Republican representative Greg Gianforte and democratic Lieutenant Governor mike cooney are looking to replace governor Steve Bullock who is running for the u. S. Senate. This is live coverage on cspan. Welcome. And montanas Lieutenant Governor, democrat mike cooney. Welcome as well. We appreciate having everyone here in person. We are safely distanced and ready for a debate. We have a slightly different format tonight. Each candidate will have an initial 90 seconds to answer the question. Afterwards, there will be an open discussion period with a chance of rebuttals and direct exchanges. We will then finish the debate with a 90 second closing statement from each candidate. The pandemic. Montana is seeing a recent spike in covid19 cases. Just today, the states i record 504 new cases. According to covid act now, a group that tracks Coronavirus Infections across the u. S. , we are currently fourth in the nation for infection rate. If elected governor, with there be ould there be you take more drastic measures to contain the virus and what what those measures be . This goes to congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte thank you for joining us tonight. I want to say we do have serious problems, both health wise and economically in the state, and we need Serious Solutions. And i know you expect leadership, not partisanship, from this discussion. My commitment to you tonight is i will focus on Serious Solutions and good dialogue, not petty partisan politics. Also, i want to share with you at home tonight, because before i get into the question i am i want to share with you that if you elect me as your next governor, i will dedicate my entire salary to charity here in montana. This is just one way i continue to serve. My wife and i have lived the american dream. For me, this is about giving back. I want to see Better Outcomes for all of montana. Now with covid, it is a serious situation. We have seen this spike, this is concerning. We need to take action i am encouraged by the work that is going on nationally to get a vaccine in place. Im hopeful we will have a vaccine by the end of the year. I would be coming in office in january. I would hope we have more tools in the box. Weve got to make sure we keep the most vulnerable safe, but we also have to make sure we cure the economic pandemic that has been created as a result of some of the actions we have taken. Thank you. Lieutenant governor cooney. Mr. Cooney thank you very much, and thank you, pbs, for having this debate and for the people of montana. This is an incredibly important discussion right now. This epidemic is crucial. When washington punted this to the states, governor bullock and i started working day and night, making sure we got the ppe for the people of montana, making sure we are getting the testing material so we can keep montana and the frontline workers safe and healthy. I think our strategy works pretty well. We have one of the lowest rates of infection right out of the country. Not too many people are getting infected. We have one of the lowest death rates in the country. Yet almost 200 montanans have died, that is an acceptable. Our unemployment is one of the strongest in the middle of the pandemic compared to a lot of other states. The bottom line is too many montanans are out of work. We need to make sure people are wearing their masks. Make sure we are testing people. Make sure we are using hygiene and keeping away from big crowds. That is what science says will make sure we whip this thing quickly. Getting people back to work. Has voted to cut health care. Theres a case before the u. S. Supreme court on november 10. That case may drive a nail into the coffin of health care, he supports that. Cutting health care in the middle of a pandemic is not what is right for montana in order to get this economy going. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor. We are going to open things up. Chance for some rebuttal, followup and direct questions. We start with congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte i dont know how we got on health care, i am happy to address that. Im proud of my record in congress on health care. I voted consistently to protect people with preexisting conditions, to continue rural access to health care, and to bring the cost down. I took on big pharma to reduce pharmaceutical costs. But back on covid. I think the issue is the actions that have been taken have created an economic pandemic. In the state here, we have lost 150,000 jobs. Many Small Businesses have closed. Recently, i had a story, augustine had to cancel the rodeo. The monday following, four businesses had to file for bankruptcy and may never open again. We need a comeback plan to get our economy opened back up. Thats why i published exactly that. You can find it on montanabusinessplan. Com. It will create more good paying jobs for all montanans. Congressman, covid happens to be a very Serious Health problem. This virus does not care if you are a millionaire or president of the United States or whoever you are. We have lost nearly 200 people in montana alone. That is unacceptable. That is why we need to continue to use the best science, to make sure we are keeping our montana people healthy. We cant open the economy if our people arent healthy. If our customers arent healthy and if our workers arent healthy, business cant be healthy. We need to focus on bringing health to our people in order to bring health to our economy. Thats what im going to do when im governor. Im going to continue to lead that way to make sure we are using the best science. Science is going to lead us down this path of success in fighting this virus. Making sure people are wearing their masks, making sure they are socially distancing. That is what we need to do to get people back to work. Congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte it is a very serious situation. I think everyone would agree that even a single lost life is a tragedy. That is why think from a Public Policy perspective, when i am your next governor, we will focus on keeping our frontline workers safe. Our health care workers. We need to get our schools open backup. I believe we can do that safely. In the cares act that i voted for, we sent 1. 2 billion to the state of montana to help montana reopen their schools, preserve the hospital and rural care. Yet, most of it is still sitting on mikes watch. It should have helped us open our schools. We need to protect the most vulnerable in our senior centers, but we need to go on with our lives. Montanans, i trust with their health from a Public Policy perspective. I think we should keeping the most vulnerable safe, but i thet montanas health and health of their loved ones. The Governors Office should be issuing guidelines to do that. Final word to the tenant to Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney montanans could go to a website and see how that money is being spent. Again, we will continue to work to keep montanans safe and healthy. Congressman, you are not being honest to the people of montana on your approach here. You support herd immunity. According to the science and experts in this country, montana could lose upwards to 10,000 people to get to herd immunity and theres no guarantee. That is not using the best science. I just think this is such a tragedy. When you see the president of the United States and members of the white house and the first family each and every day coming out with more and more cases of this virus, that should tell everybody we cannot let our guard down. We need to be vigilant. And we again will not get our economy going until we have healthy people. As governor, i believe by example. Thank you both. We will move forward. You both alluded to it, the economic part of this recovery. Today, President Trump broke off the stimulus negotiations, saying hes going to address it after the elections. There is no majority support for another stimulus package. It should arrive during our next governors first term. The state does have some oversight and discretion with some of those funds. Our question is what would be your top priority in terms of allocating those funds to montanans . Where do you see the greatest need in this recovery . Lieutenant come i governor, we l start with you. Mr. Cooney we are very fortunate that our state budget was built in the way by the last legislature, democrats and republicans working with the Governors Office, in such a way we are in a strong position as we are in the middle of this covid crisis. A lot of states had to wait in order to do the basic services for their federal dollars. We didnt have to do that. Our budget is strong enough. We didnt get there by accident. We got there because we worked hard, we showed up every day. Working with republicans and democrats. We have a great budget that is going to get us through and we have to be careful about how we manage that budget and make sure we are dealing with it. Again, we need to be focusing on getting people back to work. Making sure we are doing everything to keep people healthy in this crisis. That is how we are going to get the economy going again. I will just say those dollars need to go to main street businesses. Those dollars need to go to people weve been getting money out to meatpackers. Getting money out to people on main street. Weve been getting money into the schools so we can open our schools up safely and healthy. We have been talking we brought a Bipartisan Group of people together to help us build this plan. We are accountable for it. You can go online and take a look and see where every one of those dollars have been committed and spent. That is called being responsible and being transparent. That is how i will be as governor. We will continue that. John thank you. Congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte we need to get our economy open again. That is why i was proud to sponsor and vote for the cares act which got money out to the payroll protection program. We got money to our rural hospitals. Money to our ag producers. When the government shuts down the economy, the government has an obligation to help open backup. I was disappointed that the discussions in washington broke down. There was a bipartisan solution in the house that nancy pelosi blocked, that could have put more money in the hands of Small Business owners. Even before the covid crisis the, montana was 44th in nation in wages. We can do better. Montana deserves better. I was in fort bend and over the weekend and we had a group of about 100 folks in a setting. I asked them how many of you have kids or grandkids that no longer live here in the state of montana . And it was tragic, but virtually every hand in that audience went up. Folks, even before this covid crisis started, we have been exporting beef, grain, and our kids. Ive spent my entire career creating jobs, putting people to work. Im looking forward, our comeback plan lays it out. We need to reduce the red tape in helena. We need to invest in trades education. We need to increase our Processing Capacity for the Egg Community ag community. John now we will open it up for a chance of rebuttals, followups and direct questions. We will start this segment with Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney it is not surprising that talks broke down in washington today, because washington is broken. That is not how you get things done. My opponent has been a part of this problem. He has voted the party line 95 of the time. 95 of the time. That is not working in a bipartisan fashion. I know what its like to work in a bipartisan fashion. That is how we were able to pass Medicaid Expansion by bringing republicans and democrats together. That is how we were able to break the logjam when it comes to infrastructure. Getting a foreign revenue to cities and communities to handle their water and sewer systems. That is how we were able to balance the budget. Only spending what we bring in. That is bipartisan. Not voting the party line 95 of the time. That just isnt what montanans expect from their leader. They expected governor to be inclusive. That is what ive always done, thats what im going to continue to do. John congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte i think we are talking about jobs here and getting the economy going again. Im a business guy. Im a electrical engineer by training. We started a business in bozeman. Our average wage was 90,000. I will tell you, we showed the combined good leadership with the montana work ethic, people can prosper. This is a stark difference between me and mike cooney. Ting cooney got a 0. 0 ra from the Montana Chamber of commerce. Let me just say, that is not easy to do. You cant support a single probusiness initiative, 0. 0. What that means is any particular policy that came forward that might have helped a Small Business, he opposed it. Has has supported over 1 billion in increased taxes for montana. So, who did you trust to get our economy going . Someone who spent their life creating jobs or a career politician who has a 0. 0 rating from the Montana Chamber . John Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney you know that is hogwash. Mr. Gianforte thats what the record shows. Mr. Cooney on my watch, 46,000 new jobs have found a home in montana. Opposed a general sales tax. My opponent has supported a general sales tax. He goes to Congress First of all, he missed more votes than 93 of his colleagues. When he decides to show up, what does he give the people of montana . He gives the people of montana one of the largest tax breaks that millionaires and billionaires himself can take advantage of. 2 trillionns get a addition to the federal debt. Im not going to have to worry about that so much. My kids, my new grandson, and perhaps his grandkids will be the ones holding the belt. In montana, we balance the budget. We make sure we spend no more than we bring in, just like montanans have to do every single month. John final word to congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte mike does not have all his facts right. I want to hes made some serious charges. Let me address them. Majority of the ines i missed congress because Vice President pence invited me to come to montana. They all occurred in one twoday period. And hes right. I voted for a package that gave montanans to billion dollars back in taxes. He has consistently supported higher taxes. I will be very clear. In our debate on saturday, he was clear, his plan is to raise your taxes once again and grow government. If you want higher taxes, vote for mike cooney. If you want lower taxes and you want a stronger economy and more good paying jobs, i would humbly ask for your vote. John thank you both. We are going to move on and Start Talking about montanas k12 Education System. Montana is one of seven states that currently do not have Charter Schools. Charter schools receive public tax money, but they dont have to follow the same rules traditional Public Schools do. The research on Charter Schools shows mixed results at this time. If you are elected governor, would you support the creation of Charter Schools in montana . This goes to you congressman. Mr. Gianforte i probably spent more time in k12 education than anything else in my life outside my professional business experience. Let me say, 90 of students in montana go to Public Schools. We need strong Public Schools, particularly in our Rural Communities. I was in a small town in montana last fall and a young man who teaches high school came to me. He asked to speak to me on the side. Through tears, he told he hadnt had three meals a day for over a year. On mike cooneys watch, montana has the terrible distinction of being dead last in the country in starting teacher pay for our Public School teachers. My priority, it is not because we are not spending the money. Unfortunately, the money we have allocated is not getting to the classroom. As i meet with Public School superintendents, what im hearing is they are like Small Business people, they are tied in knots with red tape. Weve got to get more money to the classroom. I will say very clearly, Parental Choice in education does not work in Rural Communities where you dont have the economies of scale, but i trust parents to make the best decision for their kids in our larger communities. I think more options produce a better result. John thank you. Lieutenant governor cooney. May make itlatet clear, ive always been a supporter of the montana publics will system. Im a product. It has treated us incredible he well. Our Education System in montana is truly the engine for our economy. Our kids deserve nothing but the best. If we are going to prepare the workforce for tomorrow, its going to be because of our public our incredible public Education System. You know, my opponent supports taking money away from Public Education and putting it in private education. Let me answer this question specifically. I dont support taking money away from Public Education and putting it into Charter Schools. We need to continue to invest in our Public Education so our kids are given the greatest opportunity to get out there and compete with anyone, anywhere in whatever they want to do. That is my goal as governor. My opponent says Public Education is a monopoly. Im not even sure what that means. But, he has supported a private school in bozeman. It is a private school that does not allow young people with disabilities to even apply. Our public Education System is the great equalizer. We need to invest in it. We need to continue to make sure it is giving our kids nothing but the best throughout their lives and preparing them for tomorrows workforce. John thank you. Once again, we will open things up for more debate on this topic and we begin with congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte mike cooneys record is not good here. A while backnette and i heard a tragic story. There was a couple, science teachers, and they started to have a family. Because our starter teacher salaries are so low, mom couldnt stay home and raise the family. You know what they had to do . They quit their jobs and moved to wyoming. Wyoming starts their teachers at 50 higher than a starting teacher pay in montana. Theana is dead last in country and starting teacher pay. Its not because we dont allocate the money. We spent a little over 12,500 per student, per year. The classroom of 30 kids is over 300,000. Yet, starting teacher pay is around 31,000 statewide. It begs the question where did the other 90 of the money go . As i talked to superintendents, it is in red tape and bureaucracy. We need to clean that up. John Lieutenant Governor tony. Cooney. Mr. Cooney i am very proud of my oldest son. He happens to be a teacher in the Public School system here. I know one thing, taking money from Public Schools is not a way to try to increase the salaries of starting teachers. We need to continue to invest in Public Schools. Amending thatjust montana have a publicly supported prek system. We are one of six states that does not offer that. If we want to see our people really get good service, if we want to give our kids the best start they could possibly have, we need to have a publicly funded prek program in our Public Schools. As governor, im committed to work with republicans and democrats to take us down that path so we can solve these problems once and for all and continue to give our kids the greatest opportunity to thrive and to grow and to continue to contribute to our montana economy. Mr. Gianforte i think we can do better. That would be my goal in education. My mother was a Public School teacher. Im a product of the Public Schools. Im a huge supporter of Public Schools. The reality is in our larger communities, one size does not fit all. I trust parents to make decisions for themselves. We need to make sure, again, our starting teacher pay is really the critical issue for me. The money is not getting to the classroom. Our goal in education has to be to help every child reach their full potential. Im proud to tell you my daughter, born in bozeman, is now a teacher as well. Attacks because of my mom, because of my daug hter, they heard a little bit but i know we are on the right track to give parents options. To make sure we get more money to look classroom we have the best and brightest teaching our kids. Taking money from Public Education is not the answer. That is what my opponent supports. John we will move onto the next topic which is another area important to montana, the second amendment. Montanas governor has vetoed several bills that would allow people to carry a concealed weapon without having to acquire a permit. That legislation is likely to reappear. If elected, would you sign or veto a bill that no longer requires a permit for concealed carry . We will start with Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney let me make it clear. As a fourthgeneration montana and, i support the second amendment. I support the right to bear arms. I am so happy to have received the endorsement of montanas largest Law Enforcement union. The reason they support me is because they trust me. They know im not going to lie to them and that is really important for the people of montana to know. In montana, we have values. I understand the values people place on guns. We love to hunt, we love to fish. We love to keep and bear arms for personal protection. That is something i absolutely respect and will always respect. In montana, we also take care of each other. We wave at each other in a country road. We stop and help a stranger out of a snowdrift. That is what we do. We also have the value of looking after each other and the safety of our communities. I will tell you right now, i would not support legislation because the Largest Union with Law Enforcement does not support inislation to allow changes the concealed carry law. It just isnt the way we keep our community safe. Do we want people carrying guns in banks and schools . That would make no sense. Law enforcement, they are the best to handle this. Lets leave it in the hands of Law Enforcement. John congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte this is a point of very clear delineation between me and my opponent. A rating from the nra. Endorsed by the nra, the montana shooting sports association, and gun owners of america. My opponent has a d rating. CooneyBullock Administration came out in favor of banning semi an automatic guns. They stood by when local communities adopted ordinances that violate our second amendment. They also stood by when local municipalities started discussing things like sanctuary cities, which was very concerning. I would not stand by. This is a clear point of distinction. Im not sure how much more i can say. I support the second amendment. I would sign a constitutional carry bill if it came to my desk. That is pretty clear. I do want to make up point that was made earlier. In washington, i found many ways to work across the aisle. I worked with anna eshoo on health care for a telemedicine bill. I worked with democrats on bills that would improve rural broadband. I have work across the aisle on bills to reduce prescription drugs. I did that through serving meals. If you break bread together, you can find common ground. I look forward into turning the governors residence into a house of hospitality. John we will open this up again for more debate on this particular topic. Anna i wanted to follow up quick. You guys both answer the question where you are with concealed carry. Is there any type of gun or ammunition that you would is there any type of gun or ammunition you wouldnt support somebody having, a civilian having . John Lieutenant Governor cooney . Mr. Cooney im a supporter of the second amendment. I think what we need to do i have been criticized for doing this because i support Law Enforcement and the ability of Law Enforcement to be making the rules and the guidance they need in order to give their communities safe. Thats where im going to be focusing my attention. That looking at ways of trying to figure out how we are going to keep people from owning guns, and a certain kind of guns or ammunition. I think we need to understand, montana gun owners are responsible. We know that. They own guns to hunt. They own and keep guns in order to protect themselves. We need to respect that. I will respect that, but we also need to look after the safety of our communities. Thats why well continue to work with Law Enforcement and local authorities to make sure these issues are dealt with. That way locally, keeping community safe. Mr. Gianforte we didnt quite get an answer there. Let me say to the people at home, i support the second amendment. It is very clear, shall not be infringed. There are laws on the books that prevent convicted criminals from having guns. I support those, but in terms of your specific question, the democrat platform has been to restrict highcapacity magazines. Governor bullock and mike cooney came out opposed to semiautomatic firearms. I would oppose any measures to adopt restrictions of that type. My favorite meal in washington, when i have people over, is usually montana meat of some sort. Its interesting. Kennedy, one joe of the most liberal members of the house, his first moose steak. That was a way to build a bridge. I dont agree with him on policy stuff but we are friends. Mr. Cooney you just told another whopper. I will tell you right now. I do not support taking away semiautomatics. That is not what ive ever said and you know that. If you really want to know all the lies that congressman gianforte has told, please go to lyinggreg. Com. There you will find all of those whoppers and it is a long list. Please, go and check it out. This is an absolute an outrageous thing he is trying to tell you. Again, you cannot be trusted, congressman. The reason why i got the endorsement by the Largest Union representing Law Enforcement is because you assaulted a person for doing their job and worse yet, you like to the police. You lied to the police to get out of it. That is just not right. That is why the people of montana cant trust you. That is what the people of montana cannot stand about politicians like you. John final word. Mr. Gianforte i will say that was not my proudest moment. I have apologized. And since that time, montana has elected me to statewide office twice. I have put everything i have them to this because i feel to whom much is given, much is expected. To me, this is about service to montana. Theres nothing i enjoy more than being out in our Rural Communities, sitting down with you and hearing the concerns. I hear over and over again the problems that people have with state agencies. Become projectve prevention. Mead one here gator tell that he waited three years for a permit just to move a diversion 100 yards. A Property Owner has spent 15 years trying to get a permit to clean up their site. This makes housing more expensive and it which is livelihoods. We need more leadership. You deserve better. John we need to move forward out and get onto another topic that is very much debated in montana. Anna judge Amy Coney Barrett will most certainly be confirmed to the u. S. Supreme court. So, the potential to overturn or modify roe v. Wade exists. This is a hypothetical question, but what role did you see the montana governor taking in a post roe v. Wade world. Mr. Gianforte it is hypothetical. Even judge merrick said the likelihood of it being overturned is low. Isanswer the question it we have to abide by the decisions of the supreme court. I will be very clear. I have always made this clear, im prolife. I think life is precious and it needs to be protected, but i abide by the decisions of the supreme court. Its important. I think the judges that President Trump has been appointing have been remarkable. Here barretts academics, intellect, her experience as a mom, raising five kids of her own and adopting two more shes a stellar representative for the court. I have been very clear, i support her as a u. S. Justice and i would support the senate to move ahead with her confirmation. We need judges that will stand on the constitution and not legislation from the bench. President trump and his administration now has appointed over 200 judges to federal positions all over the country and we are getting back to what our Founding Fathers intended. Our constitution is the best document ever written by the governance of men. Weve allowed judges to take it and weve seen that affect our forests, our wildlife and other issues as well. John thank you. Lieutenant governor cooney. Mr. Cooney i will tell you, i am concerned about the nomination of judge barrett. Im sure shes a delightful woman and very qualified, but shes made it very clear what her position is on roe v. Wade. I believe a woman should have the right to make the most personal Health Care Decisions in her life and government has no business being involved. My opponent who likes to talk about Big Government all the time once the put Big Government into the most intimate issues that a woman would ever be faced with. That concerns me. Im also concerned about her nomination because she has been outspoken about her opposition to the Affordable Care act. The Affordable Care act, if it goes down if she sits on that case on november 10 which is likely to happen, they could strike down the aca which means Medicaid Expansion goes away. It means 90,000 montanans lose their health care. It means that people with preexisting conditions no longer have the protections that they currently have. It means that our rural Hospital System would put on life support. I guarantee you this our economy throughout the state will be negatively impacted and that will be very difficult. Those are the wrong things to be looking at, especially in a pandemic. Let me just say, i support a womans right to do around to be charge of her own Health Care Decisions. Im so concerned that my opponent and judge barrett are so concerned about taking Health Care Away from people during a pandemic. John thank you. We will open this up again for a bit more debate on this topic. We start the segment with congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte we dont know what the outcome is yet for that. I support judge barretts confirmation, but theres a big difference between a proabortion candidate and a prolife candidate. The Cooney Bullock administration vetoed a bill that would have provided medical from a a baby born alive botched abortion. You heard me right. If a baby was born alive from a botched abortion, i think we should all be able to agree that defenseless little baby should get medical care. Cooney Bullock Administration vetoed that bill. I would have signed that bill. He is prolife. He is not only proabortion, apparently he is proinfanticide as well and that is not a montana value. Mr. Cooney greg, that is over the top. I was going to tell you right now, i support a womans right to make her most personal Health Care Decisions. What you just described, you know that does not happen in montana. It does not. Greg, you are not telling the truth. You are just playing on peoples emotions and that is just wrong. You are running for governor of the state of montana. You need to lead by example. You dont want to do that. You are willing to say whatever it takes to try to get yourself elected. You know that is a baldfaced lie. I resent you saying that. To call me proabortion, im pro a woman making her own decision on her most intimate health care decision. I will tell you, any attempt to take that away from women in montana, i will be vetoing any legislation that will take a womans right to choose. Thatl also veto anything will make it more difficult and put Big Government into these most intimate decisions a woman has to be engaged in. That is what i can do. That is a leadership level provide as governor. Mr. Gianforte i seem to have hit a nerve there. I dont think this is controversial. Giving medical care to a child who is born alive because of a botched abortion. If what mike cooney says is true and it does not happen in montana, what is the risk in signing the bill . We havet is happening, a tragic outcome. And, frankly, folks, not on my watch. Mr. Cooney the risk is putting government into the lives of the most intimate decisions a woman has to make. That is not the role of government. That is what we need to protect. That is what i will do what i am governor, make sure women dont have government breathing down their neck as they are trying to deal with some very serious and tragic issues they are dealing with in their health care. Mr. Cooney at that point, i am more concerned about the child. John we will move on to another topic. That is talking about our public lands in montana. There is an interim legislative committee looking at the wilderness study area and making recommendations on the management of those lands. In the end, this is sure to involve multiple levels of government and the governor could have a role in this. Where do you stand on the possible relief of restrictions on these wilderness study areas . We will begin with Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney i think we need to understand, our public lands are crucial to who we are. We love to hunt. We love to fish, we left to enjoy the clean air and clean water. What is beautiful about it is all of these lands are literally outside our backyard. That is why i have always been a major proponent of our public lands and protecting our public lands from people wanting to sell them off to the highest bidder. I have been a proponent of making sure we continue to have access to our public lands. As a result of my work, there is more a quarter more million access to public land during my time. Im very proud of that work we have been able to do. I will continue to be a champion of public lands. My opponent moved here from new jersey. One of the first things he did was sue the people of montana to block from having access to the galveston river popular fishing site, a Public Access site. He has supported legislation to strip protection from 700,000 acres of pristine montana land, just opening it up to whatever. He supports the nomination of people like the head of the blm. He spent his career trying to convince people we need to sell off our public land. And his running mate has led the legal challenge in the past to challenge our stream access laws to prevent montanans from having access to the waters that we enjoy, that belong to us in the state. I wont let that happen when i am governor. I will continue to be a champion of public lands and work with people to make sure we have access to them. John thank you. Congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte mike does not have his facts right or he just is intentionally trying to mislead you. Let me share what actually happened. Many people have had issues with fwp. Fwp had a surveying error on our property. Unfortunately, it took two years to get it resolved. At no point during that was anybody blocked from access, nor was there ever an attempt to block anyone. I fully support our stream access laws and the principles i followed in congress have followed the direction from the state. The three things i commit to you in management of our public lands is first, we all agree, no one is going to sell the land. That is just rhetoric. No one is proposing we sell the land. Secondly, we work to increase access to the land. This is why i was such a strong proponent of lwcf. I was the only republican to consistently vote for permanent reauthorization of lwcf and championed the great americas outdoor act. Finally, local input is critical he important. When the folks on East Rosebud Creek came to me and said we want to protect this valley and they spoke in unison, i introduced a bill and we got the first wild and scenic river designation in montana for over 40 years. When the people of Paradise Valley came to me, we protected the gateway to yellowstone park. Im proud of my conservation record and i will carry those values to the Governors Office. John we will open this up now to continue to debate and we will do that by refocusing, because i think we went off the trail a little bit. We are still talking about the wilderness study areas and this interim committee, potentially reassessing things as this has been going on since the 1980s. We will start with Lieutenant Governor. Mr. Cooney we have to constantly be looking at having these discussions. I support having these discussions, but i will tell you i will always fall down on the side of making sure we dont lose our public lands, we dont lose our access because that is who we are as montanans. The congressman just said no one wants to sell a public lands. There has been bills in the Legislature Supporting the transfer of federal lands to the state. We all know what thats going to mean. If the federal government were to transfer all these wonderful federal lands to the state, we would not be able to deal with them. And it is being done because people know what would happen is the state would have to ultimately sell these lands. I can tell you, it wont be me. It wont be my fellow montanans in line. It will be rich outofstate people. Friends of my opponent who will be lining up to buy those public lands. That is what we cant afford. To say to the people of montana this is impossible, thats not true. I think i will be a champion of public lands. Mr. Gianforte i opposed the transfer of federal lands to the state. Inave been active congress to promote additional tools to give the state the ability to start managing our lands again. Now we are back into fire season, we would love to have better managed forests. We have a Forest Health crisis in the state. If we actively managed our forests, we would have more wildlife, more habitat, there would be more jobs and less wildfires. I want to address your question on the wsas. These lands have been in limbo for 40 years. The state legislature historically passed a bill that asked that ones that have been evaluated this was a wilderness study area they have been studied and determined to be unsuitable for wilderness but would be returned to the Forest Service inventory for all of their uses. I support looking at that but we have to hear the voice of the local community and do what they wants. John Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney the other thing is, you have continued to support the nomination of mr. Pendley of the mlb. Hblm. He has spent his career trying to convince people we should sell off our public land. He is also holding his job currently illegally. I have not heard you speak out about whether or not he should leave his job or stay there. A federal judge just ruled he should not be in that position because he has not held that legally. I would like to know are you going to continue to sit back idly and let this guy stay in his job, a guy who wants to sell off our public lands . You say you dont believe in transferring public land. Well, you support a guy who does. Montanans deserve to know where you stand on this issue and i hope you will let us know during this program. John final word. Mr. Gianforte the confirmation is done in the senate, not the house so i dont have a say in it. One of the things i will bring to montana when i am an governor is relationships i have built with the department of interior and department of agriculture. I had a guy in the northeastern part of the state, a rancher who had been grazing his cattle on a wildlife refuge that was managed by the department of interior. Had a bureaucrat get out of line. He called to get a grazing permit and it turned out they told him that the habitat biologist at the u. S. Wildlife service was deemed nonessential so they would not allow any cows to graze this summer. This is back in march. I made a quick call to the secretary of interior and explained the situation. Im pleased to tell you that sometimes you can apply grease to the gears. I got a call within an hour saying the Wildlife Service called and said they cleared up the paperwork. One of the things i will be able to do is advocate for montana back in washington with this administration and these agencies. John thank you. We will keep moving and talk about montanas Energy Development. Anna the current decline in coal seems more to do with capitalism than regulations. Not only is electricity, natural gas, wind and solar as people are cheaper than coal, it is now cheaper to run a solar or wind plan that than coal plants. Is coal on the way out, and if so, should we be doing something to support communities that stand to lose so much during this transition . Mr. Gianforte i was just in caloal last week. Coal is important for our future. I supported all of the above energy policy, coal, natural gas, fossil fuels. It is important we have a diverse space and i think the market should sort this stuff out. We currently do not have a level playing field. There was a war on coal through the prior administration. You are right. There are some Economic Issues facing coal right now but we need to come alongside the good people because it is a montana issue. Power, thebaseload power that fills in the gaps when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining that allows the light poles to come on, we are going to end up like california. We see the tragic outcome they are facing. They have been pursuing this Green New Deal which is advanced by my opponents party. It doesnt work. Were seeing brownouts and blackouts across the state. Montana has more coal than any other state in the country. Ive met with the japanese building new plants. They want to source montana coal. Unfortunately, Washington State has been obstructing the construction of a coal plant. I think it is a violation of the interstate commerce clause. That same governor, governor inslee has been raising money for my opponent. He of course will not support coal. John Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney you know, i grew up in butte. Butte electrified this nation by its copper production. Montana, i am proud of montana being an energy giant producer in the past with our oil and coal and gas resources. It has produced a lot of good jobs for montanans but we have to look at how this market is transitioning. It is transitioning to cleaner energy. We need a governor that will help lead that transition, understanding that, yes, theyre still going to be Coal Production and oil and Gas Production in the state but its going to move to a cleaner energy because thats where the markets going to be. My fatherinlaw had a saying lead, follow or get out of the way. This is the opportunity for montana to lead us into this new clean energy, where montana will continue to be an energy producer. An energy giant in this nation. That is what im committed to do. The people of montana can rest assured, we are going to continue to be developing our Natural Resources but we are not going to stick our head in the sand and not develop our solar, our wind capacity, our geothermal capacity. I have talked to people throughout the state who have great ideas, new technologies. We need to be leading the way, creating new good paying jobs, helping people to transition from the old economy to the new economy. Thats what the state of montana can do to be a leader to get us in another strong position. John thank you. We are a little bit over on time so one followup without Energy Development and we will start that off with congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte we need to be focused on American Ingenuity. Without the pundits were saying we are going to run out of oil and then American Ingenuity invented fracking. We are now a net exporter of oil. Just for you folks at home, that means national security. Secretary perry, the former secretary of energy, said when we export our energy, that is a little bit of American Freedom going around the world. When our trading partners have to buy our energy from folks that are not our friends, americas less secure. Im thrilled with what that has done to our energy. In coal, i think one of the things we discussed with secretary brouillette was carbon sequestration. I think theres things we could do to capture the carbon and use it for Additional Oil recovery. We are not very far away. I think American Ingenuity will continue to allow us to develop and make all of these sources cleaner because we need to protect the environment as well. John final word to Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney as we make this transition, which we need to make because this is how we will keep montana an Energy Producing giant, just as we have been in the past. We can continue this great tradition we started a long time ago. Making sure that montanans have access to good paying jobs. We need to make sure we are training that workforce to move into this transition. Thats a partnership that the state can to. The state does not create a lot of jobs, but the state is a partnership or entrepreneurs and our Business Leaders and the people who are creating jobs. Thats what i want to do as we make this transition because montana does not have to give up its standing as being in energy producer. We will be a cleaner, Better Energy producer for the world and for the rest of the United States. We can get there. It just takes leadership to get us there. John we are now near the end of our our, so we want to hear final thoughts from each of the candidates, closing statements. We will begin with congressman gianforte. Mr. Gianforte first, thank you for joining us at home tonight. It has been a pleasure to spend some time with you. Let me say in closing, i think much better is possible. Lets review quickly the last 16 years of democratcontrolled in helena and what we have gotten for it. Even before the covid crisis started, we were 44th in the nation in wages, and our kids and grandkids have to leave to find better jobs. We are dead last in starter teaching pay. Since march, 150,000 people have lost their jobs in montana. We are the second highest in the country in a number of kids in foster care. These are little kids without moms and dads. We are in the top three nationwide in terms of suicide and we didnt get a chance to talk about the meth epidemic tonight but we have to get our arms around this to get our communities healthy and get families back together. Under mike cooneys administration, we have seen a 36 increase in Violent Crime in the last seven years. This is a terrible record. Frankly, folks, you deserve better. That is why we put together our comeback plan. It is available at montanabusinessplan. Com. It is about getting the economy going, getting people back to work. We are ready to roll up our sleeves on day one. I would humbly ask you as you consider who you vote for, i would humbly ask for your vote as ballots go out this week. God bless you and thank you for joining us tonight. John thank you. Closing statement now from Lieutenant Governor cooney. Mr. Cooney thank you to pbs for putting this together. I want to say when governor bullock and i were working hard to save Medicaid Expansion, i was working with members of both Political Parties to make sure montanans continue to have access to health care and we were protecting our rural Hospital System throughout the state. Thats how we do it in montana, together. Toether, we expanded access over a quarter million acres of public lands in montana. Together, we expended health care to 90,000 montanans. 46,000 new good paying jobs have come here and found a wonderful loan in montana. You know, im here to predict the last best place for future generations to come. Tonight, youve heard two very different visions for the future of montana. I will always show up to work with republicans and democrats to tackle the toughest issues. My opponent has missed more votes than 93 of his colleagues in congress. He has even profited from the pandemic. As i am trying to fight this virus as a help an economic crisis, he sees it as an investment opportunity. Im running for governor because i want to protect our public lands. He wants to block them. I am running for governor to drive done help their cost. He is running to strip Health Care Away. Im running to create good paying jobs. He created a business by outsourcing american jobs. Together, we can work on these programs, we can work on these problems together. I will be happy to be your next governor. I ask for your support. John thank you. That will wrap things up for us. Thanks to both of the candidates in the Campaign Staff are making tonights event possible. Anna and from everyone here at montana pbs, thank you for watching. Good night. Theontana pbs vote 2020, montana governors debate. Production support was provided by i honestly will tell you, i dont think when the dust settles in this election it is going to be whether america becomes more republican or more democrat, whether we are more liberal or more conservative, more red or more blue. I think the choice in this election is whether america remains america. As joe biden has said since he entered the race, it is about the soul of our nation. Who we are. What we stand for. And maybe, most of poorly, who most importantly, who we want to be. Wash the Vice President to debate between Vice President mike pence and senator Kamala Harris live wednesday at 9 p. M. Eastern from the university of Utah Consulting city. Watch the debate live on cspan. Listen live on the cspan radio app and go to cspan. Org debate for live or ondemand streaming of cspans debate coverage. Theres also a link to each debate questionandanswer. See social media feeds on debate happenings and reaction. Watch archival video from the cspan video library. The competition is on. This years cspan studentcam video competition. Middle and High School Students will be the star of the National Conversation by making a five to six minute documentary exploring the issues you want the president and congress to address. Show supporting and opposing points of view. Include cspan video. Prizes, in total cash including a grand prize of 5,000. The deadline to summit videos is january 20, 2021. Be informed. You will find coveted rules, tips and more information on how to get started on our website. Studentcam. Org. Electionestimony from officials and voting experts on misinformation in the 2020 election. Held by a house administration