We are providing low income Student Access to affordable internet, so homework can just be homework. Cox along with other Television Providers getting you a front row seat democracy. The debate to be rhode island hospice next govnor. Daniel mckee and his republican challenger took part in the event hosted by the tv station. This runs an hour. Nbc 10. Welcome, here we are, the last debate before the election. I want to think our host and our candidates. Number one, republican, ashley kalus. Welcome. And governor one an interview, this is not a series of questions, this is a debate. Perhaps we will touch gloves and then go at it. I am here to set the table, i am not running, you two are. First question. Governor mckee, today, you described ashley kalus as threatening, demeaning, and hateful. Some have suggested she is a liar and evil. Actually, i your part, you have covered called the government the governor incompetent in general. Do you stand by all of those remarks . I know politics is nasty, but you two have raised the bar. Ms. Kalus he trapped children in failing schools. He is under fbi investigation for a contract that was supposed to be for covid learning loss for children that he gave to insiders. He has given out corporate welfare to for a Minor League Soccer team. And has built out a corporate developer for the superman building. He has given 3000 bonuses to buy votes, and 60,000 raises for two insiders. That happened in the same week that hell out there to be an election to be rate hike to 47 which hurts seniors and working people. Host we will get to all about. Do you take anything back, the names you have called the governor . Incompetent, corrupt, etc. Ms. Kalus i think that is a good summary. Host how about you, governor . People and a liar, do you stand by all about . Gov. Mckee i think it is despicable behavior that we have heard over the last several days. I think the issue why that ms. Kaylas has run a dishonest campaign, and she is wrong for rhode island, when she talks about she says i am under investigation, which is not true. Our own attorney general has said that her approach in advertising is unfair. Ms. Kalus in a statement, he said you were under your state and federal investigation, he has the state attorney general. What i am talking about is a federal host investigation. Let the governor finish. Gov. Mckee i think it is unfair the way that she has approached the accusations. It is shameful, and wrong. I do believe that ms. Kaylas is wrong for the state of rhode island. Whether it has to do with a womans right to choose or gun issues or development issues. He asked. She is wrong for rhode island. I think her behavior is despicable. Host let the record show, you stand by everything you said. Ashley kalus, you made news of a text sent to a contract you are fighting in chicago. Pretty strong language. I have heard that before. We are not clutching our pearls. There is one issue where you used a phrase that some people are seeing thought as a homosexual slur. Ms. Kalus this is a cd sick cargo contractor. The contractor made inappropriate statements to women in my practice. You should have seen what he said to me. I will not be taken advantage of. In business, sometimes, you need to fight. I, unlike the governor, the taxpayers will not be taken advantage of. Mr. Mckee has taken advantage of the taxpayers and his actions, and his policies, in his giving out contracts to golf buddies and giving out corporate welfare to private developers instead of taking care of the people of rhode island. What i said is, there was some language back and forth. The guy is not a good guy. That is what i meant. Host you took exception to that, you mentioned that. Gov. Mckee there is a pattern here. Illinois, Police Reports, whether it is with disruption in terms of interaction with people that do work for ms. Kaylas. Kalus. The reason that she came to the state of rhode island was a covid contract. She paid herself hundreds of thousands of dollars during that timeframe. He mismanaged the contract and it was not renewed. When ms. Kalus him personally attacking me hold on, he personally attacked me instead of running on his i am here to have a conversation about policy. I understand there is a pattern here, a governor who is incompetent, a governor cannot release the test scores because he is afraid of the political consequences. He cannot ensure that children get to school. He cannot ensure that the buses get there. This is a pattern of incompetence that hurts people. Hurts Rhode Islanders. Gov. Mckee the contract was removed because she mismanaged the contract. She decided to run for governor that is not a good renovation. The motivation to run for governor is to do good things for the people in the state of rhode island. [applause] over the last 20 months, you have done exactly that. We are a lot healthier today because of the work that we were able to do in my administration. We are also running the lowest on Unemployment Rate this summer in the history of the state of rhode island. There are still good jobs available. The largest surplus in the history of the state, we are buying that for investments in the future. And also, which i think is really important, we have the fastest recovering economy in the northeast, second in the country. Rhode island no longer has to be that state who is first we are proving that right now and over the last 20 months, with my administration, we have reversed that entire issue. [applause] host we dont have to applaud everyone. We have plenty of time to flush out all the topics. Dont feel like you need to get everything in. The initial question was, you called her demeaning and threatening and hateful gov. Mckee in terms of the way she has been involved with certain confrontations with people over her career that we know of. What we know about her is not very much. When i am in my office, my family is in with me, my kids are there with me, i think before i choose my words. I think how you conduct yourself in a respectful way with the people that you work with and the people that work with you is really important, and i do believe what we have seen is despicable behavior. Host he is laying you out, but there is a pattern. You saw the allegations that you kicked a pregnant woman. You say this Police Report is false. Other incidents along the way. Ms. Kalus that is what somebody does. It is a career politician thing to do, when you cant run on your record, you try to personally attack your opponent. If you have no vision for the state, you will go into personal attacks. What i can say is that he has the sort of leader that cant even enjoy credit. We worked together on vaccination and renewed my contract three times. Together, we should celebrate that success. In terms of the other items, the reality is, this is a governor that his action showed that he is trapping children in schools. If he felt that things were better, he could release the test scores. He did not do that. That shows a level of political calculation that hurts children. I have heard from so many teachers that say they cannot modify their curriculum because of the scores are delayed. I have heard from parents that are waiting to create an iep that says this is hurting their child. What dan is doing is, through his policy, he is hurting individuals. He is not the sort of leader that is good with ideas. I gave him the idea of the elections host we will get to that. Today, governor, some tough questions from the boston globe. Is your administration under investigation . How would you like to frame that . Gov. Mckee there is a review going on. [applause] i have been asked the question whether i have been involved in that review, and i havent. That is all the taxpayers and voters need to know is the fact that i am not [booing] host there will be no heckling, you will be asked to leave. Last time i will say that. Gov. Mckee every decision i have made has been in the best interest of the state of rhode island. In terms of record, lets talk about record. Host before we do that, you say you is not under investigation your administration is . Gov. Mckee if you want to get answers from them all i can tell you is that i have done everything in the best interest of the state of rhode island. I do go along with what the attorney general says. The accusations that are coming from actually kaylas are unfair, shameful, and wrong. The accusations coming from ashley kalus. Ms. Kalus if dan has nothing to hide, he should release the subpoena. [applause] if you trust the people of rhode island, which i do, release the subpoenas. Will you do that . Gov. Mckee the answer is, i have already answered the question. If you want to get more information, go to the people doing the review. I am telling you right now that every decision i have made was in the best interest of the state of rhode island. Lets talk about what i have done the reason why we procured that contract and by the way, we did not do anything that did not follow protocols, that was done exactly the way it is spelled out. There is nothing there that they will see that will see me involved in anything then the best interest of people in rhode island. It is important why we did that. What we are hearing is that we know, not only did we open up the economy, we had to open up our school safely. That is exactly what i did during the first 30 days in office. Make sure that our schools were open up safely. We vaccinated every teacher that wanted a vaccination. We made sure the schools were saved for the kids to go back to school. We know there is a learning recovery that is going to need to be tackled. That is what we are doing when we talk about doing the work in the schools and outside the schools. Anybody who says any differently is being dishonest. I have got to nail this down. Host you say you are not under investigation, but your administration is, by the fbi. That appears to be a fact, are you disputing that . Gov. Mckee as far as what i am doing, that is what is important to the voters. The fact of the matter is that i have not been contacted, i will not be contacted in any way that makes me in a situation where im going to have done anything other than what is in the best interest of the people of rhode island. Ms. Kalus so his ministration is under investigation by the fbi. He believes he has done nothing wrong. What i would say is before the election, please release the subpoenas. The target of the investigation is usually the last to know. I think it is in the Public Interest that you release the information. Be honest. Host lets move on to education. Some people are calling for the scores to be released. Have you spoken to Higher Education commissioner today . Do you have any scores, or any news for us . Gov. Mckee i got a brief yesterday by the commissioner. They are getting prepared to release the scores. They will do it on their schedule when the scores are ready. We know what is going to happen, it was confirmed yesterday. Our scores on reading logo slightly down, math scores will go up. We know if there is a recovery here that we need to make sure to work on. That is what we are doing. Vaccinating the teachers, putting 300 million into new schools. That was out of the budget that i passed to make sure we are investing in our schools. This is the record. Did you see the scores . Have you been briefed . I just told you that the reading scores will go down. I just told you. [applause] slightly down on reading and math scores will go up. Host reading is slightly down, math goes up . We are right in the same range of massachusetts gov. Mckee we are right in the same range of massachusetts. Ms. Kalus what i will say, based on his record, the first debate that we were in, he looked into the camera and told the people of rhode island, parents, that the vendor had not delivered the scores. And then, later that week, we found out that was not true. So, the governor does not have a good record of being forthright. What i would say is if you have the information, officially release it. The other thing that i would like to point out is the fact that the last time the scores were delayed, the only other time, was during an Election Year for governor. That was with gina. Holding scores hostage for political reasons is not acceptable. I understand that the governor often bows to pressure, maybe that is what it is. We have delayed the release for weeks at a time now. That hurt individual children, and her teachers, and it is frankly unacceptable. When i am governor, the scores will be released september 30. If the current vendor cant do it, i will find someone that can. [applause] host we are taking a lot of time on this. We can have after that, gov. Mckee i didnt have the scores then. When the commissioner has this information, it will go out. Not before, not after. Host when might that be . Gov. Mckee before the election. I would expect. That is the call of the commissioner. We have been briefed, reading will go down slightly, math will go up. We are in the position to do what i am talking about publicly. We will meet or exceed massachusetts outcomes on or before the election. [applause] host i am pressing you for a number or a ballpark range. Gov. Mckee i think a couple points on each. Host lets move on. They want to know about free tuition in college. Would you vote in favor of free tuition of some sort for a place like this . Ms. Kalus i favor incentivizing and supporting public education, which means Higher Education as well. I support programs like dual enrollment. I benefited from that as a highschooler. I was able to complete a lot of college during high school, that released the overall cost of college. I support that. I also support making it easier to borrow and less expensive and incentivizing the choice of public universities and the state to do that. Gov. Mckee higher and is very important to us. That is why we are increasing and asking people to vote for a bond. We will invest in our schools, invest in rhode island colleges as well. I believe that by me making the College Promise permanent, and i signed that legislation a year ago, it is very important. At rhode island college, we are rethinking what it will be. We are working regularly together, looking out i hope scholarship that will hopefully be put in place. And that is a real thing. Something that we are going to invest in and we will make sure that the cost that rhode island colleges is controlled and affordable. Host the students here submitted a specific question. Can you commit to working in earnest with the General Assembly to pass the hope scholarship, to give College Students the same opportunity as a ccr i to attend college for two years tuition free. Gov. Mckee before you ask the question, we are working on the hope scholarship. Host they want something a little harder than that. Are you yes or no . Gov. Mckee what i am saying, the hope scholarship is going to help the juniors and seniors. Ms. Kalus i will work on it as well. I would like to do it, i would have to work with others in order to get it done. I can say that i understand the need to lower the cost of college education. I made choices in my life and in my career do to student debt. Some of my friends didnt have student debt, they were able to do anything that they wanted without thinking about what that meant for them in terms of their student loans. I want to provide that same equality of choice. If we do not make education affordable, we really are not providing a level playing field. Host moving to housing. Today, you have a plan on Affordable Housing. What is Affordable Housing . Housing for the seniors, housing for a certain income level, housing for the homeless . Gov. Mckee homelessness to transitioning into housing, to fair market value, we need to make sure we are investing in housing. 250 Million Dollars historic investment in Affordable Housing , that could be applied to those categories between homelessness and workforce housing. We are working on a plan right now, the transition teachers and nurses into housing on campus as they graduate so they actually can afford to work in our communities and state. Housing is critical. 166 Million Dollars today was announced that it is going to be put in and leveraged into housing throughout the state of rhode island. Not only that, we put in 85 million. Develop a 25 units months ago. Those are already in place. [applause] that housing will happen in 17 different communities. We also put in a funding stream that is going to be an annual funding stream in the budget that will provide millions of dollars every single year Going Forward to address Affordable Housing as well as the workforce housing. No one has done more than we have on this issue. We have a secretary of housing and place right now who has passed with that, making sure that we execute this stuff. The good news here is the federal ballot that we appropriated had to be spent within a three year timeframe. This is going to be happening, we are ready to work on the issue. Host he says he is executing and spending, will you do more . Where do you stand . Ms. Kalus we are different, he talks a lot about spending money, but i ask for a return on investment, results. Whenever i will invest taxpayer dollars, i will ask, how many units are we getting and when . We have a housing crisis, it did not happen overnight. It has been over a decade where we have failed to build housing. Right now, we are short more than 20,000 Housing Units and we need over 30,000. I have committed to building 10,000 units a year so we have 80,000 units at the end of my second term. The way we need to get there is we need to take singlefamily dwellings and convert them to multifamily units, and we should financially incentivize that. Also encourage accessory dwelling units for seniors, as well. The other thing we can do is we can make sure we take advantage of federal money matches for Affordable Housing. Right now we dont do that. We need to match federal dollars with state dollars in order to incentivize developers. The other problem, the one that got us here, we need to make our regulatory and zoning environment less complicated. We cant have a developer come in and take a number of years to do a project and then start building. What you will get from me is somebody who has goals, who has standards, and will get things done. [applause] host that is a large promise of homeless. There is a homeless shed up at the statehouse. Should that should be taken away . What if the truckers want to put an 18 wheeler in their . We will get to that in just a second. Mayor hopkins says, he doesnt believe the governor when he says he is not going to put up a village of 400 of them. Would you commit to keeping those sheds or anything to do with the homeless out . Ms. Kalus people are cold and they are sleeping in the cold and the distrust from the mayor comes from probably the fact that it is election season and people dont trust what he is saying. I was at a homeless march, this was a number of weeks ago. There was a request to ensure there is immediate shelter, especially as we went into winter. There has been no action. What happened last year, with the hotel, there was a need immediately, and then the relationship with the community and the way in which it occurred needed made it so that was no longer a viable action for shelter. The governor had a year. Instead of building relationships with the community , he delayed and he does not get involved until there is an emergency. The problem is that somebody could get hurt. If you do not have Community Input from the beginning, then there are going to be objections from communities. What i will say is that i will ask our cities and towns to remember that our homeless are people. There is a measure of compassion. What you will get with me as a governor is someone who will ensure there are Wraparound Services and Community Needs are met. I would at each community to do their share and help. Host the folks at the pontiac village, they also say we have had enough. Ms. Kalus my answer is, i am sorry that the governor has failed to include you in the process and made this process one that is not up to [applause] [applause] host lets follow up on this. Gov. Mckee i was communicating with mayor hopkins today. We communicated with him prior to this going public. We have included mayors, we have weekly meetings with them, sharing this information that we are talking about tonight. The fact of the matter is that we are moving. Take a look at the last 20 months. We have announced and are in construction for a 25 units that we have announced in april. Those are real units. We have been meeting with the amos house, with crossroads, on the issue of homelessness. 350 new beds by thanksgiving, we will need that level. Have already met over 250 of those. [applause] we will continue to do the work. We have the lowest Unemployment Rate, the fastest recovering economy in the northeast, and that we put 250 million in the budget that i sign on the last day of june. We are actively on. The train has left on this issue. [applause] host i mentioned the shed was put up at the statehouse. Is it a platform for anyones protest . You let the tent stay up there over the last protest for weeks. Kiki we did. We put 5 million towards helping to make sure people had shelter, which has never been done by a governor in the history of the state of rhode island. We put 36 million in the budget this year, we are being very proactive. I have met the individuals that have the tents outside the statehouse. I have talked to them, we have provided them with information that will get them into shelter if they choose. I am not afraid of the demonstration by people who are reasonable about the way they demonstrate. They are. We are meeting with them, and the interaction is real. The fact of the matter is, we have 250 million in this budget. We will spend that on a fast track to deal with housing in the state of rhode island. We are already in motion, ashley kalus doesnt want to recognize that. Ms. Kalus i am a person that likes to work fast. In facts. I was told by a homeless advocate that we need 1200. That 600 short, we are talking about going into november, it is cold in november. That is still short, he did not answer the question related to what he intends to do. He doesnt want the political consequence. He did not involve the Community Last year. We knew this would be a problem. The longterm investment in housing, i support. We need to ensure that we shelter individuals and take care of them. 600 people, there is no plan, there will be no plan until after the election. This is the sort of leader that he is. I will always be honest, as governor. I will be honest and i will be transparent and i will ask these cities and towns to help me figure out the best place to deal with this issue. I believe in working with cities and towns in a collaborative way. Host i am talking to the providers kiki i have Staff Members working with the secretary of housing right out of my office on a daily basis. I get daily updates on the issues. [applause] she just will not recognize most Unemployment Rate, best economic recovery, and the largest investment ever made to tackle the issue of housing in the state of rhode island, i am organizing and all the mayors are meeting with me as well, every community will take a piece of the plan. Also, i was a mayor from valley Affordable Housing, he recognized the fact that as the mayor, i have the first approved state planning Affordable Housing plan in the history of the state of rhode island. [applause] and, if he would acknowledge that, when we converted an entire village in the town of cumberland to hundreds of affordable units. I dont need to be lectured on this issue when i have the background [applause] host let me ask a larger philosophical question. We have talked about Affordable Housing and shelter for the homeless. What we often dont talk about is, what are you doing to people who pay the taxes and drive up route 95 every day and dont get the handout and dont getms. Kalus thank you for bringing up my economics plan. You can look at my website to learn more. What i have suggested is that we need to reduce income taxes for those who make 150,000 or less. If you make 50,000 or less, you will pay nothing. That protects working people. Adjust for inflation, because times are hard and things are not affordable. [applause] when i hear dan say things like, everything is great, we have momentum, we have momentum like the titanic, and families are suffering. I know what it is like. [applause] i know what its like when the bills are so high you dont even bother opening them because you dont pay them anyway. With me, you will get someone who provides immediate relief. Things are not ok. The other thing that i provided, what will happen on the first day i am governor, i will roll back the rate hike, which is hurting seniors, and [applause] kiki what if somebody is making 200,000 . What do you do for those people . 200 and 60 million of tax relief in the budget i just passed. 75 million tax relief for people who own cars. They are not paying any more taxes on their cars. [applause] lets talk about what that means, to not over the people whose cars are in the driveway, but what that means for the small businesses. We have a competitive advantage because i applied thats her place with the General Assembly to eliminate the contact. Lets talk about checks going out. Lets talk about the checks i went to families, 250,000 250 for child. Nobody is talking about it because hundred 15,000 of checks went out, and they all have them. It blew up in some way, it would be all over the news. There was a hundred and thousand people. What about the fact that we ended the taxes on military pensions, they have been trying for 35 years. I got it done. Lets talk about expanding rates were seniors who live in their homes. Lets talk about what i did as a mayor, no senior in my community has to leave the house because of tax increases because they can do for those taxes. Host i got to kiki money that went into the surplus ms. Kalus lets talk about somebody who takes credit for other peoples work. [applause] you took credit for the work that was done years ago. The other thing hold on, the other thing, i am saying lets talk about credit that is not due. He hands out money and does not ask for results. With me as governor, you will find somebody who looks for results. And i will say that i am all over rhode island, talking to people and they are suffering. While there is relief, there is not enough. Families are making decisions about eating or whether their children can participate in sports. There are decisions that are being made. While the governor talks about money from the federal government that will be gone as we go into a recession, what he doesnt talk about is an Economic Policy plan to protect the future of rhode island. This governor is under fbi investigation for handing out contracts, what you will get for me is a plan. He will do anything for special interests. When we talk about what happened in the recession, we need to ensure that public money is spent for public good, especially in a recession. We should have workers building things with their hands for our childrens future, not for private developers. I will ensure that that happens. [applause] [applause] [applause] host you have got after the governor because of the electricity rate. You are completely uninformed and that, he says youre wrong. You said he has the power to stop these rates . Ms. Kalus 40 years ago, the General Assembly passed a law that had to do with supply disruption for electricity. What that law says, there was a supply that threaten the health and welfare of Rhode Islanders, the governor could exercise emergency powers. That was designed for a situation just like this. I cant think of another time in which the health and welfare of Rhode Islanders, it meets the criteria. A private company came in, bought the electricity company, and then jacked up the rates. That hurts seniors, that hurts working families, and we can rollback the rates. I provided him with a 140 page document. It is on my website that he can use. I will give you credit if you give relief to the people of rhode island. I will write a press release tomorrow, saying, thank you so much. [applause] host the new Energy Company came in gov. Mckee the new Energy Company came in and said, we are not making profits, we are passing a law. The public utility allowed this. It is troubling how illinformed ashley kalus is. It is a halfbaked idea. Her plan doesnt save the ratepayer a penny. It just infers that in the distance. It also opens up the state to millions of dollars of litigation. It puts the taxpayers at risk. The plan that we put in israel. There were 5 million that were already put in, to help the 35 lowest incomes in the state of rhode island. I have been with the pfc more times than any elected official has. I was there this year. We asked them what 32 million of funds across the board in addition to that, we asked them to do for the electric bill charge of six months, that will save them more money. In the spring, i asked the General Assembly to eliminate 4 on the tax on the bill. We have to go back to january and get that done. In addition to that, we will put money in to expand the programs, expand it to people not just two hundred 50 of the poverty level, up to 4 . [applause] these plans will not save the ratepayer a penny in the state of rhode island. This plan is 1 million of rate relief into motion that will have impact immediately. She has soft plans. Have your lawyer or lawyers told you it cant be done what have your lawyers told you . It is not inappropriate use of that statute that will open up the state to millions of dollars of tax negation. You dont need that. Youre putting real money on the table. I want to repeat this. Ashley kaluss plan will not save the ratepayers in the state of rhode island one penny. She is deferring expense across 12 months. Over the next 12 months, her plan will not save the ratepayers one penny. It is not being acknowledged. [applause] this issue ms. Kalus he doesnt have any substance behind his answers. [booing] he doesnt explain my they came up with that idea. I walked through the entire process. When he said it wasnt something he believed in, i brought a Supreme Court justice to help him through it. The reality is saying that the lawyers and you ask why and dont get an answer, it doesnt make it true. He keep being a governor is making decisions that dont put the taxpayers at risk. [applause] ms. Kalus being a governor you are putting seniors they are choosing between heating and eating. [applause] he cares about lawsuits appealing the trump [applause] i am host the audience just got the [indiscernible]. I appreciate your fervor. Lets be reasonable. Lets go to trump tolls. You have spoken to the states lawyers, why have they told you to fight this . Gov. Mckee i am not going to give my defense on live tv. When youre actually in a court case, you have to make sure what we are doing right now, we are appealing it. As i have set on the record. On the basis that it was in place and the fact of the matter is that it was appropriate at the time. You make a mistake, you appeal on judicial error. Host if we are not going to lay out the legal case in public gov. Mckee . Biz host i want to talk about why the program is important. Gov. Mckee we have 20 of our bridges in disrepair. We have put in 90 million into roads. We want to drive over clean roads he doesnt want to give you strategy unless the other side took advantage of that. Ms. Kalus why you are going to appeal a law that will be unconstitutional that is very important. I have never gotten advice from my lawyer, especially about a matter that is as big and didnt ask on what basis. He took three debates to prepare for the answer. It is not strategy, it is a matter of an unconstitutional law. He said 8 million unequivocally connected in order to fight an unconstitutional law and he lost. When i am governor, i will not [applause] make no mistake about it. The governor intends to toll trucks and cars. That is what will happen. Host you are saying that based on what . Ms. Kalus his lack of understanding on why he is appealing it. Because the reality is that it is just a revenue play. If he will do this for revenue without knowing the basis to which he is appealing a law that hurts businesses, why would he extend tolls to cars . We cannot trust him to give an answer. Politicians in the past have done the same thing. As soon i he was elected, that was one of the first things he did. You cannot trust him to do what he says he is going to do. Host how come you are not trusting him . Do you have any basis to believe ms. Kalus on the basis of the fact host do you believe if we told cars, trucks would be allowed . Ms. Kalus eventually trucks and cars will be told. When you have somebody who does not that is a fact, that is what happens when you have a spending problem, which is what we have in the state. Mark my words, when i am governor, you wont have to worry about that. Gov. Mckee i am not going to told cars. I can understand the distrust with the Supreme Court decision that took away the roe v. Wade. I can understand that, the distrust is there with the Supreme Court and the womens right to choose. As well as gun safety, as well as the issues that have to do with marriage equality. That Supreme Court, where they testified under oath, they said that would be the law of the land, and then they changed it. If you put your hand up and say it never carved holes, car tolls thats not going to happen. [applause] there has been a big attempt to try to find something saying that something is not true. It hasnt happened yet. What i say here, i say other places. I say to people who dont even like me. I will tell people exactly what we are doing. We wont be taxing cars in the state of rhode island, period. [applause] host just about seven minutes left, we need to be mindful of the time. You can respond, then we are moving on. Ms. Kalus what i would say is that you cannot trust what he is saying, especially if he had a reason, this is a governor that is supposed to protect the constitution here. When he has asked on what basis he is going to appeal an unconstitutional decision, he leaves it up to the lawyers, that is not leadership. Somebody who cannot lead and make difficult decisions is not fit to be governor. Host we are moving on, five minutes until close. Thats keep our answers brief. You support Safe Injection Sites were a drug abuser would be able to go and inject under supervision so that they wouldnt overdose or put themselves in danger of death. Do you support that, ashley kalus . Ms. Kalus i have worked in health care for my entire career, and really pause when i think about keeping that situation safe. I dont know how you would handle that. My instinct is to focus more on preventing and treating substance abuse, and treating it like a Health Care Problem rather than a character problem. I think that is important. It is a medical problem. I would not want to put Health Care Providers or others at risk in an environment that is generally more controlled but not as control. Host you are behind this, it is an experiment, correct . Gov. Mckee we certainly expanded the Overdose Task force. And also a citizen cochair of that committee, i have led the charge with the mayors when i was Lieutenant Governor to realize billions of dollars into the state of rhode island, holding the distributors and manufacturers accountable. Those dollars will help us deal with this issue. We need to take every possible measure that we can. That is one of the measures i believe will be helpful. Host 39 pounds, Different Police departments. What has been done on your part towards regionalization . Gov. Mckee i believe that regionalization it makes sense. We are working with municipalities on animal shelters, Public Safety dispatch. I have been a big advocate for that. I think that regional lysing our Public Safety dispatch makes all the sense in the world. So, lets do it. I think we make sure we understand we are realizing we are saving, not just doing it for the benefit of regionalization. Ms. Kalus on this matter, we agree. I think that if it can save money and we can still provide adequate services, i think we should look into it. Having someone like myself that will sit down and ask the ways in which we can regionalized in a way that is open to suggestions is important. Host how about consolidating departments . Perhaps the dot could take over the Bridge Authority or the airport, there is room for consolidation. What would you think about that . Ms. Kalus when i am governor, you will get the same desire to maintain services while gaining efficiency. I would be open to consolidation as long as it doesnt hurt the services that are delivered. Right now, the governor has an issue delivering services. Being the governor of rhode island is not like being the governor of california. 80 of the job is being an administrator. What you see with dan mckee is a governor that does not have the Department Working well. I am hearing from so many people who are waiting on the phone for hours to try to get through to dhs. My goal will be to ensure that services are delivered in an efficient matter. If consolidation helps us get there, so people know where to call, i would be ok with that. Host i have to cut you off, we have less than a minute. 82 million to help was announced this week. Gov. Mckee we are going you dont manage the largest thirdplace in the state of rhode island surplus. We are managing the state of rhode island, and taking the surplus dollars and investing into the people and projects around the state. These investments provide good paying jobs and that is the biggest remedy to a reading level of a recession. After you get that done it will give us economic opportunities. Host we go to closing arguments by a coin toss. Governor mckee, you go first. Governor mckee thank you to channel 10, thank you to the state of rhode island and those who attended. My wife and i grew up in our hometown, we raised our kids, sent our kids to public schools. We believe in the state of rhode island. As a mayor, i did the same thing. Serve the people well. Our town was in better shape after i left. Over the last 20 months, but we have done to take the state and make it safer. Take the state and make it economically stronger by recovering economic recovery. In terms of opening up our school safely, now we are ready to tackle that issue on or before 2030. I ask each and every person out there to vote for dan mckee. Out for the progress we have made. [applause] we have had momentum like we have never seen before and we are just getting started. [applause] host lets have ashley kaylas closing statement. Ms. Kalus we hear the governor talk about momentum, how we need to stay the course. I have spoken to hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders, i hear the same consistent thing. It is unaffordable to live here. Families are being crushed, seniors are being forgotten, low income Rhode Islanders are being told to wait for relief. We need new leadership. I am uniquely qualified for this job, i am a successful businesswoman who gets results. This election is bigger then anyone person or party. It is about vision for rhode island. Naming rhode island stronger for the next generation. If you are satisfied with your childs education, the economy, roads and bridges, tolls, high utility rates, and you dont mind fbi investigations, you have your guy in dan mckee. If you believe we are on the wrong track, you want a booming economy, highpaying careers, Affordable Housing, safe streets, and safe schools, now is the time for new leadership. My name is ashley kaylas, i humbly ask for your vote. Thank you. [applause] this election day, november 8, will republicans retake the house . Can democrats control the senate . From now until Election Night follow coverage of house and senate races. Events as they happen on tv and the cspan now out. Demand on our website and find out data rich collection page on cspan. Org campaign2022. Our campaign 2022 coverage contins today on cspan where former president donaldru campaigned in florida for republican candidates at 5 00 p. M. Then President Biden is in westchester, new york for an event at westchesterew york in support of governor kathy hochul at 6 00 p. M. The Campaign Events are available to watch on the go with the cspan now video or online at spam. Org. Cspan. Org. Tonight onto a day, data journalist eric says Elliott Morris shares his book strength in numbers that examines Public Opinion polling going back to the 19th century and the accuracy of opinion polls today. Predicting donald trump had a 30 chance of victory in the 2016 election, not because National Polls would be wrong, but the race was close in key states. I wonder if every person in the media had understood that 30 as meaning that these polls, if you have three elections, three, they will be wrong one time. You have a pretty good chance that the polls, that the losing president ial candidate could end up winning. I wonder how the tone of the campaign would have been different, what the people wouldve thought would happen. Elliott morris with his book strength in numbers tonight on 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan two monday. Q a. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government funded by these Television Companies and more including charter communications. 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