n.e.a. plans to spend $40 million on the midterm elections. "wall street journal," live every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> tuesday, a discussion on infrastructure invevertments with the army corps of engineers deputy commanding general. ve coverage from the another american strategic leadership form and 12:30 eastern here on c-span. >> the 2015 c-span student cam video competition is under way. open to all middle and high school students to create a five to seven minute documentary on the theme, the three branches and you. showing how the branches of the government has affected you and the community. there's cash prizes. .o to student cam.org >> hawaii's democratic debate between david ige, duke aiona and mufi hawaiian man. bercrombie lost the primary. this runs about an hour. >> from hawaii news now and honolulu star advertiser, this is campaign 2014, race for governor live from the conference senator at the university of hawaii cancer center. >> aloha. good evening, everyone. welcome to the u.h. cancer center here in kakaako. early voting is less than a week away. we are down the homestretch, 20 days to go until the eleck. this is the final gubernatorial debate. now you'll notice many bodies here in the audience. u.h. political science students. >> our goal tonight is to keep the conversation going in the right direction. we're hoping the answers will be concise and on point. the candidates do not know the questions they'll be asked. >> and we have students with the aloha in the audyents. -- audience. they have agreed to be respectful and attentive. we welcome the candidates for our debate. first off, mufi hannemann. [applause] duke aiona [applause] and david ige [applause] gentlemen, thank you all for joining you tonight. we know you have seen each other in many forums. we appreciate one last chance to educate our voters. feel free to be seated. mr. aiona you won the draw. i should mention all of our candidateses will have 60 seconds to address the questions. can you identify two programs or policies of the abercrombie administration that you will reverse or repeal in your first six months in office if elected. >> thank you all for being here and our sponsors. i'd have to say the first program i'm going to look at is the hawaii health care connector. i think that is something that i've heard loud and clear from many across the state. i think many in this building have questions -- questioned the valid of it but also the expense of it and the cost of it. the other program that i would look at and although i support it is the early education childhood program that we have right now. as you know, the legislature approved funding and they approved a pilot program, but it's in limbo in regards to whether or not that will be the program of the future. you have an amendment on the ballot, constitutional amendment floor that you're all going to vote for, but the program itself is something that hasn't been approved and agreed upon by everybody in the educational field. thank you. >> mr. hannemann, you also have one minute to address this. >> first thank you to hawaii news now and the honolulu star advertiser for sponsoring this town hall. i want to say to the residents in 08 as we brace for another hurricane, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. and our thoughts and prayers are with the president as he gathers around the world with leaders to deal with the ebola crisis. i will not follow through with the health care -- the fact that we spent $125 million for people to sign up. i would like to go forward and cut our loss s but be sure those 10,000 people are taken care of. i feel strongly about education. there have been cuts. why are we cutting funding for the medical school that we're here in tonight? makes no sense to me. we have a shortage of doctors in our community. we need to restore that funding. also cuts in the education programs. all of those things are something we will work very hard in the beginning to restore. thank you. >> last but not least, mr. ige. >> thank you very much for that question and thank you to hawaii news now for hosting this town hall meeting. it is a very interesting format. i look forward to this evening. i will say a couple things. clearly for me it's about education. it's not so much about repealing as really reemphasizing. it's about empowering schools and really trusting those close to the children to make the decision about how to move the schools forward. i see remarkable transfompleation when we get the right leader into the right school. i don't believe it's a cookie cutter where every school should be following the same step. it's about working with each community and about being willing to make the investments on what they need to move their community forward. i would like to talk about the constitution amendment. i am opposing it just because i don't believe we have the funds. we need a better plan and the private schools are not in the communities where they need to be. thank you. >> thank you, gentlemen. mr. hannemann, you'll go first on this question. it's about the economy from a u.h. student. >> as the cost of living continues to soar, as it gets more difficult for my generation and future generation to purchase a home and find well paying jobs how will you diversify hawaii's economy and attract high growth industries with good paying jobs here in hawaii? >> thank you for the question. i want to -- we have a wonderful opportunity i believe given what we bring to the table in terms of our knowledge, the people that live in this part of the world, in terms our relationships. we need to export our knowledge base industries. take advantage of all of you who are graduating from the university of hawaii and say to the rest of the world we are capable of providing that expert sees, be it in tourism, science, agriculture, astron knee -- astronomy, health. tourism has a trickle down effect that helps small businesses. i'm talking about cultural tuferism, health tourism, health tourism. hawaii is a great place to learn and we can create good solid jobs that will make sure when you graduate from school you have a governor with the right leadership to say come home, stay home and we're going to make this a great place to live, work and play. >> over to mr. ige, how would ou diversify hawaii's economy? >> i think it's fitting that we're sitting here in the cancer center because this building has been at the center of our efforts to diversify our economy. i've been an advocate for technology and economic diverse cation for all of my career, making investments. i've been -- i retired from g.t.e. to take a position in a start up so that i could walk the talk. it really is about empowering -- it's about making and giving our young people the belief that they can be successful. it's about investing in our schools. it's about investing in our university, creating the innovation and auntraw prix nurel spirit. as i talk with people who have done it over and over again, it really is about instilling in the spirit of the young people the belief that it can and will be done in hawaii. thank you. >> mr. aiona, one minute. >> patrick, thank you for that question because i want you to stay home. i want all of you in this room to stay home. it really boils down to this. i'm the only candidate here who a committed to promoting business friendly environment. it is about getting government out of the way of businesses. we need to expand our economy. how do we do that? with our naturally competitive industries? right here, technology. this would be the perfect place for any technology in the industry. why? because we have the location. we have the climate. we have the people. we have the culture. we have everything we need. there's just two things i need for you to vote for duke aiona. we need to cut the cost of living and we need to make sure our educational system is that much better. if we take care of those two factors, i guarantee you any technological firm or company would come to hawaii, they would incubate and they would be that much better. >> thank you. i have another idcational related question for mr. ige. it is about tuition. >> i'm a junior at the university of hawaii and i can barely afford tuition, housing and food with the job i work. if tuition continues to rise, i'll probably have to get a second job in order to keep attending and i fear that my g.p.a. will suffer as a result. can something be done so that college can remain affordable for students not just to stay in school but excel as well? >> thank you very much for that question. you know, this has been a question that the legislature has taken up in the last 12 months and it really has been -- as chair of ways and means committee, i did have the university appear before us. it is something that concerns everyone. we did ask and the regents did vote to have a moratorium on the tuition increases. and our point was what is the reason for you raising tuition? the regents told us we wanted the tuition to be in the median. we told them that's not acceptable. it really ought to be about what you're funding, why you need to raise tuition, why is it that you believe and how would you invest those dollars. would have to say university regents and the -- they have heard the people loud and clear. we will see what the appropriate tuition should be. >> over to duke aiona on rising tuition. >> thank you for the question. first and foremost, i want you to know that i pain with you. i have four children of my own and we've had to go through all of this. we have an innovative program that we want to adopt. it's called early college. it will give high school students an opportunity to grade from grade 9 to 14 and earn an aa.a. degree as well as a high school diploma without any costs. that can cut down the cost significantly if you want to continue. i would throw this out to the university of hawaii because i said this in other forums. i say the problem we have at the university in hawaii is the politicians insert themselves into leadership. i throw this one out because i heard about this one. why we have this as part of our program, if you enroll for this year, 2014, 2015, that tuition is frozen until you graduate four years from now. we can just throw that one out and give them an idea. thank you. >> i support that because it's already existing in the public schools, kaimuki, waipahu, that's a great incentive. i'm the only person amongst you tonight that's actually done a budget for the executive branch. you can rest assured when i send that budget down to the legislature, i will prioritize funding so that we don't have to raise tuition. i said as mayor, the number one responsibility of the mayor is public health and safety. the number one responsibility of a governor is education. it will pain me a lot to see our local students want to come to the university and cannot afford it because they can't pay tuition. so it will have the ultimate priority when i send it down to the legislature i will do as what i did as the mayor of the city and county of honolulu. you go downstairs and you make sure that is not going to be cut because it is a priority and that's what you have from me to make sure that our local students can go to the yuste or community college system. >> mr. aiona you'll answer first. this next question comes from kayla. it's about poverty. >> i volunteer at catholic charets and there are so many families awaiting for affordable housing. i'm really interested, what is your long term plan about the issue of poverty in high? >> kayla, thank you very much for that question. the long term plan is what i stated earlier, opening up high, making it a business friendly environment because for you and everyone else in the state of hawaii it boils down being able to live, work and play in hawaii. if you can get a great education and with that a zwrob that is within this 21st century knowledge based economy, you're going to be able to thrive in the future. so we have two programs i'm going to expand on this later. it's for affordable rental and affordable house how'sing. i'm excited about this. our affordable rental will take 25% -- boom, within six years we've got 2,000 more units for all of you. we're calling this our hope program for affordable homes. it is sim -- simple. by paying rent you can save to buy your home. i will expand on that. thank you. >> mr. hannemann your plan on poverty. >> we need to make improvement in two areas, how'sing and jobs. together we can identify ways in which we can create more affordable rentals and more affordable how'sing and i think that will take us a long way as opposed to the past. in terms of jobs, yes, we want to provide good quality jobs and that's why the emphasis has to be on a governor's ability to grow the economy, to create more jobs, and athat being said was being aid earlier of able to enable young people or people who still want to be in the workforce, jobs that they'll be able to achieve and aspire to -- that takes someone who has the ability to attract outside investment to hawaii to stimulate this economy. we have wonderful as assets that we can put on the table. being a strategic location in the mid pacific area. job training and educational skills will help them stay employed. >> mr. ige. >> thank you very much for that question. it really is about grow the economy. i do believe as governor one of the important priorities is really working to grow our economy. that comes in three specific areas. it is about investing in the visitor industry. it does create the lion's share of jobs in our economy. more than 170,000 jobs are created by visitors coming here. and so it's about being smart. d.c. about opening a second international portal at kona airport so we can attract more international visitors. we do know that international visitors spend money in our economy. it's about the governor being proactive about federal -- the federal budget will shrink over the next decade. we need a governor that's active in pursuing and convincing the federal government that hawaii is a strategic location for investments. and the third really is about is diversification. thank you. >> mr. hannemann, this next questions is for you. it comes from alissa. >> pending the justification that hawaii is an occupied country, how do you address the illegal status of the state of hawaii being that you'll be the executive officer of this illegal extension of american power? >> i really believe that we are part of the united states of america. i appreciation everyone's right for freedom of speech. but at the end of the day i'll stand on the fact that we are part of the united states of america. we have a constitution that we have to defend. for those who are unhappy, let me reach out and try to collaborate with them so we can feel like one ohana. anyone that lives here should always feel welcomed. anyone that comes here should feel welcomed. i think it's important to understand and appreciate that. that's why i said you need to 's w down the native hawaiian effort wanting to build a nation within a nation. there's still a lot of unrest. there's really no unanimity on what that model should look like. lets take two steps back and try to bring them into the circle of discussion as opposed to ignoring them and making them feel isolated. we need to respect all people's views. >> thank you, your time is up. mr. ige, you also have one minute to address. >> thank you. it is very clear that in 1893 a grave injustice was done to the hawaiian people. and we have learned a lot. our community has learned a lot about what occurred in 1893. but we can't go back. it's really about how we move forward. the one thing that became very evident in the hearing -- recent heargds by the u.s. department of interior is that there needs to be more conversation within the hawaiian community itself. there needs to be a broader dialog that includes all of the hawaiian community about all options in moving forward on self-determination for native hans. so as governor i would be looking at helping to define that process to facilitate the conversation amongst hans, but most importantly, this is a significant conversation that needs to include the entire community because at the end of the day, we need to move forward as hawaii together. >> one more minute. >> thank you very much for that question. this shows as a native hawaiian, i understand that for many native hans in their minds, in their sowls, in their hearts there is still a hawaiian kingdom here in hawaii, i acknowledge and respect that. this is why i said in my last forum in regards to native hawaiian sovereignty and goffer nance, i take a native prospective in regards to trying to bring the community together. i think also like my colleagues that -- did not have consensus and was not ready for the community to come together. but it has to be driven by the community. and as a native hawaiian, i want to take responsibility for that. i want to be at the forefront of that. i want to be the mideyateor, the facilitator and bring our hawaiian community together so we can have consensus. until that can happen, that's the only time that we can develop our consensus in regards governance. >> lets talk about g.m.o.'s. >> mr. ige, hawaii has attracted national attention for several proposed law that would limit the growth of g.m.o. at the county level. on the state level in what way do you think g.m.o. products should be reag lated? >> thank you very much for that question. at the state level i believe a couple things. first and foremost, i do believe the state has an obligation to ensure the health and well-being of our community. we have an obligation to regulate pesticide use and to make sure our public and our people know what pest sides and where they're being aplide and to be sure they're being applied safe safely and within the guidelines of what they were intended to do. in terms of g.m.o. labeling, i believe labeling is a federal requirement, that the goost controls how the products are labeled. in terms of growing things, i truly support the farmers. i believe farmers should be engaged and allowed to grow whatever crops they feelst most productive for them. we have lots of state land that we can use between organic farmers and g.m.o. farmers to be sure there is no cross contamination. >> mr. aina. >> i'm of the position that g.m.o. should be kept local. i understand what's been going on with regards to the kauai ordinance and the lawsuit that has been heard and i believe it is with the island of hawaii. i understand that. so eventually it seems like it's going to the way back. when it gets to that level, i think what it boils down to is what do we want in regards to agriculture and food security. are we going to balance it as such we protect food security, we protect our farmers and we make it available to everyone or are we going to limit it? i think the science has been clear as far as what i've seen and up to this point in time i would not be in favor of a total ban on g.m.o. products. >> mr. hannemann. >> i've had a strong history of support for agriculture, dating back to my days -- through the years and even as mayor i was very supportive of agriculture and i support all forms of agriculture. i think it's important to put on the plate in my opinion the science does not support the fact that g.m.o. should be banned. i am concerned about pesticide drift. i think there's certain controls and measures that can be enacted by the department of agriculture. the department of agriculture is the rodney dangerfield of state departments. less than 1.7% of the budget goes to agriculture. so how can you expect them to do these type of enforcement programs or promote agriculture? i want to bring it up from where it is in the back seat, put it up front, support it and if we're going to label, it should come from the federal government so that we are all on a level playing field throughout america and not just high. >> thank you all. lets talk about taxes. mr. aiona. every governor since george ariyoshi has faced a fiscal crisis. if you run into a fiscal crisis, which of these would you put into place first? >> you know, i'm the only one here who's had the opportunity and experience that to have been through something very difficult on the fifth floor in the executive branch. we saw the bottom fall out of the economy. some difficult decisions had to be made. in response to that specific question, obviously what i stated earlier. we need to grow the economy. we grow the revenue that way. i'm not an advocate of growing our revenue by way of taxes. i think you've seen that in the last four years. my colleague to the left has increased taxes by over $800 million. that's just not the way to go. we find ourselves right now in this fiscal cliff that's coming up next year in which we are going to have to see how are we going to make it work in government. when you take it to that level, we'll have the only option of raising taxes but that's not my option. thank you. >> mr. hannemann. >> once again you can make promises but have you actually done it while you were in office? as a mayor of the 13th largest city in the united states, i have to make those decisions, where to cut, where to increase revenues and how to grow the economy. and every year i was a mayor with that great talented team, we had a budget surplus carryover from a low of $134 million to a high of s $423 million. i know how to balance the budget and set priorities. the last thing you want to hear is government is going to raise your taxes. you have to identify inefeshen sees. seeing how we can collectively do things better to help all the counties and the state. but most importantly at the end of the day, make the tough decisions, collaborate with the council to make sure that you have a budget surplus instead of a budget deficit and you're always threatening folks with a tax cut -- tax increase. >> mr. ige, layoffs, furloughs or tax increases. >> i'm the only candidate here who actually had to face the tough decision and for four years i had to balance the budget looking at whether we do increase taxes, lay off people or cut the budget. and i want to say that i was facing a $1.2 billion deficit, another p larger than any of my other candidates here. most importantly we were able to balance the budget without any layoffs. it really was about focusing on eliminating suspensions of taxes, business to business taxes. it was about increasing taxes on the wealthy about being selective on how you would do that. and most importantly it really was about cutting the budget. i've cut budget requests by more than $1 billion. it really is about having discipline. and i've always believed to walk the talk and to look at what people have done rather than what they say and i have four years proven of what i would do to balance budget. >> i guess they couldn't answer none of the above. now time for the candidates to ask each other a question. we've allowed one minute response time as well as 30 seconds for rebuttal. we'll start with mr. aina. your question for mr. hannemann. >> we just talked about taxes, mufi, so how can the people of hawaii trust that you will not raise taxes and/or increase the cost of living but yet you did so as mayor when you raised the taxes for rail and now you're promoting a bigger public project called super ferry. can you explain how you're not going to raise taxes when indeed you did raise taxes for rail? >> duke, you have a very selective memory tonight. i did not raise the taxes. did . the state legislature had to raise the tax. i lobby for it because it really believed that we needed it. i also said that we should have the option to do that .5% for things they wanted to do. you're also missing the fact that your counterpart was a strong supporter. speech, in her initial i'm looking forward to working with the new mayor on a real transit solution for hawaii. don't know what world you're living in back then, but the senator voted for it and a majority of the legislature because we were trying to follow the expressed will of the people. 87% of the people want it. done theou environmental impact study, you would be sailing today. i want to bring that back. that is what we need to do. >> 30 seconds. it's a matter of refreshing the recollection of people not only in this room but the people out there. that you had to approve because if you didn't approve it, it would never be in the pipe right now. the bottom line is this. you, you andone of your children and her grandchildren will be responsible for that tax imposed by the rail projects. talking about a superferry without any identifiable investor. you have a chance to ask a question. senator, for 29 years in the legislature, you have fashioned yourself to be a collaborative consensus type of leader. things have not gotten better. it's gotten worse. a state hospital crisis. we have the highest electricity prices in the nation. the state of our education system needs some budget fixes right now. sure if you can do the job for 29 years, that you can fix our problems as a governor when you go to a bigger and greater job. very much for that question. i would love to be able to respond to it. the only i am candidate here that has passed conference of restructuring of our public school system. i am the only candidate here that has passed legislation that allows the public private partnerships for our hospital system. and really cut budget requests because i believe that is what you, the people of hawaii wanted. easy to say and talk when you're not really responsible for things. to be a leader and take a stand. it is hard to be a leader because it's about making things work. being able to get legislation passed. i am running for governor. >> every time i hear you say i did this, i did this, what about the 75 other legislators that had to help you achieve the things that you said? to thespect public-private partnership, let me be clear. he did not move on a mechanism that would allow those to occur. you can see right now they have two suitors after it, hawaii --ific and kaiser permanente had he done that, we would not have to face what we are looking at now. we will fix that. >> your turn now for questions. >> there have been only two times when the state has failed to balance the budget. the last two years of your diminished ration. andgave us furlough fridays withheld tax refunds from the taxpayer and you stopped paying bills. to do you decide when support and stand by the governor and when to say you are just an observer? >> let me start with furlough fridays. i find it very interesting that the very union that agreed to furlough fridays is now upset about it. why only now? it took to to agree to furlough fridays. this was not a unilateral decision made by governor lingle . in regards to balancing the budget, let it be known that it is the executive branch that submits the budget. that the legislature approves the final budget so any balancing has to go through the legislature. 76, why did heof let that happen? did he let the mechanisms not happen? and why aren't you asking these questions as opposed to me? your incumbent is a that administration would be like the abercrombie administration because he is the lieutenant governor. clear that the executive is the one who is tasked with balancing the budget. -- we passed a budget but it is really about a limitation. they decide when and how it should be spent. is, the only two times in the history of the state of for why he that we ended in the red. they have no strategy on how to stop the spending. they simply stopped paying bills and withheld the tax refund. a a think we are off to pretty good start here, three different men with different styles and a lot of ideas at the table. >> a lot of opportunities to ask questions and we will hear more, maybe even get a cameo from the lieutenant governor. >> we will talk to them after the short break. now, you arei news watching campaign 2014. race for governor. >> running alongside -- you have known them 12 years? tell us something you might not know about your running mate. >> when david graduated from he was accepted at m.i.t. and never told his parents about it because he had a large family and was concerned about his siblings ability to get the college education at the age of 18. how long they'd known each other and he said a long time. >> before duke was great. -- grey. you figure athletes have a lot of rhythm. i don't think duke knows how to dance. i just watched him. >> wow. do you approve that? so much. how long have you known each other? wax over 10 years. we know he can dance and saying. but what people don't know when i have worked closely with him is that he really is a humble, warm guy that cares for people. he is really caring. >> thanks to all of you. >> a dance off might be a good way to settle it. i have a question for all of you. be three of you will benefiting from the state and county retirement program for life. and the state afford to keep doing that? what do you support to reduce the cost of government worker benefits? >> people come to the system and .ave promised certain benefits i don't believe we look to cut those benefits from the past. the city and county of honolulu, they have regularly put in the retirement pension fund. isng forward, i think that where the discussion needs to take place with the public employee unions and the like. and we afford to continue these benefits and the cost that it will take to do that? i expect we can have some good conversations. i've never had an acrimonious discussion with the public employee unions when i was doing collective bargaining at the county level. i just have to recognize with the hope of the legislature that this is something we need to do going forward. >> you also have 60 seconds. for that question again. i have been in the legislature a long time and i am happy to report to you that our pension system is in very good shape today. we have taken action over the last three years to really restructure the pension system to make sure it is sustainable. we have already reduced the benefits for new employees. after june of 2012. we have asked employees to fund the program. you become state employees, you will have to work a little longer. we really felt those employees that were spiking the pensions it really wasn't fair to the rest of the retirees. we have taken action to ensure the pension system is solvent. >> iq for honoring the one minute light. -- thank you for honoring the one minute light. >> it is an unfunded liability right now when you have the health side. and you add the pension side. it comes out to about $27 billion. $27 billion. this is what has gotten other cities in trouble that are bankrupt. we can't let that happen. the only problem i have lived with what the legislature has done is the payments aren't going to stop. that gap will grow even more in four years. we have to do something now. more so, i'm not sure the plan is solid enough to weather some of the tough times that we are going to be facing very shortly. in particular, what it does is if we don't have the revenues to pay up front from just the regular budget, we are going to take it from the general fund. and to get a more specific mr.tion, this will go to ige first. >> i normally leave around rush hour, 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. and traffic has been getting increasingly worse. it used to take me an hour to get to school and now it takes me an hour and a half. a pass so thatt the truck can service the city? ofi am a strong supporter rail transit system. i have been, from the very beginning, from the very first proposal, i was testifying as a high school student in support because insit program believe transit is a .uality-of-life issue it will definitely improve the quality of life. it is basically a fiscal issue. i think we need to let the program run. at the current tax doesn't expire. we need to hold the feet to the fire to make sure they give an efficient and effective system. i am confident it will be a success. here we go again. this is a city project. this is not a state project. here we go. coming back to the state to ask when thecrease that city designed this rail project, they said the excise tax would give the cost of the project. they say it will come on time and on budget. it is not on time and it is not on budget. now they want to extend this? this is what i am talking about. this is the kind of leadership you will have if you vote the same way. raise the gt tax -- g.e.t. tax. no, i would not be in favor of extending it. this is a city project. the city needs to figure it out for themselves. always aas collaborative partnership from the very beginning. that duke lives on that side, this is a community that needs a transit solution. it just boggles my mind that you would oppose it. i think theo say, board and the strong leadership has to ensure everyone that they will do it right. they will be very prudent about the tax dollars we are using for it. it hundred 65 million dollars in contingency funds to take care of some of these expenses that are coming. i think what we need to do is g.e.t. the10% of the state keeps. is $140 million that goes to the general fund. it is a pure out and outrage. they should give it back to the city because we said we needed that .5% increase to fund the rail system. that is a special fund that won't happen under my watch. about gender harassment and comes from nicholas saint cook. >> despite the recent growth of gay marriage, lgbtq are still persecuted in schools. how we further acceptance of these individuals? >> i will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or bullying of it any individual. i don't care what their sexuality is or their ethnic origin is. part of the reason why my parents moved here as immigrant folks is because this is the land of opportunity. you haven't matter if lived here or have come recently. i will be very strong, i will be very vigilant, i will work with the proper authorities to ensure that no matter where you go to school, be it public or private, we need to have a say and make sure we have good laws, rules, and regulations and it shouldn't matter what your orientation is. this is hawaii. we pride ourselves on the spirit and treating everybody with dignity and grace. and it starts at the top as a governor and recognizing that. bullying has been a real big challenge and a hot topic at the state capitol for the last several years. and we have had several collaborative task forces. it is something i think we can all agree on that bullying is bad and we need to stop it. the challenge i think is how to legislate that and how do you ensure and enforce and pass a law that isn't forcible. worked with the stakeholders, public and private schools to really talk about what efforts they can make to engage students. they can be part of the solution because they are the ones on the front lines. it really is about working with public and private schools as well about how they can help educate the children and teach them appropriate etiquette. a lot of bullying occurs online which is outside of the specific physical location and it is a challenge that i think the whole community needs to get involved with. >> i thank you for that question because it is something near and dear to my port -- my heart. you'll find anyone in this room that will tolerate that kind of behavior. thatils down to something touches both alan and i, family. strengthening the family. that is why we are excited. that is the strength in regards to working with families, making sure we can change this culture. as was mentioned, bullying is something that has been going on for a long time. it's a cultural shift that we have gone to the point where we have to make that change. i look forward to working with families. to get that big strong foundation. , i takestitute teacher away parental involvement. i want to make sure parents are involved in the daily lives of students. that's talk about executive experience. we will start with you. things youe us two have done and big accomplishments in your career that people say, that guy deserves to be governor. >> the first thing i would say, when i went to and took early work at a and went to venture startup, an internet startup, i became project theger of establishing first carrier neutral class a facility in the state of hawaii. ar dream is really to create bunch of these facilities across seoul,te in honolulu, singapore. we wanted to be the premier data center company on the planet. was a challenge. as you know, internet speed is seven times usual and it is really about first to market. i was proud to be able to complete that first data center here in honolulu and was part of to team that really expanded l.a., sydney, singapore. it really is about private sector experience. probably the most important thing is being the lieutenant governor of the state of hawaii. i look at that is something that is a natural for any governor. opportunity tohe not only be part of an administration but also to gain that experience, gain that and seee, to interact an executive make those tough decisions. couple that with my experience on the bench and i think this is where our campaign theme of trust, respect, and balance comes in. decision ine tough regard to families. one was terminating parental rights and it was a tough decision to make. if you don't have trust, respect, and balance, there's no way you can make those decisions. >> watching people's money is what we did it city hall. for we left, we were considered low risk. whenever saved money before, we did it there. we left the budget surplus every year that we were there. we fixed old infrastructure such .s the sewage system we ended a decade-long lawsuit against the city. we fixed the problem. we brought new infrastructure and to our community such as rail. but i still contend is the right thing to do. ourwe still managed to make city the leading digital city in america. ofalso continue to be one the safest big cities in america. we implemented new programs like curbside recycling and introduced the third broiler to convert more energy. and i still found time to help save the pro bowl here in hawaii. >> thank you, candidates. i am standing here with another political science student. his question is about legalizing marijuana. >> other states have legalized the recreational loot -- use of marijuana. what are the opinions of the candidates? not bepinion is i would supportive of legalizing marijuana. my decision is based on my experience as a judge. being in the trenches, understanding what the effect of it all is. all we have to do is look at the experience in colorado and washington. i can tell you it's not the greatest of experiences. they are finding more trouble, more crime, and a whole lot of other things that are affecting them in regards to the legalization of marijuana because what it comes down to is basically how do we monitor? how do we distribute? and how do we control this commodity. in many states what it is is tot i would call a way shorten the revenue shortfall and we can't go down that line. if there is consensus in the legislature on one issue, a bipartisan consensus, it's on this issue. >> do you support legalizing marijuana? >> i have always been opposed to legalizing marijuana. i think there is overwhelming evidence that it can lead to other drugs. i am concerned about it getting in the hands of minors and the like. i am endorsed by the organization of police officers. one of the reason is because of my strong stance against rugs and drug abuse. -- drugs and drug abuse. i will consider it and learn more about it but right now i am still opposed to the legalization of marijuana across the board. thank you very much for that question. marijuana is a schedule one drug classified by the federal government which means it is illegal for you to possess, distribute, sell. shouldwsbelieves be consistent. i think it is inappropriate for the state to legalize it. was because there was no legal way to get it. i couldn't understand how you could tell a patient that they could use it for medicinal purposes but the only way you could get it is to buy it from a drug dealer. am open to the regulated medicinal purposes to be able to get it. >> with all the oils bills -- months,ls, in recent what are you going to do to protect hawaii's natural environment? >> we need to reduce our dependence on oil. i have come out with a plan that says i want to move us to more renewable energy sources. it will also create competition in order to go to a smart grid technology as opposed to the only grid that we have now. we have to be proactive about it. i am concerned about the cuts made to the department of health through the years. i am concerned about the cuts made to the department of agriculture. these things speak to a governor that will be proactive on protecting the environment and has the ability to bring a coalition of folks when these things happen. it is better to be preventing as opposed to reacting. you have strong support from he and i will clean up the sewage spill at waikiki. we need a better footing so those will not happen again. >> this past session, we took action exactly in that area. we appropriated more funds so we can hire more inspectors. it really is being about being proactive in the upcoming shipments that we get. we want to have inspectors on the ground being able to find the species before it gets out and our communities. they are tasked with finding the best way to eradicate invasive species. or a long time this was a federally funded program but we believe it is time for the states to step up. it is really about action. leading the people of hawaii understand what the threats of invasive species bring to our communities today. >> i agree with my colleagues in regards to what we need to do with the department of agriculture, the department of health, and make it a priority. lack the resources and some of the other personnel that we need to make sure that we can take care of our pristine environment. hand, something i mentioned the other day is in regards to talking about efficiency. thate noted for the panel when it comes to efficiency, it is our young people and our children that have taken the lead on that. we have done a great job of educating our young people in regards to the environment and how it has been affected. beinge talk about proactive and preventive, that is where it starts. i want to urge everybody to continue to speak about being culturally sensitive and protect the island. we are nearly an hour in and we have come almost full circle, back to the connector, something all three candidates said they would like to address if elected governor. given what you say, that you want to change or eliminate about obama care or health connector, do you want universal health coverage and how do you get there without it? >> hawaii has been a pioneer in terms of universal health coverage. this is something that i think we can all be proud of. we have more of our citizens be covered than anywhere else in the country. the longest life expectancy in the country, the lowest health insurance cost in the country, the lowest per capita medicare cost because our seniors have had access to quality health care for their entire lives. this is something clearly that i think we can all be proud of. it is something that would allow us to really move forward in a way that makes sense. >> do you still want universal health care? >> yes. and i say that because it is s about being able to have access to quality health care. everyone should have the opportunity to retire and live a fruitful life. i think the concept of universal health care, everybody would agree we want that to happen. and we do have that in play. this is where if you are blind to politics will jump into something that we do not need, and that is the affordable care act. there are a lot of good things about the affordable care act has accomplished what it needed to accomplish? . think the answer is no and in the long run, it will cost us a lot. how do we change that? it is a federal issue.