in the nation. we have that that for many, many years. i want to see what happens in the states that the lowest rate. which state is that? what do they do differently? i would choose action and the action consists of the following. aaron's law, passed by 19 states, provides for education of our young people about domestic violence, sexual assault, as age-appropriate levels. and the best way to defend for

our children's to defend themselves is with education. the greatest defense we can have, as far as what is inappropriate and who to call. that's absolutely critical. i will also -- when someone comes to my office, as governor, to tell me about sexual assault going on in the national guard, i'll do an investigation immediately. i will not wait four years. i dealt with that professionally for clients and that's the way it's handled when someone makes an allegation. an investigation should have been done a long time ago to not do that sends the wrong message to victims and others in a similar situation. in the suicide rates in rural alaska, young alaska native men are the 13 higher than the

national average. there are a number of ways to bring that down. we need an economy in rural alaska in order to have an economy we need to break down the cost of energy. allow them to have a path forward out of the situations they may find themselves in and we can only do that with career training and lower cost energy. it is a number -- a very, very high problem in our state, is this sexual assault domestic violence, and suicide rates. >> governor parnell. >> i was taught by my parents to address a big lie head on so i'm doing it right now. what bill walker said, did nothing in the face of sexual assault victims coming to my office is an absolute falsehood. i went in, went to my leadership in the national guard and investigated. in fact, multiple times in 2011, 2012 as well. senator begich did the same thing in 2012 and found the same thing, everything appeared

reasonably handled. senator perkowski found the same thing. it wasn't until i had specific facts how our command structure was failing victims that i called in the office of complex investigations to do that deep dive. so i want to set the record straight. going back to this epidemic of domestic violence and sexual assault, i had a person who thanked me last march for what the choose respect initiative has done for their community. a community of 400 people. five years ago she said the woman said she came interest the community as a new teacher and was told that 100% of the girls in her high school would be sexually assaulted in high school, and she was floored. the said that changed today and started with the choose respect initiative. it started because people in the community were raised up and became mentors for the young people in the high school. and i said how can you know that nobody in that high school has been sexually assaulted. she said becaused to every one of them has a healthy relationship with an adult and they would speak of it. so the choose respect initiative is about prevention, about intervention-getting more vpsos and troopers in the commune that

didn't have any, and being about supporting shelters and the counseling services there. so thank you. >> the next question will start with mr. walker and deals with coastal zone management. the state of alaska does not have a coastal zone management program in your view do coastal communities have adequate opportunities to participate in development decisions that affect them and would your administration support any changes to the status quo? >> i come from local government. that's my background. valdez as well as my professional work representing municipalities. i believe in local input. one reason that causes myself and byron mallot to seek the office is we're concerned about the lack of -- over the years we're pulling more and more control, opportunity for input

from local government. coastal zone management provided that. i'm not aware of the process stopped but providing input early on and that's important at a local level. there should be input early on, not every a decision is made and then you have three minutes to testify and give your input. the problem when you take away local input is then the only tools available is for them to seek legal redress and that's what you don't want. you want them to have an opportunity to provide input at the table early on. i was from valdez. there's an organization created after the oil spill, funded by the industry and they work on joint projects. there's no issue and because of that we end up with a safer shipping lane, shipping traffic out of prince williams sound and the give of alaska.

so i'm a big believer in having local input as early on in the process as possible, and that is the more expeditious way rather than to take it away. i'm very supportive of local government having input early on in the process. not on a veto basis but provide input early on. >> governor parnell. >> the people have spoken, and the people spoke in the form of turning down the re-establishment of the coastal zone management in the initiative process. so we'll not be returning to the coastal zone process. but local government, local people have input and a seat at the table on every environmental permitting decision. and i have to ask the question, the opposite of what mr. walker just said. name one project that has moved

forward today to permitting that shouldn't have and wouldn't have if the coastal zone management process had been in place? nobody has been able to name one, and the reason is because there are multiple opportunities for alaskans to have the input and to bring their own science forward for people -- for the decisionmakers to consider, and you have decisionmakers who get held accountable for their actions. so, at this point, the people have spoken, and i'm sticking with that vote. thank you. >> miss clift. >> coastal zone management was rejected, and i think that the local input is most important input for all of this. so, i agree with actually both of you said the same thing, that local input was more important and i believe all of our natural resources need to be developed in the most environmentally safe way, and the people to do that are most closest to the environment, people that are actually doing the job, and they

will protect the environment and they will protect the coast in their areas. so, that's my position on that. i don't have a lot of background in this, but i do believe that the local input is the most important piece of this. >> in the next question starts with governor parnell and regards the education lawsuit filed by the ketchikan gateway bureau. the bureau sued the state of alaska, claiming that alaska's constitution requires the state to fully fund local public schools. do you adeor disagree with the lawsuit? >> do i agree or disagree with

the lawsuit? i agree that the state of alaska has a constitutional obligation to fund a public school system in alaska, and we do that through the legislative process, and so as this state's governor i've been proud to support funding for ketchikan schools, the entire state of alaska. this year i sent forward the alaska education opportunity act and that act created more opportunities for choice within the public school system, and created more funding. i've had this kind of weight on my shoulder, saying parnell is not increasing funding for education. we have increased funding for k-12 from 1.3 billion to $1.10 billion over my years.

it's up to us as your representatives, of the public purse to hold districts accountable for performance in the classroom for our kids. i think our kids deserve the best education they can get. so i will continue working to tie any funding to new opportunities for our kids to advance. for example, championed the alaska scholarship. over 3,000 kids have earned the right to those scholarships by taking more courses than are required to graduate from high school, and its has set them up for tuition payments to the university of alaska system and to job training programs around the state. we're going to make it through that 90% graduation rate. we have been growing that graduation rate but it's going to take more than new funding. it's going to take new funding and new opportunities. thank you. >> miss clift. >> the alaska constitution says very clearly that k-12 education will be fully funded. so when i am governor, that will be the one area of the budget that will not be cut. it will be fully funded, and one of the problems i have seen in reviewing what is going on, is that the revenue sharing that is also in the constitution, and by state statute, has not been going on as it should be.

there should be revenue sharing between the state and the municipalities and the burrows, and we're not getting the full revenue sharing that is required. there are certain things in the constitution where they say that certain entities are exempt from property tax, for instance, and there's also state statutes that say that, for instance, seniors are exempt for the first 150,000 of their property. and the state should be reimbursing for those property tax exemptions, and that's not going on. >> mr. walker. >> i have had the opportunity to

review that piece of litigation, actually saw it before it was filed as part of the alaska municipal attorneys association. when that was presented, there was a tremendous amount of support in the organization for that. a tremendous amount of empathy and acknowledgment that something had to be done. it's a bold move for ketchikan to do what you did. i've been involved in a few bold moves myself and i know it can be kind of lonely out there when

you take that first step, but there are communities and local governments around the state that are watching carefully and applauding what you're doing. this is the fiscal situation that local governments find ourselves in, and the concern is that there are other areas that funding could be shifted to local governments as well, and that just isn't the way the constitution is set up. i think it's a bold move. i do support what you're doing. i think it's time to step up and say enough is enough, and so i certainly am sorry we reached that point. i'll put it that way. and i know there's lots of things that must have been done prior that point but at some point you have to say enough is enough and stand up for what you feeling right, and i applaud your efforts on that. >> this next question will begin with miss clift and regards mining in british columbia.

proposed large-scale mines in british columbia have raises concerns about the potential impact on southeast alaska's fish stocks and other resources. how can the state of alaska ensure our southeast alaska resources are protected from any ill effects from bc mines? >> that's an excellent question, especially that we're looking at the pebble mine that is also going to be impacting fishing in the bristol bay area. we're looking at what happened in canada, and there has -- canada had a treaty. they've had a treaty with us 1909. they were supposed to be taking care of the damage they're doing, and when there's pollution that comes from their mine operations into our waters, it interferes with our fishing industry because we are known for our pristine waters, and this is an important piece -- it makes a really bad image. so i think that we need to hold canadians responsible for what is going on. and we need to act in that way. we need to force coalition with the canadians to make sure we clean up that problem with the mine. i'm not sure that answers the whole question. >> okay. mr. walker. >> i think we have a treaty between alaska and canada, british columbia, on those issues. i think we need to be concerned, be aware of what they're doing, monitor what they're doing. i'm sure they are concerned

about what we may be doing, fish is a very valuable renewable resource in the state, and is so mining. so it's not one or the other necessarily in this situation. i have seen the correspondence from the governor's office on this. i thought it was good. appropriate, asking to be involved in the reviewing the processes going on so we're cognizant of what is going on. we just need to be very aware of what they're doing to see if it's going to impact our fish. we need to be aggressive in that regard. it's more of a collaborative arrangement available to us and i think we ought to take advantage of that and i believe we are taking advantage of that. so potentially it's a very serious issue. it's going to impact our fish so i'm glad we're doing what we do. i believe we might be able to be a bit more aggressive but i'm glad the administration is doing what they're doing on that. >> governor parnell. >> thank you, bill. appreciate it. i do. bc and fish and game have been incredibly active on this issue. they're making sure that they understood what was released and

are monitoring it with the canadian government to understand whether there will be any impact on fish and the fraser river that influence our own stocks. we injected ourselves in the canada process on other mines and that is a key steep as well. so, knowing what is happening on the other side of the border and being a part of those discussions, making sure we have a seat at the table because the impacts we'll feel on our residents if something happens on the other side of the border just makes sense and is something we have undertaken as our responsibility, as the administration serving you.

thank you. >> this next question deals with alaska's elders. we'll begin with mr. walker. the question is the alaska commission on aging compares the increase in alaska's senior population to a silver tsunami. how will your administration address health care, housing, care-giver support for the growing segment of alaska population? >> i've never heard that term, silver tsunami. not sure i'm part of that or not. how we treat our elders tells what kind of population we are. my father spent his final years in the palmer pioneer home and i'll never forget the kind of care he received there. that is a very important thing that we do, and the concern i have is that on some of the state employee retirees, the insurance coverage has been

weakened over the years, and i'm very concerned about that. i've heard from a number of people in that regard, but what i would like to see is make sure that the aging population is able to stay as long as they can in their own residence. i just know there's programs available to allow for that. assistance for that. i think that that's -- my emphasis will be to enable them to -- for as long as possible, as long as they're comfortable and safer to be able to remain anywhere own residence -- in their own residence. we have been growing the pioneer home program in alaska, is absolutely phenomenal. all over the state and that's great. there is typically a waiting list to get in. that's one of the things i want to have a growing economy for so we can afford to do more for that population. that's concern i have that if we don't, some will need to leave alaska and not be in their region where they live.

i was in kodiak recently and saw the number that could stay within the kodiak area, not move to another region away from their family and loved ones. so keeping them in their own area is absolutely critical. >> governor parnell. >> with aging parents and with us aging, it's clearly an issue for us. and it comes down to probably three values, and one is just the family, dignity and safety, and when i think about staying at home for as long as a person can, i think bill is right there. i absolutely do. do. and we have a pretty good and wide-ranging network of community based services for that. that's something at some we could potentially augment if we're working smart in some areas areas and the areas are working well. when it comes to personal dignity, i just visited the veterans home, the pioneer home there in the valley win the last week and saw our wonderful veterans who are being cared for there, and was thankful for the care they received and how it dignifies them as human beings

and veterans of our state, and keeps them safe as well. our administration invested with the tribal healthcare system in elder living facilities in rural alaska, but i think we have to do more, and one of those areas that we're exploring currently, one thing i'm proposing, is to incentivize assisted living facilities and a construction and operation of them in alaska. i've already invited several of your ketchikan residents into the conversation, and i will be doing more of that, but bottom line is we have to do our best to keep our elders, our seniors, in the state, in a home or family setting, for as long as we can, and after that, in assisted living facilities that give them the dignity they deserve as human beings, and provide that safe, loving and caring environment. thank you. >> miss clift.

>> i hadn't heard that term before either, the silver tsunami. yes, we do have an aging population, and that is a big plus. i think that keeping our aging population here in alaska is really important because we do have a lot of people that go down to the lower 48 for part of the year just to get to the warmer climates and have more comfortable life. so we need to think about that, keeping our elders comfortable here. one of the things that works is a little less expensive than putting people in a home, is to have home health care come into the home and it's something that doesn't have to cost as much as residential care, and that's one way we can increase that home health care and that will help the situation with our state coffers having enough money to take care of these things. also, it was interesting that

bill walker brought up the trs, prs healthcare program, which is part of the state of alaska employees programs, and one thing that i myself am part of that, and one of the things i noticed is that when your medicare -- when you get old enough for medicare, then your premiums change because you have to start paying for the medicare on top of paying for your premiums for your state health care. so, there's my yellow card. i think home hospice is a way to go. i think that home health care is the way to go. it costs a little better and more comfort for our elders.

>> okay. this will be our last question. it will start with governor parnell. ongoing drug trafficking arrests in ketchikan indicate that state ferries continue to be among drug traffickers favorite methods for bringing drugs into the alaska. what can the state use to deter the use of ferries for this purpose? >> drug trafficking is a statewide issue, not just marine highway system issue, and throughout my tenure as governor i've worked to increase law enforcement across the state in building our capacity for drug interdiction as well as for the safety of our residents by other means. when it comes to specifically the ferry system, i first became aware of this issue, want to say within just fairly recently in the spring when somebody raised it to me here, and i went to the commissioner of public safety and asked what could be done. we can certainly work with communities to meet ferries and figure a way that the state troopers, for example, could use dogs to go find drugs before they get onboard.

that's one way. and of course it costs money, and i'm willing to work with the communities to do that if you want to put public safety dollars to that effort, if you think that would be a huge help in southern and southeast. so, thank you. >> miss clift. >> that's interesting because i just found out that ketchikan has a big problem with drugs. i found that out this morning, and now i have a key piece because of the ferries. it is important that we control the drugs coming into the village, and into the towns. and i think that, again, putting more money into law enforcement in this area would be advisible. we need to have a way to determine that the drugs don't even get on the ferries, and i think that we do need to look for those things when people are getting off the ferries. and besides that, don't really have any good answers except that we need to make sure that there are more things for people

to do recreationally than to get into drugs. >> mr. walker. >> three things. drug dogs, drug dogs, and drug dogs. that's the most effective way to -- they're highly effective. they are highly trained. a little expensive to get trained but not that expensive once they're trained. it's been proven time and time again. if you have a captive location on a state ferry, having a dog -- people know there will be a drug dog on the ferry, that will

be a tremendous deterrent to those that choose to transport that illegal substances on our state ferry system, so drug dogs. >> we're going to begin our closing statements, and we'll begin with mr. walker. >> i had a prepared statement i'm not going to give my prepared statement. i'm just going to talk to ketchikan the way i feel most comfortable talking to people. it is from the heart. when i filed to run for governor, and byron malott filed after that, i sat down with him and we decided to have a campaign where we didn't have research on each other, we didn't attack each other, and about a month or so ago became evident that it made sense for us to join our campaigns together. we got to know each other over the year and realized our passion for alaska far exceeded

our partisan differences. we did not take the name. we refer to it as the unity party. when the bipartisan coalition came together, we did anything we could. it is time to come together again. with the crisis we are in and the deficit, we use our savings to do what we do and we need a bipartisan administration. all alaskans on the board. it will not be bipartisan. it will be no partisan. we are looking at people running against us and who endorsed other candidates. that does not make a difference to us. we want to bring them together. we are in a crisis. we came together to rebuild the state.

there are various disasters. we have an incredibly bright future. my children and grandchildren, i want them to have the incredible benefits i have had. we know we can do that, if we work together. me, iow, someone asked have been in a lot of parades and have driven a lot of equipment. i get criticized if it is not u.s.-made. i try to make it u.s.-made. they say, why do you work so hard? why are you working day in and day out. i said, let me ask you a question, if your family was on a boat, how hard would you bail? that is what i am doing. that is exactly what i'm doing. i was on a radio show. fear losing the

election. i fear losing the state. i ask for your vote. thank you. is clift? >> i was talking at the beginning and i and the libertarian candidate. i am not conservative or liberal. -- thereing against are four of us and three other candidates. all of the other candidates are fiscally conservative, just as i am. also, socially conservative full stop i am not stop as a libertarian, i am socially tolerant and we have not talked about the social issues today in this debate. and i would be glad to talk you about these things. therunning against

overspending that we are doing. mr. walker is running against that. so i just want you to know that i am a former school teacher and i want to get out my little red pen and i am going to use that line i am veto to veto any duplicate expenses that are wasteful. individual rights are the backbone of the libertarian philosophy and it's the main difference between republicans and libertarians and the main libertarians ween and democrats is that we are always going tore the individual liberty. we don't believe in banning things and we don't believe in pren