it and a majority of the legislature because we were trying to follow the expressed will of the people. 87% of the people want it. and had you done the environmental impact study, you seconds. >> i think it's a matter of refreshing the recollection of people not only in this room but the people out there. that you had to approve because if you didn't approve it, it would never be in the pipe right now. the bottom line is this. every single one of you, you and your children and her grandchildren will be responsible for that tax imposed by the rail projects. we are talking about a superferry without any identifiable investor. >> you have a chance to ask a

question. >> senator, for 29 years in the legislature, you have fashioned yourself to be a collaborative consensus type of leader. things have not gotten better. it's gotten worse. a state hospital crisis. we have the highest electricity prices in the nation. the state of our education system needs some budget fixes right now. how can we be sure if you can do the job for 29 years, that you can fix our problems as a governor when you go to a bigger and greater job. >> thank you very much for that question. i would love to be able to respond to it. you know, i am the only candidate here that has passed conference of restructuring of our public school system. i am the only candidate here

that has passed legislation that allows the public private partnerships for our hospital system. and really cut budget requests because i believe that is what you, the people of hawaii wanted. it is easy to say and talk when you're not really responsible for things. it is easy to be a leader and take a stand. it is hard to be a leader because it's about making things work. about being able to get legislation passed. i am running for governor. >> every time i hear you say i did this, i did this, what about the 75 other legislators that

had to help you achieve the things that you said? with respect to the public-private partnership, let me be clear. he did not move on a mechanism that would allow those to occur. you can see right now they have two suitors after it, hawaii and had he done that, we would not have to face what we are looking at now. we will fix that. >> your turn now for questions. >> there have been only two times when the state has failed to balance the budget. the last two years of your diminished ration. you gave us furlough fridays and withheld tax refunds from the taxpayer and you stopped paying bills. how do you decide when to support and stand by the governor and when to say you are just an observer? >> let me start with furlough fridays.

i find it very interesting that the very union that agreed to furlough fridays is now upset about it. why only now? it took to to agree to furlough fridays. this was not a unilateral decision made by governor lingle. second, in regards to balancing the budget, let it be known that it is the executive branch that submits the budget. it is the legislature that approves the final budget so any balancing has to go through the legislature. if you was one of 76, why did he let that happen? why did he let the mechanisms not happen? and why aren't you asking these me? it is incumbent is a that your

administration would be like the abercrombie administration because he is the lieutenant governor. >> it is very clear that the executive is the one who is tasked with balancing the budget. the legislature -- we passed a budget but it is really about a limitation. they decide when and how it should be spent. the reality is, the only two times in the history of the state of for why he that we ended in the red. they have no strategy on how to stop the spending. they simply stopped paying bills and withheld the tax refund. i think we are off to a pretty good start here, three different men with different styles and a lot of ideas at the table. >> a lot of opportunities to ask questions and we will hear more,

maybe even get a cameo from the lieutenant governor. >> we will talk to them after the short break. from hawaii news now, you are watching campaign 2014. race for governor. -- you have known them 12 years? tell us something you might not know about your running mate. >> when david graduated from high school, he was accepted at m.i.t. and never told his parents about it because he had a large family and was concerned about his siblings ability to get the college education at the age of 18.

>> i asked him how long they'd known each other and he said a long time. >> before duke was grey. you figure athletes have a lot of rhythm. i don't think duke knows how to dance. i just watched him. >> wow. do you approve that? thank you so much. how long have you known each other? >> >> wax over 10 years. we know he can dance and saying. but what people don't know when i have worked closely with him is that he really is a humble, warm guy that cares for people. he is really caring. >> thanks to all of you. >> a dance off might be a good way to settle it.

i have a question for all of you. all three of you will be benefiting from the state and county retirement program for life. that? what do you support to reduce the cost of government worker benefits? >> people come to the system and have promised certain benefits. i don't believe we look to cut those benefits from the past. the city and county of honolulu, they have regularly put in the retirement pension fund. going forward, i think that is where the discussion needs to take place with the public employee unions and the like. and we afford to continue these benefits and the cost that it will take to do that? i expect we can have some good conversations. i've never had an acrimonious discussion with the public employee unions when i was doing collective bargaining at the

county level. i just have to recognize with the hope of the legislature that this is something we need to do going forward. >> you also have 60 seconds. >> thank you for that question again. i have been in the legislature a long time and i am happy to report to you that our pension system is in very good shape today. we have taken action over the last three years to really restructure the pension system to make sure it is sustainable. we have already reduced the benefits for new employees. after june of 2012. we have asked employees to fund the program. if you become state employees, you will have to work a little

longer. we capped overtime pay. we really felt those employees that were spiking the pensions it really wasn't fair to the rest of the retirees. we have taken action to ensure the pension system is solvent. >> thank you for honoring the one minute light. it is an unfunded liability right now when you have the health side. and you add the pension side. it comes out to about $27 billion. $27 billion. this is what has gotten other cities in trouble that are bankrupt. we can't let that happen. the only problem i have lived with what the legislature has done is the payments aren't going to stop.

it is not going to take place until 2019. that gap will grow even more in four years. we have to do something now. more so, i'm not sure the plan is solid enough to weather some of the tough times that we are going to be facing very shortly. in particular, what it does is if we don't have the revenues to pay up front from just the regular budget, we are going to take it from the general fund. >> and to get a more specific question, this will go to mr. ige first. i'm a student. i normally leave around rush hour, 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. and traffic has been getting increasingly worse. it used to take me an hour to get to school and now it takes

me an hour and a half. will you support a pass so that the truck can service the city? >> i am a strong supporter of rail transit system. i have been, from the very beginning, from the very first proposal, i was testifying as a high school student in support of the transit program because i believe transit is a quality-of-life issue. it will definitely improve the quality of life. it is basically a fiscal issue. i think we need to let the program run. the the current tax doesn't

expire until 2020. we need to hold the feet to the fire to make sure they give an efficient and effective system. i am confident it will be a success. >> here we go again. this is a city project. this is not a state project. here we go. coming back to the state to ask for an increase that when the city designed this rail project, they said the excise tax would cover the cost of the project. they say it will come on time and on budget. it is not on time and it is not on budget. this is what i am talking about. this is the kind of leadership you will have if you vote the same way. let's just raise the g.e.t. tax.

no, i would not be in favor of extending it. this is a city project. the city needs to figure it out for themselves. >> this was always a collaborative partnership from the very beginning. the fact that duke lives on that side, this is a community that needs a transit solution. it just boggles my mind that you would oppose it. suffice it to say, i think the board and the strong leadership has to ensure everyone that they will do it right. they will be very prudent about the tax dollars we are using for it. i left 865 million dollars in contingency funds to take care of some of these expenses that are coming. i think what we need to do is return the 10% of the g.e.t. the state keeps. it is $140 million that goes to the general fund.

it is a pure out and outrage. they should give it back to the city because we said we needed that .5% increase to fund the rail system. that is a special fund that won't happen under my watch. >> this is about gender harassment and comes from nicholas saint cook. >> despite the recent growth of gay marriage, lgbtq are still persecuted in schools. how we further acceptance of these individuals? >> i will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or bullying of it any individual. i don't care what their sexuality is or their ethnic origin is. part of the reason why my parents moved here as immigrant folks is because this is the land of opportunity. it shouldn't matter if you have lived here or have come recently. i will be very strong, i will be

very vigilant, i will work with the proper authorities to ensure that no matter where you go to school, be it public or private, we need to have a say and make sure we have good laws, rules, and regulations and it shouldn't matter what your orientation is. this is hawaii. we pride ourselves on the spirit and treating everybody with dignity and grace. and it starts at the top as a governor and recognizing that. >> bullying has been a real big challenge and a hot topic at the state capitol for the last several years. and we have had several collaborative task forces. it is something i think we can all agree on that bullying is bad and we need to stop it. the challenge i think is how to legislate that and how do you ensure and enforce and pass a law that isn't forcible. they have worked with the

stakeholders, public and private schools to really talk about what efforts they can make to engage students. they can be part of the solution because they are the ones on the front lines. it really is about working with public and private schools as well about how they can help educate the children and teach them appropriate etiquette. a lot of bullying occurs online which is outside of the specific physical location and it is a challenge that i think the whole community needs to get involved with. >> i thank you for that question because it is something near and dear to my heart. i don't think you'll find anyone in this room that will tolerate that kind of behavior. it boils down to something that touches both alan and i, family. strengthening the family. that is why we are excited. that is the strength in regards to working with families, making

sure we can change this culture. as was mentioned, bullying is something that has been going on for a long time. it's a cultural shift that we have gone to the point where we have to make that change. i look forward to working with families. to get that big strong foundation. as a substitute teacher, i take parental involvement. i want to make sure parents are involved in the daily lives of students. >> that's talk about executive experience. we will start with you. can you give us two things you have done and big accomplishments in your career that people say, that guy deserves to be governor. >> the first thing i would say, when i went to and took early retirement and went to work at a venture startup, an internet startup, i became project

manager of establishing the first carrier neutral class a facility in the state of hawaii. our dream is really to create a bunch of these facilities across the state in honolulu, seoul, singapore. we wanted to be the premier data center company on the planet. so it really was a challenge. as you know, internet speed is seven times usual and it is really about first to market. i was proud to be able to complete that first data center here in honolulu and was part of the team that really expanded to l.a., sydney, singapore. it really is about private sector experience. >> probably the most important thing is being the lieutenant governor of the state of hawaii. i look at that is something that is a natural for any governor.

because i had the opportunity to not only be part of an administration but also to gain that experience, gain that knowledge, to interact and see an executive make those tough decisions. couple that with my experience on the bench and i think this is where our campaign theme of trust, respect, and balance comes in. to make those tough decision in regard to families. one was terminating parental rights and it was a tough decision to make. if you don't have trust, respect, and balance, there's no way you can make those decisions. >> watching people's money is what we did it city hall. for we left, we were considered low risk. whenever saved money before, we did it there. we left the budget surplus every year that we were there. we fixed old infrastructure such

as the sewage system. we ended a decade-long lawsuit against the city. we fixed the problem. we brought new infrastructure into our community such as rail. but i still contend is the right thing to do. and we still managed to make our city the leading digital city in america. we also continue to be one of the safest big cities in america. we implemented new programs like curbside recycling and introduced the third broiler to convert more energy. and i still found time to help save the pro bowl here in hawaii. >> thank you, candidates. i am standing here with another political science student. his question is about legalizing marijuana.

>> other states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. what are the opinions of the candidates? >> my opinion is i would not be supportive of legalizing marijuana. my decision is based on my experience as a judge. being in the trenches, understanding what the effect of it all is. all we have to do is look at the experience in colorado and washington. i can tell you it's not the greatest of experiences. they are finding more trouble, more crime, and a whole lot of other things that are affecting them in regards to the legalization of marijuana because what it comes down to is basically how do we monitor? how do we distribute? and how do we control this this commodity? in many states what it is is what i would call a way to shorten the revenue shortfall and we can't go down that line.

if there is consensus in the legislature on one issue, a bipartisan consensus, it's on this issue. >> do you support legalizing marijuana? >> i have always been opposed to legalizing marijuana. i think there is overwhelming evidence that it can lead to other drugs. i am concerned about it getting in the hands of minors and the like. i am endorsed by the organization of police officers. one of the reason is because of my strong stance against drugs and drug abuse. i will consider it and learn more about it but right now i am still opposed to the legalization of marijuana across the board. >> thank you very much for that question. marijuana is a schedule one drug classified by the federal government which means it is

illegal for you to possess, distribute, sell. i really believe our laws should be consistent. i think it is inappropriate for the state to legalize it. i voted against medicinal use. it really was because there was no legal way to get it. i couldn't understand how you could tell a patient that they could use it for medicinal purposes but the only way you could get it is to buy it from a drug dealer. i am open to the regulated medicinal purposes to be able to get it. >> with all the oil spills, in recent months, what are you going to do to protect hawaii's

natural environment? >> we need to reduce our dependence on oil. i have come out with a plan that says i want to move us to more renewable energy sources. it will also create competition in order to go to a smart grid technology as opposed to the only grid that we have now. we have to be proactive about it. i am concerned about the cuts made to the department of health through the years. i am concerned about the cuts made to the department of agriculture. these things speak to a governor that will be proactive on protecting the environment and has the ability to bring a coalition of folks when these things happen. it is better to be preventing as opposed to reacting.

you have strong support from me and i will clean up the sewage spill at waikiki. we need a better footing so those will not happen again. >> this past session, we took action exactly in that area. we appropriated more funds so we can hire more inspectors. it really is being about being proactive in the upcoming shipments that we get. we want to have inspectors on the ground being able to find the species before it gets out and our communities. they are tasked with finding the best way to eradicate invasive species. for a long time this was a federally funded program but we believe it is time for the states to step up. it is really about action.

i look forward to the opportunity of serving as governor. leading the people of hawaii understand what the threats of invasive species bring to our communities today. >> i agree with my colleagues in regards to what we need to do with the department of agriculture, the department of health, and make it a priority. i think we lack the resources and some of the other personnel that we need to make sure that we can take care of our pristine environment. on the other hand, something i mentioned the other day is in regards to talking about efficiency. i have noted for the panel that when it comes to efficiency, it is our young people and our children that have taken the lead on that. we have done a great job of educating our young people in regards to the environment and how it has been affected.

i think that is the front line. when we talk about being proactive and preventive, that is where it starts. i want to urge everybody to continue to speak about being culturally sensitive and protect the island. >> we are nearly an hour in and we have come almost full circle, back to the connector, something all three candidates said they would like to address if elected governor. given what you say, that you want to change or eliminate about obama care or health connector, do you want universal health coverage and how do you get there without it? >> hawaii has been a pioneer in terms of universal health coverage. this is something that i think we can all be proud of. we have more of our citizens be covered than anywhere else in the country. it resulted in the longest life expectancy in the country, the lowest health insurance cost in the country, the lowest per capita medicare cost because our seniors have

had access to quality health care for their entire lives. this is something clearly that i think we can all be proud of. it is something that would allow us to really move forward in a way that makes sense. i forgot the question, sorry. >> do you still want universal health care? >> yes. and i say that because it is about being able to have access to quality health care. everyone should have the opportunity to retire and live a fruitful life. >> i think the concept of universal health care, everybody would agree we want that to happen. and we do have that in play. but this is where if you are blind to politics will jump into something that we do not need, and that is the affordable care act. there are a lot of good things about the affordable care act

but has it accomplished what it needed to accomplish? i think the answer is no. and in the long run, it will cost us a lot. how do we change that? it is a federal issue. it is a federal issue. we have to be smart and who we represent as our electives for our congressional delegation. i will put a plug-in in for charles, somebody that i think must get elected. because we need the balance in our congressional delegation also. just like how many balance in state government. >> absolutely. i applaud and appreciate the efforts we have had in the past to have prepaid health coverage to ensure that everyone in hawaii can be insured. every time i hear people express support for that, i wonder why the legislature order to approve the federal funding to start the hawaii health connect system. i would ask for an opt out, a waiver. we cannot do a by 2017. i think we need to be supportive to the companies i cannot

provide this because we have had a model and how we take care of people. >> a little more on the superferry. >> is very expensive for labor islands and my home. i have been talking about how much extra money would effectively project?

i say how are we going to fund this if we do not have a private investor. i do not want to settle my children and grandchildren with a tax bill that will only increase as times go. unless we have the specifics of i would support it if it is solid and financially viable and we can make it happen. i have been flying a lot to the neighbor islands, and i can tell you right now that you are right about the interisland cost, it is fairly expensive. i think my colleagues would agree with that. >> it is the same old, same old type of comment to hear from politicians. if you cannot do a job that the people want, they blame it on the fact that we cannot afford that. then they put out a plan that i said to duke. number one, we need a

collaborative process to make this happen. the four county mayors and the governor working together. secondly, i intend to go to the department of transportation's maritime administration. that is where the funds are for shipbuilding. it is where the funds are to provide loans and grants to do this. i know my way around the department of transportation because that is how i was able to get rail funding with the help of the congressional delegation. at the end of the day, i support the jones act, because it has to be done with an american bottom to get grants. and there is interesting shipbuilders will talk to me and others at a conference that mr. ige and mr. aiona did not attend. we talked about building a coalition of business and government and labor to make that happen. >> i, too, have been traveling a lot to the neighbor islands, and i feel your pain. before i decided to run for governor, i had not made a whole lot of trips to the neighboring

islands. this is one area that i do believe in the whole priority of things before the state legislature, i cannot see taxpayer funds going to fund something like the superferry. it is a very, very expensive enterprise. if there is a business that is willing to do it, if there are federal funds are other sources of funds to fund such a project, i certainly would be willing to be a partner in helping develop it. as long as we follow the rules, complete all of the environmental impact statements required, and complete all of the committee the engagement that would be required of a project such as this. i think that would be very important. unfortunately, i do not think of the general taxpayer today can add that on top of all of the schools, libraries, and other facilities that are so needed. >> mahalo, candidates, we will give you a chance to breathe. we are live from the conference

center. >> from hawaii news now and the "honolulu star advertiser," you are watching the race for governor. >> news over the budget shortfalls were making headlines recently. with the athletics underfunded and in the red, do you think it is necessary for the state to contribute to the athletics program? >> i'm a passionate believer in sports, someone who has been involved in many sports activities and organizations and bringing them to the state of hawaii. this is our major university athletic program. i would like to see the state be much more supportive, much more creative in the sharing of revenues, making sure that in

events you are using the sponsorship of our athletic teams. i want to ensure that that type of marketing creativity is at work at the university of hawaii in that regard. when we have athletic programs, it lifts the community like no other. i want to see that with every sport, across the board. i believe that if we have a governor that understands and has an ability to reach out to the private sector, which i will -- there's a lot of interest in asia. asian companies love hawaii. i would love to reach out and either proven track record of doing business in the asia-pacific to make this happen. >> as mentioned, we have uhs president david sitting in the front row listening to the

answers. >> thank you very much for that question. i'm an alumni of the university of hawaii three times. i started up he committed the -- i started at the community college, got my bachelors in electoral engineering, and then an mba from the college of business. this really is a decision for the university president and the regions to make. -- regents to make. we give the university about it and give them flex ability on how the dollar should be distributed among the various programs for the university. as mentioned before, i do not believe you want legislators getting in and trying to decide how much fund should be spent for the program. that said, i am a great supporter of uh athletics.

i think it is a powerful message. i believe that athletics is so important for young people because it gives them the opportunities they were not have academically. >> if we are going to identify how we are related to the university and sports, i have been a supporter for 30 years. there you go, i got mine in. when it comes to something of this nature, the legislature and the governor, we should be supporting the university of hawaii. i have said this from the very beginning, president, the very beginning when we started our campaign. i said the problem that we have at the university of hawaii is that politicians insert themselves every time there is just a little issue going on. you are the fourth president in 10 years. your election process was not without criticism, was not without intervention, it was not without controversy. why is that? we have to allow the leadership at the university of hawaii to root. and once that happens, begin to

the decisions making where it should be made. the legislature and the executive branch should do just that. we should support them. if there something they need, we will address it at that point in time. but right now, we need leadership to address those problems. >> similar ige -- senate for ige, a question on farms. >> would you support subsidies for local farms to help make us more self-reliant as opposed to importing food? >> when i started this campaign, more than a year ago, i had superficial knowledge of agriculture and hawaii. -- in the hawaii. over the last year, i've had the opportunity to meet with many farmers across the state to talk about the challenges and opportunities, their vision of how we can grow more of the food we eat. i am very bullish on the future of agriculture. but it is about being

sustainable. and it is very interesting, the techniques and mechanisms of farming today are so different than they were a decade ago. i did visit a farm on the big island, a pig farm. they are into the natural farming process, where we were standing in the middle of a pig farm in it did not smell like a pig farm. -- and it did not smell like a pig farm. we need to be proactive and support farmers in a sustainable way. >> mr. aiona, should we subsidize hawaii farmers? >> i believe the number is a anywhere from 80% to 85% of our food is imported from outside of hawaii. if we can cut dependence by 10%, that would be an increase of about $300 million in the state of hawaii.

i am for it all the way. i want you to know that right now, in hawaii, the farmer, the rancher, the average age is 59. we need to beef up our educational programs, and i believe that the university of hawaii is prime for that. we talk about diversifying in bringing in industry, agriculture is that. we also less diverse location we could have an agriculture, and farming is a big part of that. >> no one has been stronger in support of agriculture. i believe that the best years are ahead of us in agriculture and i do not live in the past. it is important to recognize that the department of agriculture has to be strengthened. only 7% of the budget goes to the department of agriculture. and farmers, big or small, they

need to have access to land, which the government can help. they need to have access to financing and low-interest loans. they need access to water and help with invasive species are it there are not enough inspectors to a proactive with that, we have a fire at problem. -- ant problem last but not least, we need a governor that can market. we have kona coffee, that is magical. we need to go around the world to create the brand name. >> we have another multiple-choice candidates for the presidents. -- candidates. one of the three statements. public unions have too much

power, public unions have the right amount of power, or public unions do not have enough power. >> it is a. too much power. if you look at the history of hawaii and the development of the public union, there is no question that it was designed and it was developed and it was implemented for the right purpose. but we have got to that point right now where it has gone too .ar as a result we have special interest running the state of hawaii. there was an editorial by richard in which he quoted an executive with the public union saying that it was about the public health hospital and where it is right now. as mr. ige mentioned, they were trying to fix the problem, and

he said that we stopped at bill it. damamn proud of >> this is our goldilocks question. >> it depends on that leader. if he is weak and indecisive, they cannot have too much power. but if you do when i try to do in honolulu, strong but fair, honest in dealing with them, lead by example, never asked them to take pay cuts without doing it yourself. we were the first entity in the state of hawaii before the collective bargaining was going to ask for a 5% pay cut, i asked my appointees to take that cut up front.

i think that is what is important. recognize, as i do now, that we need the private and public partnership on the state hospitals. some of them have a tough time accepting that. i will argue for patient centered health care. we need to do something about the doctor shortage, 750 doctors, we need to double that. and most important, recognize that it is for all of the people of hawaii and not just a jobs issue. >> i believe the unions have the right amount of power. we should look at the result of the union elections and who the union was supporting and who they were not and who actually won the election. our primary election was a historic victory. we were outspent 10-1. we had only one endorsement and my opponent had the lion's share of everything else.

it is about communities and you carry enough to become active and ask questions and challenge candidates and find out who you believe to be the best person to represent you. and i do believe that hawaii is still about community. it is really about you being able and willing to spend the time to learn the candidates and make a difference. >> we have that big storm spinning our way right now. i would like to say mahalo to the the cruise that could be working overtime to keep the lights on. that being said, on the policy level, do you think that hawaiian electric has been a barrier to the development of alternative energy in hawaii? >> despite their best intentions to convince us otherwise, i do. i really believe that they are too dependent on oil. we need to wean ourselves away from oil. the public utilities commission came out with a report, coupled with the other report, saying that there is too much focus on yesterday's solutions for

tomorrow's problem. that is why i am the only candidate running for governor who has come up with a detailed program and platform to remove our dependence on oil. we need to embrace geothermal. and yes, i will seek a private partner, because it is working in 23 countries around the world, eight states, and over 700 projects in 76 nations. it will allow us to move the needle towards 100% renewable energy. we need a smart grid technology also to do that. that will require money. i do not believe hawaii electric is in the position to do that. >> i do not believe that hawaiian electric has been a barrier, but clearly we have created a process, and the state has not been leadership necessary to really move forward

in a lot of important areas, we did restructure the public utilities commission because we thought they were moving slowly. we created a new director so that you could have a professional managing the process. this committee weighs all the issues involved in your rooftop. there are real, engineering, technical problems about reliability. utility engineers like to over engineer, they like to be safe. they are going to err on the side of being safe. they need to be driving the utility to allow more pv for our community and we have given them the tools to do that. >> to say that the hawaiian electric is the barrier to where we are right now with our costs, our energy cost, would not be accurate.

it is a combination of adjusting to a policy that was historical, the hawaii clean energy initiative, enacted in 2008. it was historical and shifting hawaii away from what we have been known to have for decades our reliance on fossil fuel. now we will be reliant upon efficiency as well as renewable energy, and it is difficult. we had a lack of leadership. if a lack of leadership in the last four been years in the legislature, the executive branch. that is why my platform, which will be coming out very shortly -- within the next few days -- will show you that it will be about leadership. making sure that the overriding principle is to lower the cost of energy. >> thank you. one more chance for the candidates to ask each other a question on any topic. >> mr. ige, we will get your

question for mr. hannemann. you will have one minute to respond and then a 32nd rebuttal. -- 30 second rebuttal. >> in a unanimous ruling, the supreme court claimed that you two --ed the lives of you claimed no involvement, but an official testified that, as the mayor, you were consulted and agreed with the decision. do you agree with the supreme court decision now? >> david, this is the second time you have asked me this question. clearly you are losing the battle on who has the most executive experience for this job. you want to go to my character? that is fine. the incident that he is referring to, i had no direct involvement. the decision to suspend these

workers was made by the corporation counsel, the department of enterprise services to make that recommendation, as well as the union of the two employees. the ruling went our way on the lower levels. i stand by my character and my integrity but i wish you would've asked me a question about my record in city hall are why i am fit to be governor as opposed to engaging in character assassination again. thank you. sticking toam just picking the facts rid the hawaii supreme court looked at the issue and did conclude that the mayor had overstepped and reversed this and remanded for action to decide how these two people should be compensated for the fact that they were blacklisted

and their careers destroyed. it really is about the facts, and encourage all of you to read. this election is about leadership, leadership style. >> time is up. >> we have to move on mr. hannemann. a question for mr. aiona. >> mr. aiona -- duke, i should say. you have said that government should get out of the way and let business do its thing. on the other hand, you've heard me talk about public and private partnership to save hospitals, and now you say that you embrace that, which means government and business working together. it seems you are talking out of both sides here, so what is your view you actually hold to? government getting out of the way for all things and taking care of business? or a public-private partnership? >> i think mufi over sympathized -- oversimplified the general

statement in regard to getting out of the way of business. obviously, a public-private partnership is limited to certain areas that you can take advantage of. but when i say government get out of the way of business, i mean just that. there are too many times in which government is putting up barriers for businesses so that they cannot thrive. a good example of that is the permit process that we have in the state of hawaii. i've heard it time and time and time again, that the permitting process is long. in the construction industry, they started project today, start planning for today, it is not done until six or seven years down the line. that is something the government has to get out of the way of. part of it is the way that we administer it. that is the concept behind getting out of the way of business. >> 30 seconds, mr. hannemann. >> duke, all have to say is this. you have made it very clear that

you believe that government should just get out of the way and let business do its thing, you cannot have it both ways. that is what gives politicians a bad name. that is like senator ige thing that he did not vote to raise pensions. senator ige in the coming governor aiona need to be careful with their words -- and lieutenant governor aiona need to be careful with their words. >> talking about pension taxes, how should the people of hawaii judge your leadership ability when you flip-flop on issues like pension and childhood education. >> let me get the facts straight. i was the chairman of the ways and means committee, and i had a

responsibility to deliver a balanced budget so that, unlike the aiona administration, we ended up in the red. i take responsibility for the fact that when i became chair, the deficit was 200 million. within three months, it had grown to $1.2 billion and a $5 -- in a $5 billion budget. i did look at the pension tax as an option. at the end of the day, it is about walking the walk. we found a way to balance the budget. i have cut more than a billion dollars out of budget requests. aiona, i understand that you do not want to see more questions. >> i believe you forgot the question. the question is about flip

flopping on pensions and early childhood education. he was in favor of early childhood education. >> that is our debate. gentlemen, candidates, thank you so much. maholo for your dedication to be here. thank you to the students and the community leaders. we hope that you learn ed something. >> a reminder, the general election is 20 days away. we'll have complete coverage leading up to it. >> november 4, it is your civic duty. c-span's campaign 2014 has more than 100 debates for the control of congress. stay in touch on twitter. like us on facebook.com/c-span.

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c-span 3. >> the 2015 competition is underway. it is open to all middle and high school students to create a 5-7 minute documentary. showing how policy, action, or law has affected you or your community. there are 200 cash prizes for students and teachers totaling $100,000. washington journal as next on c-span. 12:30 u.s. monitoring projects. minutes, mike duncan on the coalition of clean coal energy.

8:30, we hear from karen white at the national education association on the estimated $40 million or organization plans to spend this election cycle. >> good morning everyone, there is one week to go before all of you head to the polls to decide which party will control the senate. campaign 2014f continues. at 2:00 p.m. you can watch the house debate for main's second district. at 9:00 p.m. the south carolina senate debate followed by the new hampshire first district debate. for more.c-span.org details.