>> the governor and the legislature stepped up on spending for the indiana roads and bridges. what do you think it will take state's andr the for structure can be kept in good repair, and how would you pay for it? mr. bell? >> i think what of the most important things we can do is insist that our road use taxes stay on the roads, from the local level to the state use level to the federal level. certainly, indiana does a better job than some states, but we are not very good at getting our federal money back and local money is not always apply to the roads. we see a lot of road use taxes spent on different things, walking trails, museums, that sort of thing. we think the most important thing we can do is apply all the road use taxes to the roads. if we find out then it is not

enough, we can re-figure from their, but i think we would be pleasantly surprised. >> mr. holcomb. >> last year, we were rated number one in terms of road condition just this year, cnbc released a study that had us as number one. we have invested a lot, $11 billion, over the last 10 years to get to the place where we are, we started projects that were sitting on the shelves for years and years and years. the upgraded u.s. 31. we now find ourselves at the place coming out of this last session, last legislative , where we have agreed to put everything on the table to pay for all of those wants and means.

i look forward to sing that report later this year. hadas an agreement we all during that session to keep everything on the table. and next session, we will start addressing how we will pay for a long-term, data driven, nonpolitical infrastructure program. >> and mr. gregg. >> i want to invite those people on the roads that i have been driving, those people who say we have the best roads in indiana. we have been falling farther and farther behind. my running mate and i put together a $3.2 billion infrastructure plan, $3.2 billion additional, where we take money and the money is split into pots, roads and bridges. one in five bridges will be obsolete in the next five years. the other 60% goes to quality of life issues. drinking water, industrial water, storm sewers, cultural

trails, green spaces, broadband. we need to come up with a plan that addresses our infrastructure longer than two or four years. this is a huge economic hindrance we have got in indiana. check out our infrastructure plans. and doesn't hurt our bond rating not at all. >>, now we come to the part of , where the candidates topiceak on a of the choice. he will then follow mr. bell for a maximum of two minutes. speak on holcomb will that. then, we will have a one minute rebuttal by mr. gregg. the candidates will then have a opportunity to speak on a topic of their choice. mr. gregg, you have an

opportunity to open. know firsthand the value of early childhood development, prekindergarten. 42 states have free kindergarten. the statistics are irrefutable. a student that has prekindergarten is more likely to graduate from high school and attend secondary education, less drugs,to be jailed or on make $160,000 a year more and they live a healthier and longer lifestyle. the is money invested in future, just like in our infrastructure, and that is why the indiana chamber of commerce list this as one of their five top goals. this is why when i have met with the executives, they have said, we have got to do prekindergarten. quitime is now, let's studying it and we can do it. we can do this by using existing dollars and without raising taxes. >> you have two minutes on this

topic. certainly, education is important to all of us. we need to stop and take a look at what indiana offers. that wants it. certainly, community colleges people can attend a very reasonable cost. , won't say free, but certainly if somebody is willing to invest $10,000, $20,000, they can get a two year or four year degree. i think we have come up with that. i think we provide for people very well now. talk about prekindergarten, this is something, another issue where government is reaching farther into the family. when we talk about $160,000 a year, that is quite a jump, but i don't see that happening.

when we talk about prekindergarten, we will see better results from family involvement then we will from turning your children over at a younger age to the government. this is what we are looking for. we need to make government more affordable so families can stay home if they need to or want to end raise their children. you know, certainly, there are communities, churches, there are businesses, if they want to help the families, help their employees out with the prekindergarten, but to put it to the government, where it will eventually, will end up being ,andatory, you know kindergarten started as optional and there is a push now to make it mandatory. the same thing that happened with prekindergarten. we need to re-examine the proper role of government and get it out of the family that quick. >> thank you.

>> i am all in favor of expanding prekindergarten. it is important to recognize that we did not even have a pilot program until recently. we have come all of these years with nothing, and now we have a program in place where we offered it through the fssa to be available for the most disadvantaged among us. and i think that is where we need to continue to expand. i think we need to move the folks that are in the back of the line, the folks that need the extra help the most, not make it mandatory, but the folks who are at a certain poverty level, we need to make sure we are moving them to the front of the line. so, i am in favor of expanding the program. right now, it is in five different counties. is a diverse collection of counties. we can continue to expand across

the state. the question is old. it was going to pay for it and how much does it cost not to address this? i am all in favor of expanding, theodically, keeping consideration and cost. people tell me, we are not ready for this yet. do not make this mandatory. do not just throw a $500 million program on us and ask us to comply. we need to start ushering folks in. moderator: mr. gregg, one minute to sum it up. gregg: there are only 1500 students being served by that pilot program. 80,000 four-year-olds in indiana. we have the money. the first year will cost $150 million. we will never get full, all 100%, of the students because it is not mandatory.

we got that money, plus, the current administration turned downed $80 million of federal money because they were upset with the president. askof that 70,500 students, yourself, how many of them have lost opportunities? i do want to look apparent in the eye and say, your kid can't go to prekindergarten. we have got the money to do it. if we can't invest in our children, what have we become? we can do better. the status quo is not getting it at all. i want to do away with the line. i mean, it is just like, i can't believe it. kentucky has prekindergarten. [laughter] mr. gregg: where i am from, that is something that we laugh over. moderator: mr. bell, you have one minute to introduce a topic of your choice. mr. bell: the topic of my choice would be, why was this country founded?

the government we were under at the time was way too big. since the government was founded, it has continued to grow. the one we have now gets bigger and bigger and bigger. i like to say, try to name three things the government does not tax or regulate. it is a very hard thing to do. the government is in every aspect of our lives. and the other two parties are talking now about making government even bigger. one will say, we are not going to make it as big as the other guys are going to make it, but it is still a matter of growth. we believe that people are capable of running their own lives. they are capable of making their own decisions. and that is what we would strive to do, get out of the way of business, get out of the way of parents when they try to educate their children, get out of the way of teachers. we can do a lot better job than we are doing right now by making government smaller. moderator: thank you very much. mr. holcomb, two minutes.

: attracting talent to the state of indiana speaks right to the point. that is why i am proud that indiana was ranked as the number four state in the country. that means that the government is not so much on our backs. every dollar we take from the taxpayer takes a little freedom away from the taxpayer. so, i think we have to be overly cautious and very deliberate and transparent on what we are spending the taxpayers on. 005found ourselves, pre-2 spending more money than we were bringing in. backseatus in a position when it came to competing for the talent and the jobs around the world. so, i will continue to be very cautious about any new, and we have got our tax and

regulatory climate in a uber competitive environment right now. so, we need to be overly cautious and we have been over the last decade. moderator: mr. gregg, two minutes. agree.gg: i will going back to the last years when i was speaker. 16 years ago, we started making changes to the tax structure in indiana and they continued on through governor daniels. we are now the fourth or fifth best state to do business in, but we are 46th in new business startups. good businesst a climate, but we are near the bottom when it comes to business startups. we have got to focus on the economy and we have got to laser like focus on economy creating high wage jobs. and we do have to take the politics out of education if we

are going to move indiana forward. it is so important that we focus the economic activities in these areas that are high growth and high wage jobs. we need to be talking about the economy and we need to be talking about our infrastructure and having a real plan. we have come up with plans that are on our website at greggfor governor.com. we talk also about how we need , thecus on the work education, the infrastructure, and talk about having an adult conversation on our drug epidemic, something destroying the very fiber of our communities. we need to admit this and admit that what we are doing is not working. we need to have an adult conversation and get the law enforcement, the prosecutors, and the judges, and the mental health people and the workforce development people, and the education people and have a discussion on what we can do to

stop this, which is gripping our city. there is a place where government and this is the area we need to be talking about during this very election. that is why we talk about it in our campaign every day. it is not a drug problem. it is an epidemic. moderator: and mr. bell, one minute to finish on the topic. mr. bell: well, it was mentioned that we are the fourth freest state, but i would point out right now, with the federal government where it is right now, the bar is very low. i would like to be the first freest state. that is where we should be and what i will be striving for. every time somebody mentions spending $1 billion, we need to remember, that takes $600 from every family and indiana. abouten you are talking $3 billion, $4 billion, $5 billion, that is taking away

your money, your freedom, you're right to make it is in. -- your right to make it decision. it is so important that we get a hold of this government, pushing it back to where it belongs, instead of running to it every day and saying, what can you do for me, or i need more money. we need to stop that. moderator: thank you, mr. bell. you have one minute to introduce a topic. mr. holcomb: i hate to beat a dead horse, but i think the second question was an insightful one about the future of our state and i could not agree more about where you were driving us all to. when we assess what we need to improve on in indiana, one of the main areas is, how do we attract more talent. not just how do we retain the urlent we groom at o

world-class universities, but how do we get that talent to reside and go to work at nestle at bostonwork scientific and cook and lily. had we get indiana known as a place of ingenuity and investment and have an international flair? there are many steps we could take. investing in entrepreneurs and , we plan toators invest $1 billion on that front. if we are going to create separation from us and the rest of the pack, we need to do more and we are. moderator: mr. gregg, you have two minutes on the topic. mr. gregg: our wages in indiana are again, growing less than the state of kentucky. you don't need to laugh, but that is nothing for us to brag on in indiana. in my background, i worked for two fortune 500 companies.

i know how hoosiers all across the state struggle. we have to be a welcoming state and we are not right now. to we have to show respect all people and we have got to focus on the economy and on our infrastructure. economicok at our plan, you see we talk about increasing our venture capital tax credit, we talk about establishing a growth and opportunity fudn for those entrepreneurs, those young people who are so excited, have business incubators all across the state. these are the things we need to be talking about. we need to be focusing on how education and talent is the key. there is a gentleman who lives in indianapolis who runs a something called the lumina foundation. he has written this fantastic book called "talent." he says, if the state of indiana has the opportunity within the

next five years to create 300,000 new jobs, living wage jobs, but if we don't have the talent, they are going to leave. and fellow hoosiers, they are not leaving central indiana or indiana. they are not leaving the midwest. they might stop on one of the ,oasts, but the odds are they will cross one of the oceans. we have to focus on the economy going forward, and not just the minimum wage jobs. we have to take high wage, high growth jobs and use the best ideas of both democrats and republicans, and independents. and using my experience, we can move indiana ahead and not be in the bottom of the wrung all the time. moderator: mr. bell, you have two minutes on that topic. mr. bell: certainly, the future of our state is very important to all of us, i would hope.

how do we make these decisions? they are talking about attracting large businesses, which is important, but we also need to remember that small businesses are the backbone of our state, where most employees are. i think we can attract all businesses, large and small, by creating a better atmosphere, a more business friendly atmosphere. that is the type of thing that will create more jobs. 300,000, that is not bad, but why not have of one million. the sky will open when we say, every business is welcome here and you will have the lowest operating cost because he will not be paying any property taxes. we can attract those. when we do that and businesses start competing for wages, wages are going to go up. -win situation we should be jumping on. there is so much that we could gain by getting the government

to step back and allow people own, allowtheir people to develop their own businesses, allow businesses to decide they want to come to indiana. we don't have to worry about one business leaving when there are two waiting in line to get in. i don't think we need to look for the government to fix this. i think this is something we can fix ourselves and ask the government to just step back. moderator: mr. holcomb, one minute to close the topic. mr. holcomb: well, indiana has a unemployment rate. we are lower than the national average. "ceo magazine" has rated indiana the number one state in the midwest to do business, something kentucky can't claim. we have been rated the number one state for small business, something kentucky can't claim. i am proud to have the endorsement of the national

federation of independent businesses that oversee the concerns of small businesses throughout the state. they are in fact, the real lifeblood of our communities and are offering opportunities everywhere you look. we areneed to make sure continuing to keep our state out in front when it comes to where folks around the world and the country are looking to relocate their business. the others and companies will continue to grow when we keep our fiscal house in order. moderator: now to the final question of the night. this will be a 30 second response from each of you and serve as the closing statement. why would you be the best candidate to lead indiana into the economic future. mr. gregg. i started out by saying i want to serve as governor, not the governor. i have a servant's heart. i give the credit of that to my wife. given the topics that seem

almost impossible to deal with, but we have got to tackle them. that is why i want to be governor. it is having a vision, it is bringing people together. it is showing those leadership qualities. the as why we talk to people across the state, hundreds of people. and many people helped us come up with a written plan. you know, i have made a payroll. moderator: mr. gregg, your time is up. 30 seconds. mr. bell. the questiont was again? moderator: why would you be the best candidate to lead indiana into its economic future? bell: i think i would be the best candidate because i have operated business for 40 years. i know what