We are hosting this debate with Public Health precautions with minimal staff joining us. All of us onset are separated by plexiglas barriers. The candidates joining us are republican state representative Ashley Hinson and democratic incumbent abby finkenauer. Welcome to you both. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having us. Joining us is james lynch, writer for the gazette, and kate anderson, news director for radio iowa. One of the most pressing one of the most pressing issues is recovery from the direct show. Homeowners and businesses access to a variety of federal aid. Abby finkenauer, you have been critical of the federalist bonds. What would you want to do differently and why are you the best person to represent the district during this Recovery Period . Rep. Finkenauer we were on the ground following at and my husband and i live in cedar rapids and i knew by the way that we were going to need all the help we could get, so i asked the governor to ask for an expedited president ial disaster declaration knowing that it was going to be a long road and we needed help and we needed it now, so that is something i was proud to have called for early, but eventually, it did come about a week and a half later, we were grateful that the president did decide to declare that and for the other counties as well. It is one of those things, when you are looking at the devastation of folks not having ice, not having gassed not having gas for generators to keep refrigerators running, keep their kids fed, there were a lot of needs not getting met at that thatt, but now that now we have the president ial declaration, we have seen the end. One of the things we did on friday was we had fema invite local leaders so we could hear from the people on the ground. One of the things that continued to come up with housing was housing insecurity issues. We will do with the same with the state level to make sure we get those needs met and get the mets as soon as possible because there are a lot of folks getting buried as it will start getting cold out. Rep. Hinson my family was impacted like everyone else, that is the story here, no family was left untouched. I was in the basement with my kids and husband as we were dealing with it and as we emerged as a neighborhood, it was clear that we had work ahead of us. I was on the phone with the governor that afternoon advocating that she get to my district by the way so she could see the damage because it was clear to me what we were going to be dealing with was a long path ahead. State disaster declaration the next day, which i think was incredibly fast and im happy about the speed of your at the congresswoman reference, by the next week, the president was on the ground. I was able to advocate for additional aid for our communities and i think we have done that, the president delivered on the aid he promised and we are going to keep advocating for additional aid. What is needed now . We have the disaster declaration. What is next . What do people in cedar rapids and marshalltown need to help them move forward . The number one thing i discovered was Food Insecurity was a problem not just as it was passing through, but as families lives have been disrupted, it is affecting Food Insecurity is affecting families that were secure before and all of a sudden they had this devastating incident, so what we saw happen was this bubbled up and that is going to be the issue many families are going to deal with. Allmber of my constituents found themselves with a hole in their roof endo place to live and being told, you have to get out now. That is the biggest challenge, making sure we have enough places for people to live. Insurance companies are following through with their premiums and people have the resources they need. Is there Something Congress needs to do now . Rep. Finkenauer one of the things we have been hearing a lot from constituents, the Food Insecurity issue is one that we saw the first couple weeks immediately, that saturday, we were trying to feed people because they didnt have anything left in their refrigerator. That was one of the most heartbreaking moments i had, realizing that you might not have enough to get peoples bellies full and that is something i know we continue to have to work on but the other thing for homeowners who have insurance, see removal will be a huge issue. These are trees that are 200 years old that came down, this has never happened in iowa like this. Making sure that we have that supplemental, whether that is working with the city to make sure that fema is covering the tree removal or they are looking at a possible supplemental package. Rep. Hinson one of the things that was discovered is many people realize how old the power structure is in terms of utilities and power lines. One of the things that was discovered as many people realize how old the power structure is in terms of utilities and power lines. Many people could not make calls, they could not have kids go to school because they did not have broadband access. I know firsthand the challenges a family would face. I was in quarantine so i had that added challenge of being in quarantine and dealing with the derecho but i had to drive two miles north to get to a point where i had service to get a call out. The number one thing i would do is prioritize investments in infrastructure, looking at the research to make sure we are investing that last dollar and last mile to get the broadband where it needs to go. It is expensive to lay the ground, the fiber, all of these lines. Our line men did an incredible job and i want to thank them. They have labored a lot over the past few weeks to get the job to havei think we need their backs and making sure we can do that Going Forward. You continue to depend on the private sector to provide broadband or do we need a public utility . I think you have a great five Public Partnership in iowa. A great private Public Partnership in iowa. We have a Great Program where we compare the funding with people who have a project that is readied to go so we are making sure tax dollars are spent as efficiently as possible. That is the model i see Going Forward. During the president ial campaign, you had Democratic Candidates say it is time to ake rod band broadband public utility. Rpcs to anauer our incredible job, but they need extra funding and the grants to continue to get it done. One thing in congress has always been a priority was looking at broadband and making sure we have the right investments in the right places and what we realized is we need to have the most uptodate maps when it came to where folks needed connectivity and you might be in a neighborhood where it shows one house has connectivity but then it says the neighborhood does because the house does the writer we know that is not accurate. That is one of the first bills i worked on, to deal with this issue. Fcc decided the to deal with that and change how they were mapping broadband and connectivity. We brought one of the commissioners to iowa to talk to folks, whether it was our teachers, health care professionals, Business Owners about why broadband was important and it is something we have to get right not just after this derecho but also after this pandemic. Congress is gridlocked on the next phase of relief. Democrats have proposed a 3 trillion war in the next phase, the chump administration and republicans as 1 trillion will be enough. How big should that package be . What should be included . Week int include 600 a unemployment, another round of ppe for businesses . Beenthink the ppp has effective, they have used that to keep the doors open in a challenging time. We look at the relief that has come, the 600 a week that went away and the president had to take action because of that and i applaud the administration for doing that. We need to be looking at, as we are making those investments, lets look at the data to make sure the funds reach the places they need to reach. I was checking on the hospital today because they did receive a huge amount of the money that came from those packages and some of them are saying, we are fine on the ppe and having the resources we need to get that outspread others are saying, to get that out. Others are saying, we need more. 6 trillion is a lot of money. Do we need that much more to get the job done . Rep. Finkenauer we have priorities we need to get done and we need to deal with how much that its going to cost, whether it is state and local funding. Firefighters, Police Officers, utility workers that desperately need it right now. That weto make sure fill those dollars because our cities, counties, and states are losing millions of dollars right now and it is going to put Public Safety at risk if we dont backfill the states right now and these communities and on top of it, we have to make sure that we help our essential workers and make sure that they have paid time off as well and have hazard pay. Your Party Leaders differ in washington. Democrats are asking for trade trillion three chili dollars, republicans are asking for 1. 4 trillion. Is that a difference in this campaign . Of moneyr was a lot spent, they should vote for abby finkenauer, is that a fair way to decide . I want to see money targeted in the best way to get the solutions that we need and we need to be cognizant of the fact that we dont have an endless pot of money and i am cognizant of that and that is how i have operated in the house. Our state is the number one state to had all these disasters. It comesenauer when to how much needs to be spent, we have to have the priorities first and it should be narrower than what we have seen come out of the house. One place i have differed with my leadership because of the fact that i wanted to get something that we can find Common Ground on. Republicansts and in d. C. Net to get out of that corners and get something done and that is something we have been advocating for, uplifting the story so people know what is happening because at the end of the day, it is more than dollars, it is peoples lives. A couple of quick items on the pandemic. Should vaccines be mandatory . Rep. Finkenauer we need to listen to the experts. Vaccine,ally get a which i know we are hopeful for, as soon as possible, we also need to make sure it is safe in that it goes to the proper channels, so that is something i would have to listen to would you oppose a Vaccine Mandate . I think we need choice in that regard. That is a definite issue here and people being and power to take care of their health care during this challenging time, i would like to see that choice up to the individual. Angela merkel in germany required masks in public. Do you think that u. S. Should have a Face Covering mandate . Rep. Hinson what we have seen is a lot of local leaders doing that but everywhere i have been going, i wear a mask because i think it is the right thing to do to protect my family and constituents. I think the local businesses have taken this into their own hands and iowa. I dont know of a single business that has not already had a requirement that you wear a mask going in. I respect our local leaders and if they have issued a mask mandates, i hope more people wear masks. They are not enforceable in iowa according to the attorney general. Another issue facing our society and questions surrounding facial justice. Racial justice. How do you want to improve the Racial Climate . Rep. Finkenauer one of the things we did following George Floyds death was start having tough conversations. Conversations that i should have been having as a congresswoman a long time before then. One of the things we did, we brought the Waterloo Police chief together along with local leaders and activists and started having those conversations about what changes do we need to see . Specifically things like bsns bans on chokehold. When we were having that conversation, the police chief was updating his use of force as we were doing at. Totop of that, when it comes Racial Justice and policing, it is more than just policing. That about making sure when it comes to health care, black Maternal Health care is something that has been overlooked for too long and i am appy to work with congresswoman on a number of issues, but also education and mental health. That was one thing i got out of that conversations. They should have happened a long time ago and we have more work to do besides the Racial Justice parts. Rep. Hinson we have had tough conversations here, we have lead on this issue nationwide bypassing bipartisan bills due the house, the seven it the senate, the governor signed it and they were Uncomfortable Conversations but we stepped up and had them. I am in favor of law enforcement, support line enforcement, and i am against police brutality. We need to be clear on that. Ids to defund the police when we are experiencing some of these challenges, i think that is a radical idea. I dont support defunding the police. Congresswoman, i would ask where you are on this issue because we have not heard a lot from you on this. I think we need to have tough conversations Going Forward. I am going to be at the table and betty do ready to take action. Rep. Finkenauer i do not support defunding the police. Need toright now, we make sure there are enough funds to have proper training. That is one of the bills we worked on, the justice in policing acts. I want to say thank you to represent a hinson for voting representative hinson. The black caucus did an incredible job but i was happy to see that that day. It was one of those moments where i think we need to see more of that in government, democrats and republicans getting together on something that we should be able to come together on. The charges being made against you is you say you are for Border Security but you voted against funding for construction of the border wall. Hypocritical in playing both sides of this . Rep. Finkenauer it is not both sides. I support securing our borders and some of the best ways to do that is through technology and here is the other thing. When we talk about our borders, it is not just our southern borders, it is our points of entry that have not had the funding they should have for a long time and it is one of those things where we need to make sure that we are cracking down on the drugs coming into our country, and human trafficking, and one of the best ways to do that is investing in technology. Everybody says they are for immigration reform. What are you going to do to make it happen . Rep. Hinson first thing i want to say, i challenge you on that, what you said about your support and not being hypocritical because you voted against the bill that made sanctuary cities illegal and you voted for an amendment that provided health care for illegal aliens. What would you do . Rep. Hinson what i would do is first approached the h1b see h visa program. I have talked to Business Owners who need these reforms so they can expand their businesses. We have seen a pandemic that has thrown some curveballs the growth we were seeing to the growth we were seeing but we are going to get there again. That would be the first step i would do, i would work on the h1b visa before and we need to focus on our worker pipelines and that its a Great Partnership in making sure we can do that. Did you care to respond . Rep. Finkenauer when it comes to keeping our communities safe, i listened to our sheriff and Police Officers when it came to the bill you are referencing. , they end of the day spoke to us and we do not have sensuality cities in iowa and they said yes we do not have sanctuary cities in iowa and they said that bill would cause so much fear and communities that when there are folks who are scared or wanted to report something, they would not do that and it would make things worse for their communities. Lets circle back to health care. You did not get to answer the mask mandates question so lets cover that. Rep. Finkenauer we should listen to the experts and the experts are suggesting that every person wear a mask to cut down on the spread of this. Day, i want tohe go to Football Games and i want to be able to have our businesses open and have everybody feel safe, have our kids feel safe in schools, but at the end of the day, until we get this under control it is going to be a bids, even when we get a vaccine, we are going to have to take precautions. We need to make sure folks are being as safe as possible so we can get our economy back on track and have arcades feel safe in school. Courts rule that the Affordable Care act unconstitutional what would you replace it with . Rep. Hinson we need targeted approaches but i dont think we can repeal and replace until we have a plan to cover preexisting conditions. Suffered for more than a decade before she passed away so covering preexisting conditions is a priority. It is clear the Affordable Care act is not doing what it intended to do which was lower premiums. We have not seen that happen. They have more than doubled since 2013 and that is unaffordable. They should not be deciding between paying health care and paying for food or medicine. Happenwould like to see is targeted fixes on administrative costs, working on getting generic drugs to market faster. Ondont need artificial caps costs, we need to talk to pharmaceutical companies to balance getting new drugs to market and get those lifesaving medications invested in safe ways to our consumers but they also need to be affordable. Your party, you hear people talk about medicare for all, the public option, which is what your nominee has been an advocate of, and to hear people who want a single pair system. Rep. Finkenauer i think we need to add a public option, give folks the option to buy into medicare. Not only would that ensure that every person in our country has health care they can afford, it also drives competition in the insurance marketplace as well to drive down premiums. It also ensures that if you have coverage through your employer, you are able to keep it and i that ise of the things one of the biggest issues we are seeing even through the pandemic is the fact that this administration is going after the aca. This will put people out that have preexisting conditions, 42,000 iowans that have preexisting conditions and if this administration is successful, they are going to be paying more and not be able to afford coverage. You have talked about repaying your student loans, you still have college debt. President trump has frozen the repayments until december. What can or should the next congress do to address the student debt issue . Should it be forgiven . Should it be part of it written off . Rep. Finkenauer Student Loan Debt is something i worked on since i was in the statehouse. One of the ideas we have and have been working on and have a bill coming out shortly has to do with targeting forgiveness of student loans, looking at even population and how do we make sure we are attracting more people to states like iowa into our towns that have lost population . It would be a targeted approach where you would qualify for forgiveness because studies show that if you are in an area for over eight years, you are likely to stay. We can be smart about how we do this and encourage employers to also match forgiveness and attract more people. I have friends i graduated with that have moved away and want to come back home. They are getting married, having kids, and want to find the opportunity but are still paying off Student Loan Debt and be have to give them options. Rep. Hinson i dont believe in wiping away debts, it devalues the people who have saved money to invest in their education, but also college is not the choice were everyone and im not going to ask everyone who is working a 12 hour shift to take money out of their paycheck to pay for someone going to college when they did not choose that path. I think we need to incentivize employers like they might pay for a graduate degree, maybe that is a tool where they can write off some of that to incentivize employees to stay. I agree with that for the longterm but i do not believe in wiping away the debts, people need to be invested in their education. College is maybe not the right choice for everyone but we need to have those conversations before people borrow money. 52 of young adults are still living with their parents. Some people point to income inequality and the difficulty in the job market spread how do you solve that problem . Do you raise the minimum wage . Do you change other policies . Rep. Hinson what are we what we are seeing in this state is jobs in search of people up until march and i believe we will get there again. In iowa toe our part create incentives to create jobs. We had people paying well above minimum wage because they had to recruit people. I believe in letting that marketplace out. That is where we need to be with the ppp and other programs, they are going to survive, we are going to get more people in the workforce. That is what we have done in iowa over the last decade. Rep. Finkenauer the last time we raised the minimum wage in iowa was when i was in high school. 7. 25 an hour and i heard representative hinson talking about people having to pay over the minimum wage to attract people, i sure hope so. Au cannot raise a family on 7. 25 an hour. We have people working 40 hours a week or over that who cannot afford rents, who are struggling to feed their families, who are working their tails off and cannot catch up. One of the things we should be doing is looking at minimum wage but also making sure that we dont interfere with localities raising minimum wage. Representative faso and, you took away a wage increase for your own constituents. One county voted to raise the minimum wage and in the statehouse, you voted to undermine that to say they could not do it spread the reality was the people on the ground, the local leaders saw that folks needed to be able to compete to live their lives with dignity and respect and not the memo wage is answer either, that would put Small Businesses out of business. Many say they employee people with disabilities because they cannot pay them 50 an hour. You will have people out of work, people replaced by kiosks and machines. A 50 minimum wage is not the answer. We may need to raise the minimum does notounts but it cause the same to live here as it does in san francisco. What you do about federal leave . Rep. Hinson i believe and families having every option to be successful. They areo children, the reason why im stepping up to run for congress and i believe families need access to childcare, access to that time off. Should it be a mandate . Rep. Hinson employers are stepping up to do the right thing but we can have partnerships where people can takew from their 401 k to that time off and have that resource available. There are Creative Solutions we need to look at. A mandate is an extra burden Going Forward. Rep. Finkenauer we need to make sure we are one of the last developed countries in the world that does not have paid family leave for folks who have children. This is something i have worked on, i was trying to get at it if you adopt a child, you are able to get leave and ran into headway after headway because folks did not like the fact that it would be a mandate. You i talking about people being able to spend time with their children and it is the least we can do with iowans and americans. Wade decision,. The Supreme Court legalized abortion but the problem has never been settled in this country. Ashley hinson, you have been endorsed by groups that oppose abortion. What should congress do to resolve this issue once and for all . Rep. Hinson i am prolife, i have two children and i believe in protecting life, it is valuable. What we have seen in our country, we need to be on the side of life. What i would like to see is both sides come together on a contentious issue. We need to come together in the middle and save additional lives there additional lives. Congresswoman fink an hour, you would allow abortions all the way up to pregnancy and i think that is extreme. Rep. Finkenauer i suppose roe v. Wade as it stands and i know and believe that Womens Health care is complicated, it is not black and white and at the end of the day, legislators do not belong in the doctors offices of pregnant women. What about the u. S. Postal service . Many republicans say it should be privatized. Do you believe it should be . Rep. Hinson i value the postal workers who are sending our election mail and dealing with absentee ballots. I dont think we need to privatize it, we need to look for efficiencies. The postmaster has said he is finding those and trying to make sure that they can process all the mail going through and make sure they are being effective. I have faith in the Postal Service and i know there has been a lot of questions about handling the absentee ballots. The absentee ballot mail is only a fraction of the malay post office sees on any given day so i have confidence that they will be able to execute our election. It sounds as if you are ok with the changes that the postmaster general has made. Need to be we looking for efficiencies. Our government has spending problems, we have problems with bureaucracies that get in the way. Of, is what i am in favor finding solutions that get the job done and respect the taxpayers. That is who i am fighting for, the workers who are sending their checks to the state of iowa saying, i want you to be efficient with my money. Why shouldnt the federal government look at ways to make the Postal Service more efficient . Rep. Finkenauer it should not be privatized. Of a part of our founding country that we have a Postal Service that no matter where you live in this country, you are able to receive mail and that is more important than ever right now as folks are relying on bail for prescription drugs, which given the change this postmaster has made, slowed things down. In waterloo, they took out sorting machines. It should not be like this. We are talking about the post office. Carriers, our mail after the derecho, one of the mail carriers, i spoke to him, he was one of the first people who saw people after the storm and i out tim, what are you hearing . He said, i delivered insulin to one women who did not have anything to keep it cold so i went out and got her a generator. The industry has been hammered by the pandemic, the market has collapsed. What is it you can do on this issue that senators ernst and grassley have not been able to achieve width a Republican Administration . Is. Finkenauer the industry one of the biggest things facing our farmers and rural america. It has been devastating for our corn growers throughout with the amount of refineries this administration has issued, it has cost us 4 billion bushels of corn out of production and until the derecho hits, it dropped our corn prices to the lowest in a decade. One of the things we did is work bipartisanly to ask for an investigation into why the administration was asking for these. Why the epa was granting them the way that they were. Whats we are finding out this week is that epa has not been as forthcoming as they should be. Havee going to continue to our farmers backs. One of the things we do is call the white house liaison. We stories we are hearing have farmers dipping into their 401 k s if they have one, my brother and sisterinlaw are farmers, they have a been full of beans what can congress do . Rep. Finkenauer the investigation is one of them and you have to hold these agencies accountable. It is the of the day, epa and the president who asked for the last round of them. More transparency in general and that is what i would do. I would file a bill that puts that transparency on a process. But we would see out of some of these refineries is they are subsidiaries of bigger Oil Companies and we need to stand up for our fuel standards. Senator ernst, the president called her relentless as she continues to hammer home the issue that it is important to protect our fuel standards. I think as we are looking at relief Going Forward from the derecho, we have a problem in iowa. Our farmers cant store the grain that they may or may not be able to harvest. We need to look at those issues to make sure the ethanol industry can bounce back. For theol is better environment then gasoline. As a tool to combat Climate Change first, can we agree that Climate Change is real . Rep. Hinson yes. Rep. Finkenauer absolutely. As a tool to combat that, ethanol would be one. Viable, or would it be destructive . Rep. Finkenauer what we need to be looking at is making sure we are supporting the things that iowans do well. We laid on solar, wind, and on the new a balls. With a carbon tax help . Rep. Finkenauer we need to be doing what has worked in iowa. Rep. Hinson i dont support a carbon tax, i think what we have done in iowa is a model for the rest of the country. Make sure we are doing the right thing to protect the environments. Water quality has improved. We partnered with the legislature and i have been out to see those projects to see the measuring from the input to the output, testing to make sure we are reducing the nitrates in our water. We are doing the right thing and i think we are buddy to step up to take care of our environments. We have way too many questions. You are both good about keeping your answers shorts. China. What we do about china . , yetstill goods to them they are stealing our secrets. How do you propose to deal with this . China has been a bad actor for years. There was a Chinese National discovered trying to take seats back to china to reverse engineer them. We can also be tough on china. We can send a message that we are not going to tolerate this. Their own Data Security program that they want to on demand what we are trying to do to protect our intellectual properties. We need to bring home as many jobs as we can. That is our job, to provide incentives to businesses to bring jobs back from china and many to be tough on trade. Our farmers say it is about time someone held them accountable. Where we that in a way still have a trade relationship. Rep. Finkenauer there is no question china needed to be held accountable when it came to trade and intellectual property but the way this administrative this administration has done iowa at theut target center of who has been hurt the most. When the president issued those 2018, ain april of month and a half later, china came back. Shortterm pain, longterm gain, we are past that. Knowu dont mind, i representative hinson talked about bringing jobs back home. I could not agree more. It is white and congress i worked hard to pass a bill and added to our infrastructure bill to close the loophole that representative hinson voted for that would allow our communities to wash federal dollars and provisions on them that would allow chinese steel into our communities. Rep. Hinson i checked on this, other projects are not using chinese steel and what this it is allowed taxpayers to get five bridges for the price of four. I have faith in our engineers, making sure iowans are getting the best deal and able to have the infrastructure and abridges that they need. Rep. Finkenauer did you all out of the loophole to allow chinese steel on our roads and bridges in iowa and allow rep. Hinson i will local dot makes decisions so they can get our local dot makes decisions. All districts in iowa, why would you be the best member of congress for rural iowa . Rep. Hinson my family has roots in manufacturing. They manufactured products for the road, for farmers, for a number of entities and businesses. I understand the needs of rural iowa because many of those iowans bought products from my grandpas company. We need to listen to ruarl iowa rural iowa. What im hearing is Small Business matters, they need the tools and resources to get the government out of their way in continue to grow their businesses. Why would you be the best for rural iowa . Rep. Finkenauer i grew up in rural america. When the administration has gone after renewable fuel or we have continued to feel the hurt from the trade war, it is my friends, family, and neighbors being affected. When and how we come out of this pandemic is going to depend on who we have sitting in congress and what their priorities are in my priorities are going to be making sure that we get a large infrastructure package done that is going to invest in our communities, create jobs, help fix the bridges in the first Congressional District that our farmers rely on. Againstson you voted the funding mechanism that would have helped contribute to those. The extension, all those projects might not have happened because you voted against the very thing you said you wanted to support and japan on that two years ago. The fact that nothing has gotten done is indicative of the problems in congress. We have seen presented think in our vote with nancy pelosi 93 of the time. Washington is broken and we need new leadership. Rep. Finkenauer i like that she is bringing up voting percentages as you have voted with your party nearly 100 of the time and as of labor day, it is important to remind folks that some of those votes were to go to collective bargaining, went after teachers, corrections officers, folks you are working their tails off trying to provide for their families and you went out of their way your way to make their lives harder. It is part of the reason why i ran for congress because i got tired of hardworking men and women seeing their government make their lives harder when it shouldnt have to be that way and that is part of my values. I question quite a bit of your votes. Those votes most of were bipartisan, almost 90 of them were bipartisan. The collective bargaining bill was a great failed to protect iowa taxpayers and give them a seat at the table. It was important because it had gone in favor of labor unions. When i look at that bill and what we did to protect taxpayers, it was a great policy piece. One of the things that congresswoman is forgetting is a provision to hold that actors accountable so they cant resign and move onto another job. Rep. Finkenauer now lets do walker compensation, where you voted to make it harder for folks who are working 40 hours a week to get hurt on the job to get the fair compensation they deserve. That is one of the bills saw personally to me, my dad was one of the workers, his body got wrecked over the years and the changes in that law were so disrespectful. I think one thing we did was make sure they were in line there were a lot of provisions that laid out specific injuries and what should be paid out for them. You talk about cost, you want to make sure everyone is given the recourses they need to recover from the injuries. It needs to be balanced in the process. You mentioned the state gas tax, did you support raising the gas tax in the state of iowa . Rep. Hinson i supported what they did because it needed to happen at the time to make sure our roads and bridges were taken care of and iowans can drive safely on the vote. Would you vote you raise the federal gas tax or established some per mileage fee . Rep. Hinson the commercial industry is doing a per mileage fee and i think that is a great model but i have heard from people, they dont like government overreach into knowing exactly how many miles they are driving. That is what people are concerned about. I would want to be mindful of that before i supported anything but we have to be serious about infrastructure. However government has a spending problem. Rep. Finkenauer we have to tax large infrastructure bills. We did again for the house, we are waiting on the sun it to come together the senate to come together. My philosophy has been i will have anything on the table. We have to make sure we get this done, it is the best return on investment when you spend dollars on infrastructure and what that means for our communities, how that goes back to good paying jobs. Willing to entertain any idea how we get it done. Colleagues inr the legislature supported changes which they referred to as belfair before and. If you are elected, what welfare reform will you vote for at the federal level . Will you have drug testing, will you require work . Rep. Hinson i think looking for work is the greatest elixir out of welfare. We have taken steps in iowa to focus on childcare and getting people off the childcare cliff. We are looking at all of those solutions do lift people out of poverty. I dont think drug testing in other states, it is more expensive to administer those programs. Im not sure that is the answer but we need to be looking at efficiencies in those programs. Fraud is a problem. Rep. Finkenauer at the end of the day, i talk to a lot if iowans who are struggling, who have been working hard, ate a lot of those folks are in our essential workforce, in the health care industry. , and are not high enough needing extra assistance. We need to make sure that we can help folks lift themselves out of poverty but part of the way we do that is looking at wages, making sure they have opportunity, and looking at Career Opportunities when it comes to training. Lets talk about the national debts. It is exceeding the gross domestic product. Should we be worried and what steps should we be taking to address this . Reduced spending . Increased taxation . Other options . Rep. Finkenauer i am concerned about it, especially when two years ago, i know the bill passed through the house and senate and the president assigned it that attitude trillion dollars to our senate helping those at the top and leaving our working families behind. One of the things i would make sure is any tax policy does not put it on the backs of working families and make sure that folks pay their fair share and we look at things like closing the carried interest loophole and we look at cutting big breaks that the oil industry gets. s favoritestration constituents, given how much they have thrown farmers under the bus for big oil and that is one of the things i would change as soon as we have a senate and president that agrees. Rep. Hinson i think our government has a spending problem, that is why we are in this predicament. Lawmakers before have clearly not paid attention to how we do things in iowa where we spend less money then be taken and that is my philosophy. I would support you do based budgeting to be respectful to taxpayers and departments have to justify why they need what they need. Congress has failed in oversight and that is something i would casket myself with, making sure we are being smart with our budget so we dont pile on the stats. I have two children and i dont want to see their future negatively impacted. No matter which one of you wins, you will be the only millennial from iowa in congress. Said, what should we do in this day to attract and keep younger iowans . About 1920, our population started to drop. The torch is being passed, so what do we do differently . Rep. Hinson i was born and raised in central iowa, i was a millennial who left iowa and decided to come back. I love this state and i realized quickly how great we have it here. We have done some things to lead on this issue and iowa. I supported future betty future ready iowa to provide resources and keep people up with the training they need to be successful and have a great career. There was a great Marketing Initiative by iowa and other cities like new york where they showed how affordable it is to live here. We should be encouraging people to come to iowa. That is the direction we should go with policy and encouraging people to come. Shared theauer i agriculture trade and entrepreneurship subcommittee and i have youth that has a space to focus on the ideas of how do you get people to stay in iowa but also get them to come back home . Some of the things we focused on is childcare. We were able to pass a 50 billion Childcare Stabilization Fund that is needed through this pandemic, but also get Creative Ideas of how our businesses are stepping up, how we can aid in those partnerships to make sure childcare is available and it is quality and affordable. We know we have that issue across the country. We dont have much time left. Should the constitution be changed to impose term limits on members of congress . If not, would you support voluntarily limiting yourself . Rep. Hinson i support term limit. What that number is, the congress these two have. A careercome politicians and forget what it wife, a i am a mother, i will never let it be lost on me. Would you personally take any term limit pledge . Rep. Hinson i dont know what the limit needs to be but i dont plan to do this forever. Rep. Finkenauer i dont think there should be anything under the constitution to do x, but i think it is a discussion we should be having, especially as we see the different experience of congress, it is important to have new voices and to be able to have new ideas in both the democratic and republican parties, but i think experience is also important and being able to get things done and knowing how the process works but the way i look at it, im going to serve for as long as is necessary for me to serve where i feel as though as i am adding something. If you are not adding something, you should get outs. We have two minutes left. Boothsrs go into voting or sit down to mark absentee ballots, what you want them to remember about you . Rep. Hinson i would say this election is about choices and congress is failing us. Abby finkenauer photo nancy pelosi 93 of the time. The infighting is unacceptable to me. What i bring to the table is im readied to go to bat for iowa to go to i am ready bat for iowa families. Bat for ready to go to patients who want to get the best care they most importantly, i will fight for iowa taxpayers, i will never forget you i work for. Congress has failed us and it is time for new leadership. Abby finkenauer . Rep. Finkenauer i grew up here in iowa, i come from a family that taught me that when there is work to be done, you say yes and you do x. That is what i have tried to do in congress. I passed a bipartisan bill to help Small Businesses. I have introduced over 20 bipartisan bills, including permanently funding the Childrens HealthInsurance Program so it stops the egg as political football so it stops being used as political football. Condition while being treated at walter reed na he was admitted on friday after testing positive c