Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2022 Georgia Governor Debate 20221018

With brian kemp winning the race by a 2 margin. Up next, the first of two scheduled debates comes courtesy of the Atlanta Press club in georgia public broadcasting. Lets meet the candidates for this debate. They are in alphabetical order, Stacey Abrams, and democrat. Attorney and former state legislator. Shane hazel, a libertarian is a veteran and podcast host. Brian kemp, a republican is the incumbent governor for the state of georgia. Now lets meet our panelists. Jennifer bellamy is an anchor for 11 alive in atlanta. Craig is a political reporter for the atlanta journalconstitution. And Chuck Williams is a reporter with wrbl in columbus, georgia. For complete rules visit the Atlanta Press club website, Atlanta Press club. Org debates. To start the debate, each candidate will be asked to questions. Candidates have 60 seconds to answer each question. Chuck williams you get the first question of Stacey Abrams. Miss abrams, Public Opinion polls in our state show support for the right to abortion, Medicaid Expansion and banning assault weapons. You are on the side of Public Opinions in each of these issues. Yet, you were behind in almost every poll, why . Ms. Abrams thank you for having me and i appreciate the opportunity to address the community of georgia. The reason people on my side are because im on the right side of history and on the right side of the issues. But we also know that polls are snapshot. The question is, who are they taking a picture of. When i go across the state, the people im talking to are excited about this election. They also know they are often left out of the conversation. Students who have found themselves struggling to finish college because they dont have access to financial aid. Families that are struggling to decide between food on their table and health care costs. Families facing rising prices and everyone ive met is afraid of the gun violence in the rising violence in the state. I do not believe that im behind, i believe i making the case for georgia, the case for electing me as the next governor because the current failures we have seen in the state are not only damming, they are disqualifying. Over the next few years we have an opportunity to change the trajectory of the state and i look forward to leading our state forward. Donna its your turn to ask a question of brian kemp. In recent weeks, two recordings have surfaced in which you left the door open to questions about whether you pushed to get emergency contraceptives and whether you pack a statewide ban on the distraction of embryos. Can you tell us whether you push for these measures or any other additional restrictions on abortion now that the 2019 law is in effect . Gov. Kemp no, i would not. We were at Many Campaign events, secret recordings, could not understand the conversation going on, but thats not my desire to do that, georgia and should know my desires to continue to help them fight the 40 year high inflation and high gas prices and others rains at our georgia families are facing right now. Quite honestly because of bad policies and washington, d. C. From President Biden and the democrats who have complete control. Working with the georgia General Assembly we have been able to work to help give some relief to people despite whats happening in washington, like giving an income tax credit back to our citizens, cutting taxes, suspending the gas tax for since march now, 800 million of relief or our hardworking citizens. That is what my focus has been on and is what it will continue to be on. Donna jennifer bellamy, your question for shane hazel. Jennifer georgia seems to be struggling right now and dealing with how to legally take on the issue of cannabis in this day, what do you think needs to be done . How should georgia address the issues surrounding marijuana . A Perfect Question for a libertarian, we believe that cannabis is a plant that grows from the earth naturally. In the hubris of the federal government has shown in making a schedule one drug is holding patents on it which is laughable. It is a right of people, it is medicine, it is something that we can add to our industry here in georgia and really displays a lot of what comes in from outside of georgia. This is a huge win for georgia. We have a great agricultural sector, we can grow two bumper crops of cannabis every year. The idea that it is still illegal in that brian kemp has talked about this and tweeted about it and its a good thing when we make cannabis bus only, is a real sign that the government in georgia is using it for the prison industrial complex, for the Law Enforcement complex to go after communities that would like to see freedom in this area. So its a right. Thats how we see it as libertarians. Donna thank you very much. You have a rebuttal . Donna i would like to make sure gov. Kemp i would like to make sure people at home know that i was doing exactly what i said i would do that i was campaigning for governor. We have been going after street gangs and drug cartels. So what we are tweeting out there is when our great men and women in lawenforcement are making our drug bust not from recreational use, but thats what my focus is on. Donna greg, please ask a question of Stacey Abrams. In 20 you did not since succeed to the governor. This election do you commit to except the outcome of the vote guard this of what it shows . If you stand by use of words like riggs to describe the States Election system question mark ms. Abrams in 2018i began my speech on november 16, acknowledging Governor Kemp won the election. I then laid out in great detail the challenges faced by voters under his leadership as secretary of state, including the 10 plus two who were arrested in georgia because they had the temerity to use absentee ballots. I told the story of students denied access to the right to vote, even though they were duly registered. 80,000 complaints had come in by that day and it took four years of federal investigation and a lawsuit that was the longest running Voting Rights lawsuit in recent history that proved us right. We did not win every single claim, but we force net massive changes to election laws. Unfortunately brian kemp and Brad Raffensperger decided to restore their greatest hits. Just today a homeless woman was denied the right to vote in Forsyth County because she did not receive a provisional ballot because she had been challenged. As governor, i intend to stand up for the right to vote. I will always acknowledge the outcome of elections but never deny access to every voter, because that is the responsibility of every american, to defend the right to vote. Donna rebuttal, 30 seconds. Gov. Kemp ms. Abrams is going to do a lot of attacking of my record tonight because she doesnt want to talk about her own record. In 2018, and the governors race we had the largest africanamerican turnout in the country. She said this in a built 202, our recent elections integrity act where we passed two years ago would be suppressive and trim jim crow 2. 0. Just this past may and our primaries we had record turnout in the republican primary and the democratic primary. In georgia, its easy to vote and hard to cheat. Mr. Hazel as a libertarian, although you will push for people to have access to go into the bowls and voting, are not pushing valid access. This is a huge oppression for people like the third parties and people that want to get people on the ballot. 20 democrats, 20 republicans in the state of georgia, that leaves 60 percent of people in georgia unrepresented by Ballot Access laws that both of them support. Ms. Abrams i cosponsored legislation to expand Ballot Access because i agree with you that thirdparty should have better access to the right to vote in the state of georgia. I cosponsored it with one of our independence in the state legislator. But lets be clear about out Ballot Access and voter access. Brian kemp was a secretary of state and he has denied access to the right to vote. We know that the right to vote is the only way that we can make the changes we need in the state. The only way we can make the changes we need in this country. Whether its access to the right to abortion, the ability to take care of our families, we need a governor who believes in the right to vote and not in voter suppression, which is a hallmark of brian kemp leadership. Gov. Kemp with all due respect, i was called out. I want the record to reflect as my time as secretary of state, im the person that created the online Voter Registration system in this state. Where any georgian kid vote, register to vote 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For someone to say that we have been suppressive in our state when we have seen turnout increase over the years, including with minorities like africanamericans, latinos and others, is simply not true. Again, ms. Abrams is going to lie about my record because she does not want to talk about her own. Donna we are going to move on here. Jennifer, your question for brian kemp. Jennifer several hospitals and medical Centers Across the state have announced or gone through with plans to close their doors, leaving a gap in care and reduction in services at a time when our Health Care Workers are already suffering from burnout, from increased demand and workload. Many are now facing care that will be delayed or unavailable while the States Capital will soon have only one level one trauma center. What will you do to ensure georgians have access to Critical Health Care Services in hospitals . Gov. Kemp i would remind voters at home there is also hospitals being built across the state new options for people for health care. The amc situation was something thrown on a lot of political leaders, including me. But instead of complaining about it and doing the blame game, i went and worked with Fulton County, with the cap county, with democrats to come up with a solution that puts state resources into grady, to health, to make sure people have the access in the care that they need in our state, and im committed to continuing to do that in the future. Donna shane, chuck, you get the final question mr. Hazel, you ran for congress in 2018, that was four years ago. Less than 30 of the room boat in the republican primary. What happened between then and now that made you a libertarian . Mr. Hazel i actually came back to my roots as a libertarian. We believe in freedom. We saw with the Republican Party was and what the Democratic Party was. They were forcing cores and. No matter what they talk about they are forcing coercion. Whether its need for hospitals, taking guns away from lawabiding citizens, it is always force and coercion at the point of a gun from the democrats and republicans. To look at life through consent, we can all have transactions, we do it every day in the private sector, 99. 9 of us go throughout our day without raping people, without murdering people, without whining guns at people to take their property that is not with the government does under republicans and democrats. Thats why i became a libertarian, this is why we are going to send this thing into a runoff. And if people were really looking for something to change, he would vote libertarian. You send a message to both of these parties because one of these people will most likely be the executive in a rigged system that you want to be more free. Donna that concludes the first round of the debate. The candidates will now ask a question to each of their opponents. Candidates will have 30 seconds to ask a question 10, 60 seconds to respond, and the candidate who asks the questions will have 30 seconds for a rebuttal. A random selection, brian kemp, you may ask the first question to Stacey Abrams. Gov. Kemp as many people know, i have over 100 sheriffs endorsing my campaign, several which are democrats. My question for ms. Abrams tonight is how many sheriffs statewide have publicly endorsed your campaign . Ms. Abrams what you are attempting to do is continue to lie that youve told sony times and i think you believe its the truth. I support Law Enforcement and did so for 11 years. Worked closely with the sheriffs association. Im probably the only person standing here who ever has written an sop for a Police Department when i worked for the city of atlanta. I have two brothers, one who has committed crimes and i want his victims to call the police and get the help they need and ive always supported that right. But i have another brother who has faced being pulled over for driving while black when he was coming back from his job job as a social worker. Unlike you i dont have the luxury of relying on slogans to describe my position on Public Safety. I believe we need safety and justice because i love both of my brothers. Like most georgians i lead a complicated life or we need access to help but also need to know we are safe from racial violence. While you may not have had that experience, too many people i know half, and that is why i will always stand up for making certain that safety and justice are the conversations we are having in georgia and the delivery we have is the next governor of georgia. Donna 30 seconds, mr. Kemp. Gov. Kemp i would tell people i support safety and justice in this abrams refused to answer the question. So i will let you know the answer is zero. No sheriffs are endorsing her statewide because of her stance on wanting to defund the police, eliminate cash bail and serving on the board of organizations that supports and gives grants to organizations that are promoting the defund the police movement. Ms. Abrams if i may respond because he actually live there. I do have the support of sheriffs, but unlike mr. Kemp i do not make it my plan to list every person who supports me. I have the support of sheriffs, advocates, big tim scott of those who want to be treated fairly in our system. I have to have conversations with the entirety of georgia. I dont have the lechery of being a part of a Good Old Boys Club where we dont focus on the needs of our people. And that is why my admission has been to put out very concrete plans explaining how i will serve justice, how i will serve safety and how i will serve the citizens of the state of georgia. Donna 30 seconds. Gov. Kemp i would just tell people, i know ms. Abrams is upset and mad because these are things that she said, this is not me making this up, this is things that she said in interviews that shes done and shes sitting on an organization that you could go look at the facts yourself. And thats why the men and women of Law Enforcement want to governor that is going to stand with them, who has been with them, not only to have their back, but also stand shoulder to shoulder on things like civil unrest and going after street gangs and human traffickers. Donna Stacey Abrams, you get the next question for shane hazel. Ms. Abrams mr. Hazel, republicans and democrats have raised the alarm over the rise in the Chinese Communist party and that Company Purchasing american farmland. They purchase more than one million acres of farmland in the state of georgia. Would you agree with mike pompeo that allowing those purchases in the state of georgia is a sign of madness, and would you be concerned about the National Security implications of the Chinese Communist party purchasing this land with the support of the state of georgia . Mr. Hazel i see the set up of this question and i understand why it was projected at me. As libertarians we believe that you and your property and that the state cannot take it away from you and cant sell it or cant determine who you sell it to. The ccp, which is going through its own internal unrest right now, i believe is probably with things like centralbank, digital dollar, which are also coming down to a critical nature where people are in uprising in china. What we need to look at is how these purchases are being made. Are we accepting fiat ccp yuan in georgia as an actual currency . Its about his good as the u. S. Currency, the fiat currency we will have foisted on us in terms of the cbc. I wont tell you or anybody else as governor how or who to sell your property two. And i imagine that in the end, the free market will work itself out. Donna Stacey Abrams, 30 seconds. Ms. Abrams the state of georgia is watching our farmland be purchased by the commonest party of china. It is something we should be concerned about. Agriculture is our number one industry in georgia has 13 military installations. The fact that the state of georgia is working with the Chinese Communist party using one of their technologies that both donald trump and joe biden have warranted is a National Security threat. It should be of great concern to every georgian. It is not about being concerned cynthia about zoning the land, is about how much access to our information they have. Donna you may ask your question of Stacey Abrams. Mr. Hazel i agree, the militaryindustrial complex is a big problem. The fact that we have people trying to come here to get a backdoor into our military, i think one of the things we should be talking about and georgians as executives is the defend the guard asked. Where our military has been used haphazardly around the world to go and take resources from the middle east or my question is who . We already switch gears. I mentioned it as the executive georgia when we come into a cbc from the Federal Reserve, will you, as the executive, except the cc p style currency . Ms. Abrams the conversation about currency as a complicated one. The very Real Security threats with currency, the hacking and mining of that Digital Currency should concern all georgians. As a governor of georgia i will work very closely with the Federal Reserve, but also the innovators and entrepreneurs do see an opportunity. But before we take a step forward that could put us at risk, our responsibility is to understand the complexity of what is happening with these transactions and as exciting as it is, we know its deeply problematic when we do not have the adequate safeguards in place. Thats one of the reasons i ways raised concerns about we chat in the purchase of farmlands. What we know is we need a governor conversant in these issues that understands that for example, in the state of georgia, we have access to 3. 5 billion in american currency that could be delivered tomorrow to save our hospitals and to save our lives. But our Current Governor has refused to accept those dollars. My intention is to do whats best for the state of georgia. Donna shane hazel, 32nd rebuttal. Mr. Hazel working with the Federal Reserve who got us into the mess that we are in right now because of a central rise to fiat currency, it would be worthless. They would be dangling carrots in front of the governor, in front of executives, in front of the legislator to do what their mandates are. If they are mandating that they take the property of people, then they will do it. If they want to invade your homes, privacy, businesses, they will do it because of cbcs. Donna Stacey Abrams, your question to brian kemp. Ms. Abrams mr. Camp, under your leadership there is currently a 100 year gap between minority owned businesses and majorityowned businesses. Minorities comprise 48 of the population, they only generate 12. 2 of the Business Revenue in the state. And under every analysis we have seen, it will take 100 years to close the gap, given the current process you have in place. You served four years of the senate, eight years as secretary of state in charge of businesses in four years of governor. Are your concrete specific targeted plans to decrease and address the Racial Equity cap currently facing contracting and purchasing for minority owned businesses . Gov. Kemp i will remind georgians at the first part of my plan was keeping our stay open for business and allowing all Business People and working georgians to work when Stacey Abrams was criticizing me for doing that. Also pushing to get our kids back in the classroom when again, Stacey Abrams was criticizing me for doing that. A lot of georgians, including africanamericans and other minorities cannot go to work if their kids are not in the classroom. We had the lowest Unemployment Rate in the country for africanamericans. We also were in the top 10 of the states for black entrepreneurship in the state of georgia. So our economy is incredible and we will continue to work with all of those entrepreneurs in the days ahead and working class georgians because we are the ones that have been fighting for you and ms. Abrams was not. We were giving tax refunds, we were doing tax cuts, we were suspending the gas tax to help you deal with 40 year high inflation and she was criticizing us. Donna 32nd rebuttal. Ms. Abrams i would point out mr. Kempton not approve black and brown owned businesses, which is what he refused to do for the last 16 years. We know that 10. 9 billion has been delivered to the state of georgia through two recent acts at the congressional level and brian kemp does not have a plan for making sure that people of color have access to those contracts, access to purchasing. It was only in july this year that he acknowledged there might be a problem. He has said that we need to study. I would tell him to cheat off my paper. I know the answer. We need a governor who believes in Racial Equity in the state of georgia and i will deliver. Donna shane hazel, ask your question to brian kemp. Mr. Hazel in 2020 on april 2 you walk down georgia threatening peaceful people with forcing coercion. You called people and georgia nonessential. And it killed millions of jobs. You met the need of big pharma and pushed a vaccine that was untested on people and has killed people. They even lost their loved ones. You allow democracy to invade our businesses and then you had the audacity to brag about record tax revenue. Do you want to say sorry to anybody . Gov. Kemp is that a question . Mr. Hazel do you want to say sorry to anybody . Gov. Kemp i would be glad to talk about my record because obviously mr. Hazel is greatly mistaken. If you look at the executive orders that i signed, we said every business in georgia was essential. There was a few that we ask to help us stop the spread, build ppe supplies in hospital bed capacities because unlike him, i was getting the calls from hospitals saying, we are out of surgical gowns, we are out of masks, we need ventilators, and we were working 20 47 to supply those items while also keeping our economy open in this state. And as you know, i was the first state to open the small parts that we asked to close in our recovery has been as good as any state in the country. We have had to record years of Economic Development because of our business environment, working with the General Assembly, to make sure we are putting georgians first and georgia businesses in georgia workers first, and thats what im committed to continuing to do. Mr. Hazel you shouldve put georgia freedom first. You didnt have the power to lockdown businesses and you saw it in the executive order. It was clear as day. I watch you do it. There is no coming back from this. The idea that the default was to lock down georgia instead of trusting georgians with their freedom to adapt in a time of very changing circumstances, i think is a tyrant move, and i think the left and right are fascist and communist socialist where we are talking about real liberty, trusting georgians with those decisions. Donna brian kemp, you have the final question in this round for shane hazel. Gov. Kemp i would just ask mr. Hazel if he supports the things that we have done because we were working and weve had excess revenue. So instead of doing at our tax money. I dont support it. We get to that point donna please go ahead. Gov. Kemp do you support the tax cuts weve done returning a billion dollars of taxpayer money and suspending the gas tax for georgians to help fight through 40 are high inflation and that Domestic Energy policy . Mr. Hazel libertarians think taxation is theft. Its your money, its your property, you should determine what you do with it. I dont support the fact that you have not ended qualified immunity. I dont support the fact that you havent ended civil Asset Forfeiture of the fact that you havent ended the drug war or nonviolent crime. You havent ended cash bail or noknock raids. You havent implemented the Community Boards and you havent band blacked out cop cars that go after people for more money. Its ridiculous. Deescalation lets see executive leave people alone. Thats my message to both of you, to everybody in the state who wears a badge. Stop going after peaceful people. Donna mr. Kemp, 32nd rebuttal. Is not true. I followed the law in the state. I ran on going after criminal street gangs because i knew there was an issue when other people would not talk about in the media and would not acknowledge it. You look at the amount of fentanyl coming across the border, because of bad porter border policies from this administration. Every governors having to deal with it. I will go after bad people. They are selling bad drugs and killing children and citizens. Free market would be able to do that. Allow cannabis to have handle mental health. Kim i was talking about. Gentlemen we will move on. That concludes our second round for thus joining us. This is the general Election Debate between the candidates. We will go back to the panel to ask questions to the candidate of their choice until we run out of time. As a point of privilege i may ask questions of the candidates. I will determine when a rebuttal is appropriate. I lose that privilege away to ask education questions. Mr. Camp. If reelected, you will push for 65 million dollars, dedicate to fighting a learning gloss, hiring counselors and recruiting teachers to fill shortages. How do you respond to those who say it you shouldve prioritized those academic related issues over laws dealing with divisive concepts, parental law and books in the past legislative and in session. Even those who are pushing for those clubs. In the end they do not have much teeth. Kim you can talk to School Superintendents around the state. We worked with them over the last year and a half year on learning gloss. We have been working with our superintendents and education groups. We passed two pieces dealing with the teacher pipeline. Which is getting more teachers into the system. Her plan is working with higher education, including our hbcus and others to make sure we are getting the right people and of them in the classroom to help mentor our children. This is the next step in the process. We are finding k12 education more than we ever have been perpupil, ever. That is coming off of recession during a pandemic. This includes my promise teacher pay raise of 5,000. We completed and my first full term, despite having to deal with two years of a pandemic and every session. I think it is incredible what we have been doing. We have more work to do, and i am committed to doing it. Moderator shane hazel, would you tell us your Education Plan . Mr. Hazel its to put us in the private sector. The government education is Education System failed americans. We dont understand economics, we dont understand our civil culture, we dont understand a whole lot about what goes on behind the scenes and politics. The idea that we want to privatize everything as libertarians is good for education. Think about walmart having a monopoly to teach her children. Teacher children. Its insane. The idea we do this with a government, it has side effects. We see them on a daily basis. We need to get government out of education and allow parents to seek out the best education for their kids and we also believe they have the responsibility to do so. To help fix this nation, to start here in georgia, get the government and admin out of the classroom and get it out of our lives. Moderator thank you. Ms. Abrams in education, you , proposed a boost in teacher pay, more state paid preschools for lower income children and their families and more. If you win the governors race, you will likely have republican majorities in both chambers. Given what we know about partisan divisions, how will you get your education proposals passed and funded . Ms. Abrams lets begin with what my proposals are george georgia is sitting on a 6. 6 billion surplus. Thats after we put everything aside for a rainy day fund, that is money after we accounted for increases in population, and i want to invest it in our children and in our families. Beginning with making certain we have prek. We have fouryearolds on the waiting list. Ive never met a fouryearold who waits to turn five, but we can solve the problem with the money we have now. We can give an 11,000 pay raise to our teachers instead of a 5,000 raise on layaway. We can increase access to pipelines because teachers dont make enough money to care for themselves and their family. Thats why under this governor, we have a 67 retention rate. Any other ceo who lost 34 of their workforce would be fired. Thats why it is my plan to plan for today and tomorrow. Weve got the money and we have economists in georgia and National Economist to have looked at my plan and they say it works. Check my plan out. It is at Stacey Abrams. Com. Check my math out, it works. Mr. Hazel my plan is to use the revenue we have, we have been open. If she had been your governor, you would not have that excess revenue. She wanted to stay locked out and criticize me when opened up. We have been using this revenue, and will do so in the future to do another income tax refund. Put the money back in your pocket. We are going to a Property Tax Relief grant. One time that helps you with the rise of Property Values and taxes that the counties are not willing back. Moderator if i may respond. This will coat go back and forth. Moderator we have to move on. Mr. Hazel, we have to move on. I am not excluding you, but you did refer to her. We will have her speak first. Mr. Hazel you will take money and property. Moderator we want to move on. Ms. Abrams. Ms. Abrams i urged caution because any leader should privilege of those lives. 38,000 people died in georgia. We had county were ever wanting a hundred residents perish. I urged caution. I urged good math. We have the money in our accounts to do what is right. Not delivered by camp, delivered by federal democrats and is delivered by hardworking georgians who generated the surplus and they deserve investments. The income taxes we hear about that 50,000 people and a half 1 billion. The rest will be moderator moderator hundred 93. Thank you. Mr. Hazel, 30 seconds. Mr. Hazel stolen money from people have property. We have property tax in america as one of the most unamerican things i heard of. There are a lot of us to homeschool because we do not believe in the Government School system. We are fleeced every year to the tune of thousands of dollars. To pay for broken School System we do not agree with. Moderator ms. Abrams mr. Kemp ms. Abrams called madigan. Moderator we will move on. Mr. Kemp the federal money we use right now, its been. Our state was open. We did not have to use this money to backfill state revenues. Which put us in an incredible position to move forward. Moderator mr. Kemp, one of many states. It is disingenuous to claim. We are going to move on. We are going to move on, gentlemen and ms. Abrams. Mr. Hazel i want to go back to the underlying questions. How. You stakeout dozens of policy proposals that will have to win approval including Medicaid Expansion and proposals you outlined. It is likely the legislature will remain republican. How will you win approval of these measures in the face of staunch opposition . Ms. Abrams i do not believe there staunch opposition. I served in the legislature for 11 years. Every day during my tenure, i worked across the aisle to get done. They put my title. I was minority leader. I cannot win unless i worked with others. That is why i got an a rating from the chamber of commerce and the labor award for the same work. The works i do is working with people to find out how we get solutions. Medicaid expansion is perfect. We have 19 hospitals at risk of closure. Joining the six hospitalers hospitals closed under this. We are sitting at 3. 5 billion to kentucky to louisiana because this governor will not accept the money. The resources we need in our state will, when we have leaders willing to work across the aisle to bring our money home. It is more important than that. How do we take care of our families and make sure we are addressing housing prices and how do we tackle the issue of gun violence Customer Account we support our freedom and protector people and we need a governor who can do the math also do the morality of making sure we take care of every single georgian. Moderator Governor Kemp, you have 30 seconds. Gov. Kemp one way we deal with gun violence is to take the bad people doing the shootings and lock them up. Not and cash bail like this abrams wants to do. She has also said the Silver Bullet on health care is Medicaid Expansion, adding 600, 650,000 people. Theres been 600,000 people added to the medicaid rolls since ive become governor and the problem is it is a broken Government Program which the government decide your health care that will kick 200,000 private citizens off their private Sector Health care. Moderator 32nd rebuttal. 32nd rebuttal. Ms. Abrams, you have a 32nd rebuttal. Ms. Abrams Medicaid Expansion will allow 500,000 georgians who are working people to get access to health care. Thats a good thing in a state where we have people dying every day from cancer, from issues with diabetes, issues with heart disease. Number two, then 600,000 people he references on medicaid are there because of the Public Health emergency. When that ends, they will Lose Health Care which will add more people who are on the streets unable to get health care. Under this governor come weve lost six hospitals and have ambulance wait times, and our people need. Moderator we want to give our panel a chance to ask more questions. It is your turn to ask a question. Governor, the democrats control the u. S. Senate for two years. Georgia shifted from two republicans to two democrats in january of 2021. One of those seats was held by kelly a person you appointed to that post. She lost to senator warnock. I do wish she made a different choice when you selected . Gov. Kemp not at all. I was excited about her candidacy and thought she worked extremely hard. It was a very challenging environment in 2020. It goes to the point that in 2020, watching that election, i learned a lot of lessons. A lot of things we had not been doing on the ground game from a political perspective we are now doing. Making sure when we are campaigning, making sure we know what the differences are with the candidates, but weve got to be for something. What im for is doing another billion dollar tax rebate or doing property tax rebates to run Rural Broadband like we had been doing. We started this program long before the pandemic hit. Doing economic developing projects where 74 of the investment of over 34 billion 30 billion over the last two years is going to rural georgia. Over half the 80,000 jobs going with those projects outside the 10 metro counties in rural georgia and im committed to doing that in the future. Moderator mr. Hazel, if you would like to have 30 seconds, you may. Mr. Hazel the state of georgia needs someone who understands econ. The 200 200 trillion of unfunded liability in this country as a veteran, understanding we have a Veterans Health care system that is in shambles. They treat you as a liability and will throw goals at you throw pillows at you every chance he they get and wont actually address your health. Theres no way on earth we are going to expand that to the rest of the 99 of the country. Its a fairytale end it doesnt and it does not exist. Thats why the economy is collapsing because they continue to print trillions and trillions of dollars. Moderator jennifer bellamy, your turn to ask a question. This is for each of you what do you see as the biggest challenge facing georgians and how do you think it should be addressed and what will you do as governor to address that challenge . Moderator lets start with cac abrams. Stacey abrams. Ms. Abrams gang crime is up, gun violence is up, housing prices have skyrocketed, Equity Investors have purchased 30 of the homes in the state of georgia. We have 1. 4 Million People without Health Insurance who cannot see a doctor when they need one. We live in a state of fear and this is a governor who for the last four years has beat his chest but delivered very little for most georgians. He has weakened gun laws and flooded our streets, he has weakened our privacy rights and womens rights. He has denied womens access to reproductive care. The most dangerous thing facing georgia is four more years of brian kemp. We need a governor who understands the math and the morality. We need to understand that we have veterans like mr. Hazel pointed out who cannot get access to health care in part because they are not fully covered by v. A. Benefits and will only get Health Insurance if we expand medicaid. We have seniors who will be forced out of their homes because this governor refuses to address housing prices. He told an audience he did not want to upset investors by giving local authorities control over housing prices, letting them address the issues. Moderator i want to give each of them a chance to answer. Mr. Hazel. Mr. Hazel the biggest problem facing us is the economy, but to quote, the man who puts all the guns and decisionmaking power into the hands of a Central Government and then says limit yourself is he truly the impractical utopian. The idea the economy isnt the biggest problem we have in georgia is because people dont understand economics. These guys dont economic economics from republicans or democrats or we would not be in the hole we are in in terms of trillions and trillions of dollars. Austrian economics where we get rid of this cancer invaded every transaction. Through a fiat currency system. Creating freedom for everybody in georgia is at the default position. Not more government, not more programs and policies, not more point at the barrel of a gun force and coercion. It is freedom. Moderator brian kemp, your answers. Gov. Kemp since i did not get a rebuttal after being called out, to let georgians know again, my record is being attacked because ms. Abrams does not want to talk about her own record. If you look at what the state of georgia has done to raise awareness on human trafficking, going after the perpetrators and supporting the victims as well as working with the General Assembly to get medicaid benefits to birthing mothers up to a year after having that child and other things shows you we value life and care. But in the future, my focus is going to be what it was when i opened the debate and that is helping you fight through 40 are high inflation and disastrous policies in washington dc. I will remind you that Stacey Abrams campaign to be joe bidens running mate. She supports these policies that raise taxes on hardworking americans in georgia whether they promised they would not. We are working with the assembly to fight that by suspending the gas tax and getting your money back. Moderator thank you very much. Greg your next question. Governor, i want to talk about something that came up in the last exchange. You rolled out a new Public Safety plan that offers a crackdown on criminal offenses but doesnt address gun violence. Your critics say your permissive gun policies will only lead to more crime. What do you propose you will do in a second term if you are elected to address gun related crimes . Gov. Kemp we are going after the people doing these gun related crimes. Thats what we are doing going after street gangs in this regard. During the pandemic, when i was talking to people about what we were dealing with, i was hearing from education directors and athletic directors saying weve got to get our kids back in the classroom because we are losing them. We are going to lose a decade of children because these kids we are recruiting when they are 13, 14 and 15 years old to be on the ball field or be on the Robotics Team or what have you extracurricular activity, they are being recruited by street gangs because they are not in the classrooms. Those are the kinds of things we are focused on to make sure these kids are in the right environment. My new Public Safety plan is stiffening penalties for gang members recruiting our children and i believe most organs support that and im committed most georgians support that, and i am working with all Law Enforcement to make a dent there. Moderator Chuck Williams. This is for Governor Kemp and ms. Abrams. Lummis, macon, atlanta and other communities have benefited from a Georgia State patrol task force that has helped augment Police Coverage in those cities and others over the last year. What can be done to make sure local agencies, agencies that are short on officers, can handle these policing duties without having to rely on the state . Moderator as mr. Cap first. Kemp first. Gov. Kemp im glad to answer that question. The crime suppression unit i asked the colonel to put together when i grew tired of local elected political leaders that would not let their local Law Enforcement go after dangerous people during civil unrest that had no chase policies, where street racers and gangs were terrorizing our citizens, i told him i wanted a plan, i wanted to know how much its going to cost, and i want to know he we are going to work with. Its why the state patrol, the department of natural resources, game wardens, the Atlanta Police the Fulton County jail system and the atlanta Police Department, we put a plan together to go after street racers and after violent criminals and have more boots on the ground. Weve done the same thing in columbus, weve done it in macon, weve done in savannah and we will do it where it is needed. We are using funds from the Governors Emergency Fund to help pay for these dollars and thankfully, the general simply assembly supports that because weve been in the fight when others were not. Ms. Abrams street gangs did not shoot six asian women going into a gun store and murdering women in less than an hour. Street gangs are not the reason people are getting shot in Grocery Stores and parking lots and at schools. Street gangs are one part of the problem but we have a governor that has weakened gun laws across the state and flooded streets with guns by letting dangerous people get access to those weapons. Georgia does not have a waiting. , and we do not have universal background checks and one of the few permits we have that stopped 5000 people that should not have weapons from getting them got weakened by this law. As the next governor, my intention would be to get that people who do 90 of Law Enforcement the support they need. They have asked for 136 million to recruit and retain officers. Im the only candidate who has put in place a plan for 25 million in grants, not loans, to go to these local Law Enforcement officer so they can recruit and retain officers so their officers are not working two or three jobs to making ends meet. Moderator before rebuttal, Governor Kemp, hazel you would addon to that. Mr. Hazel you keep going back to guns and i thing its going to be your undoing in georgia. We are going to have less and less gun laws whether its under republicans or libertarians. Libertarians dont believe in any gun laws. We believe you know how to best protect you and your property. The biggest mass murder is government, not private citizens. Most go through their day without doing harm to anybody but people in government with all the guns still go after people with the batch when they shouldnt have to. In college springs, georgia, i introduced the Helios Initiative a one page bill from , decentralization using the constitution made the officers in Holly Springs safer because they dont have to go out there and do not have to harass people of color while driving while black. They dont have to look for drugs, they dont have to do any of these things because civil Asset Forfeiture is the government stealing more than hardened criminals from anybody and everybody in the state of georgia. Moderator Governor Kemp, 30 seconds. Gov. Kemp i would let people at home know the largest, Fastest Growing segment of the population buying handguns and firearms is africanamericans and teenagers. Females. You know why . Because the criminals are the only ones that do have the guns. You have local Governments Holding up concealed weapon permits keeping lawabiding citizens from being able to simply use their Second Amended right to protect themselves and their property and their families. I would certainly support that. Moderator mr. Hazel, you have 30 seconds. Ms. Abrams lets be clear. I believe we can protect the Second Amendment and protect second graders at the same time. That means more people are buying guns, thats because they think its the only way to protect themselves because guns have flooded our streets. These are communities that want to be safe. They dont want to have to carry weapons. I know how to shoot. My greatgrandmother taught me. But the person whos most responsible as the person who holds the weapon and thats why i will quote Ronald Reagan trust but verify. Because of the law brian kemp signed into law, theres no longer a background check for those who have concealed carry permits. That makes all of us. Moderator we will want to move on. 30 seconds. Gov. Kemp there is a federal background check on every individual that buys a firearm in the United States of america. Mr. Hazel which shouldnt exist either. Ms. Abrams thats not true. Gov. Kemp i understand the point youre are making but when you buy a firearm, you get a background check. Moderator mr. Kemp. Mr. Kemp if you purchase weapon through private sale. What lets move on. My apologies. I will allow jennifer to ask the final question of this round. As should i study showed frustration with teachers of covid19. And Critical Race Theory preventing additional challenges in a profession that is still with low pay, slowing interest and people leaving. What would you do specifically as governor to recruit, retain and empower educators in schools across the state of georgia. For each of you. Moderator we will start with you ms. Abrams. Let me apologize to mr. Kemp for interrupting. It is important topic. Ms. Abrams we have a 67 retention in 70 of teachers said they would not recommend teaching to their colleagues. Thats because of low pay, because of overregulation, high stress and they believe they are being told to teach to a curriculum that does not reflect the values and needs of our students. When a teacher is told you have to lie to a child, which is what happened with the divisive language, teachers are not able to teach the whole history of our students. They are not able to tell their children what they need to know. As the next governor of georgia, i will repeal those laws, increase pay and make certain all of our teachers can start and continue through their time, wellpaid and well protected and well supported. Moderator unfortunately we are running out of time. Only 45 seconds. Brian kemp. Gov. Kemp this is exactly why i did the 5,000 teacher pay raise i ran on in 2018. We have a parents bill of rights so parents know whats happening with their kids. Quite honestly, people are tired of their kids being indoctrinated in the classroom. But weve worked with our educators on these pieces of legislation to make sure they make good common sense. I would also tell you people are tired of these issues like not having fairness in girls sports and other things and quite honestly, it has woken a lot of people up. We have to have good conversations like weve done with our teacher pipeline legislation, like we are doing helping 9000 people get fully certified to be in the classroom. Moderator shane hazel, you 45 seconds. Mr. Hazel your question raises a lot of interesting points. A lot of my teachers a lot of these teachers like my own wife has left the profession of teaching to homeschool, to go to private school, to do something outside of this narrative where admin from day federal government and State Government is forcing them to teach things they dont want to teach. They cant stand the administrator that makes six figures. Its bloated and has gotten out of control. We need to nullify property tax and let people get out of the system, allow the private sector to work because before education was put under the thumb of government here, we had some of the brightest, most well read people in the entire world and thats what we need to bring back. Moderator thank you very much. We are running out of time. Thats all the time we have for questions. Each candidate will have 40 seconds for a closing statement. Brian kemp you get the first , closing statement. Brian kemp, let me brian kemp let me thank the Atlanta Press club. When i ran in 2018, i promise to put hardworking georges georgians ahead of the politically correct. I said i would work hard as your governor every single day for all georgians, whether you voted for me or not. Im so optimistic about the future, the lowest Unemployment Rate in the history of the state, the most people working and Economic Opportunity in all parts of our statement of your state, no matter your zip code or neighborhood. Stacey abrams says georgia is the worst state in the country to live in. Marty, the girls and i disagree. Thats why im asking for your vote and support to keep it that way. God bless. Moderator Stacey Abrams, 42nd. 40 seconds. Ms. Abrams brian kemp did make promises. He promised to keep us safe and crime came went up. He promised protect us and yet he has attacked our freedoms. Hes promised to take care of our families and yet the rising prices in georgia arising because he refuses to expand medicaid, he refuses to tackle the Affordable Housing crisis. Hes sitting on 400 million of our money that he will not spend to keep us under rooms and in homes. Roofs and in homes. As the next governor, i want to have more, more money, more protection in our lives, more freedom in our days and more opportunity in our community. I see all of georgia and as the next governor, it is my intention to serve all of you. I encourage you to go to my website Stacey Abrams. Com and know that i asking for your vote am tonight. Moderator shane hazel, you get the final 42nd closing statement. Mr. Hazel we are in changing times. Technology, money, politics are all changing incredibly fast. As humans, our superpower is our ability to adapt to a changing world. This power to adapt our passion and genius is unleashed when it is free. Free from tax, free from government, free from lockdowns, free from government mandates and free from force and coercion. You know best how to adapt and run your life and it is your right to do so. It is time peaceful people are free to take on the challenges we face. Our message is simple its time to leave peaceful people alone. If you believe the government is moderator we have to go thank you. That concludes our debate. We would like to remind voters that election day is tuesday, november 8 and early voting has begun. Thanks to our panelists and journalists and the Atlanta Press club. For more information about the debates, visit the Atlanta Press club. Org debates. Thank you for joining us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] hosted by the Atlanta Press club in georgia public broadcasting. Watch liveay at 11 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. You can also watch on our mobile video app, cspan now or online at cspan. Org. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government funded by these Television Companies and more including comcast. You think this is just a Community Center . If no, it is way more than that. Comcast is partnering to create wifi enabled lists so stents can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. Along with these other televion providers giving you a frontrow seat to democracy