Good evening, and welcome to iowa. Gton, tonight marks the second of three debates in the race for Iowa Governor. To bring it to you with our partners, the andington hawkeye newspaper the greater burlington partnership. Incumbentxt hour, Governor Terry and jack hatch, his democratic challenge, will chance questions from our panelists. Kenneth, danielle, and the managing editor of the hawk cay, dale allison. Getting questions from you, our viewers, and readers, through twitter and facebook, live throughout this program. Use the hashtag iowagovernordebate. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome republic Governor Terry and Democratic State senator jack hatch. [applause] the overall theme, if you will, economy. S on the from jobs to job creation to infrastructure. On jobs. Topic will be in this, we will talk about job insensitives, like those used to build the fertilizer plant being built not here, and the minimum wage. We begin with jobs. Job creation and sustainment is a very big political promise. And point of contention among candidates running for office. Danielle mccarthy begins our discussion on jobs, specifically a question for senator hatch. 4. 4 ,ator hatch, at iowas Unemployment Rate is even lower than the national average. Can you do to make iowas job climate even better . To hear about your plan first. Were very fortunate this as in every state, to have a recovery after the recession. 20082009 and every state is increasing record. Ployment were glad that iowa has the before,s its ever had but so do all the other states in this country. An unemployment is going low. As well an accomplishment for all of us. But what we need in the next governor must lead iowa to the next generation of jobs. Explosion ofan Economic Opportunity. But to get there, we have to do different. Build the economy from the community up. The top down. My plan is to have an economic not oneent authority, to cover the whole state, but regionally, four of them, so each Congressional District will be able to match the states priorities with national that will be funded by our Congress Persons and also the local communities have spent and effort, like davenport, and burlington, to be theiro create jobs on own. Who knows jobs the best . But the local authorities. Councils. The state leaders in their communities. They know where the jobs are. Where the communities are that need it. They know what they have to do a get those jobs to become reality in their community. State government is going to be to provide refreshing new dollars instead of one agency it, it will be dispersed to four Economic Development authorities with their own board of directors appointed by the governor to sit for three years. They will create the identify the and match between our state investment and the local priorities. Senator, thank you. Governor branstad, 45 seconds for a rebuttal. Well, first of all, obviously my opponent doesnt know whats going on in illinois, because secondhighest unemployment in the nation, while iowas Unemployment Rate 30 hereed by nearly in southeast iowa by nearly 40 , in debt andmired secondhighest unemployment in the nation. Im really proud weve created over 150,000 jobs in the last 8 months. S and weve gone from the highest unemployment in 25 years to of peopleecord number employed. That didnt happen by accident. Weve got a great Economic Authority that partners with the locals. Plant happened because the people in lee county partnered with the state and made that possible. Im proud that we see those great jobs in iowa. And well be talking more the fertilizer plant in just a moment. Would you care to rebut for 30 seconds . For us toportant understand these numbers. The governor talks about 150,000 created. That he has but, you know, even a fifty grader knows you have to a toth grader knows you have subtract what youve lost. Over 80,000 jobs were lost in economy, giving a net gain of about 75or 80,000. We identify jobs. In the private sector, we know government doesnt create jobs. Businesses do. Know that governors dont create Small Businesses. Entrepreneurs do. Were going to create a base of entrepreneurs in this state that meet the demands and the needs of our communities. Thank you, senator. Keep on path,to well try to keep as close as we can. Ill give a reminder as to the the time. Its harder to keep track of, i know, from back here. But well do our best. Our second question now, still on the subject of jobs, for governor branstad yes, governor. I want to go a little bit more into detail about your promise in 2010 about creating 200,000 jobs in five years. Increasing iowans personal 25 . E by governor hatch has accused you of cooking the books on this. All right. Do you care to tell us where we were at that point, where we are youved how you think done on those promises, talking about adding and subtracting . People think back to where we were four years ago, the Unemployment Rate here in southeast iowa was the highest in the entire state. And we had an Unemployment Rate 6 . Owa well over we reduced that by over 30 nearly 40 here. I was just last week down at the fertilizer plant. There are 1900 construction jobs there. Theyre going to add another 400. Permanent jobs are now going to be 240. Also another industry right here in burlington that share foods is going to be investing 35 jobs. N and adding 80some were working every day to bring more good jobs to the state of iowa. Im proud of the fact we work in with the local governments and with the local Economic Development people and Economic Development authority, debbie durham, has done a great job. I think it would be a big mistake to divide the state into four regions. Wouldnt have as much resources when you have a great opportunity like this. Im really proud of what we have accomplished. But were not done. Were going to continue to focus on how we can prepare the for the jobs of the future, because the Lieutenant Governor and i hear from business all the time, we have we cant find people with the right skills. Thats where skilled iowa and stem, science, technology, engineer and math students for our students prepare them for these jobs. Im really proud that the in iowa ist tax rate going to go down in january, for the fourth year in a row. Iowa moremakes competitive for business and jobs. In missouri, theyre selling the federal government in the employment tax fund. Senator, 45 seconds. Thank you. Clear that the topdown approach that governor branstad been following, where des moines picks winners and toers, is the wrong approach use when were recovering from a recession. Our proposal is from the community up. Proposal is to ensure that local communities, state coalitions, city councils, boards of supervisors, have a chance to identify and empower to get engagedes and to value their own dollars and to be able to have an leverage local dollars with state dollars. I think its wrong to be able to only going to be des moines thats going to make those decisions. Thats the wrong direction. A directionto have of going from the community up. Now lets move to the big you havee both of alluded to, regarding tax insensitives. We know that tax insensitives more and more for job creation and generating revenue by many states. Incentives or tax breaks, the fertilizer plant being built area, a 1. 6 this billion plant being built here, saying that 100 million in tax breaks used to land this deal and to build the plant was too much. For the first question, regarding tax incentives, for allisonsor, dale staff who has done a considerable job of reporting on subject. Governor, regarding the thetiations to to land plant, Property Owners in the immediate vicinity dont share it. Enthusiasm with ofotiations were done out the purview of the general public. And, you know, not only was the negotiated but a payment in lieu of takes and other considerations, including water rights. Once the deal was announced, upped its demand for water from 480 million annually to 3. 3 billion gallons. How is this good Public Policy everyday workaday iowans you address the charge that this deal was crammed down the residents of weaver . First of all, it was initiated by the people in lee county, the elected board of and they provided incentives, the state provided incentives. But the thing you need to remember is, the net result is, the Fort Madison School district lee county are going to get 2. 9 million additional tax revenue every year. And the state of iowa is also revenue. Gain if it had not located here, we wouldnt get those additional tax revenues and we wouldnt 1900 construction jobs, 400 more that are going to be added, nor would we have the jobs, nor would farmers benefit from the 740 reduction in nitrogen fertilizer costs. Significant, because that is the biggest cost of raising corn today, is nitrogen fertilizer. Most of it is being imported. Thebig cost is all trooption costs bring itation costs to in from overseas. So this was a good deal. The Site Selection magazine, read by Economic Developers around the world, said this was economicdbest Development Deal in the entire world last year. Were very proud of it. And the ceo of the Company Recently said that theyre just getting warmed up. When they complete this, theyre looking at expanding it. Only there were 10 period of timizer fertilizer plants being looked at in this country, two of them in iowa, and were really proud theyre being built here, where the corn produced. Senator hatch, 45 seconds. Thank you. Let me be clear. Of fertilizer favor of fertilizer plants that will help engage and expand our agricultural base and very much in favor of the jobs it has created. Ive been critical of is the deal the governor negotiated. It was a reckless deal, a bad deal. It was a terrible deal, where he engage 110 million 165tate money to create jobs. 700,000 dollars per job. Balance. Ve you a in the manufacturing plant gave to build wind blades. Equaledjobs, that 7,000 per job. 7,000 per job . 700,000 per job . Theres an imbalance. Against. At were up that was a bad deal. That is what is causing the problems. Just think, just imagine what this area could do if we were able to balance those two businesses and allow us to spread the investment from the businesses and to more areas than just lee county. Governor, 30 seconds. Cant be against the incentives and for the jobs, without the incentives we wouldnt have gotten the jobs. Debbie durham is a very skilled negotiator. For 15 years, she did a great in sioux city. She worked with the local people here. And actually it looks like this is going to continue to was initiallyat planned. We didnt write out a check. Getting a credit against taxes in future years. Frankly, the state is going to i know the Fort Madison School district gained substantially. Deal. As a great we will continue on this same subject with the next two questions. So for the next question, lets to danielle, who has a question for senator hatch. Senator hatch, if youre elected, whats your plan to make sure that any business that does receive a state tax incentive is held accountable for job creation, contributing to the overall economy, and also you also explain how you have used tax incentives in your own private investment . Absolutely. When the one important thing you have to do is, as a and make sure that theres transparency, accountability and responsibility. Is another good area of an example in which governor branstad did not use any of those three guidance or principles in negotiating a deal. The citizens of iowa want to know whats going on. Youve got to be open, transparent, and thats how you can ensure the negotiations with be honored in the deal. Changing theady deal. And theyre gonna change the deal more. And its going to hurt our local folks, our water, and the entire ability of to share other tax credits. Now, the governor has been very of my business. And the Des Moines Register six weeks investigating his claims that i had a conflict of interest and spending so much money, state money, and not getting anything giving anything back return. Thats really kind of disturbing. My wife and i, sonia roberts, up our entire business. No privately held company would allow this to happen. The outrage claims by the governor that we were doing something wrong prompted us to do that. What did they find . That we followed the rules, no interest. F and kcrg also had a fact check. Night. Thursday what did they find . That the governors claims of misuse of tax credits or of tax credits was false. Thatwe did things wright, were right, and that were an appropriate company and a company. Its strange that a governor would be blaming a good goodessman for having a and honest business. Thats just wrong. Governor, 45 seconds. Trust the people of iowa. Dis disclosed 24 years of my taxes. To disprove our claim that he has gained substantially and made millions taxpayers expense, i would challenge senator hatch to four more years of his taxes. Hes only done one. Done 24. Im willing to do more, if hes willing to do that. We need to be open and transparent and im telling you, we have been. The people in lee county know that. And we have worked with them and were very proud of the fact the state partnered with lee county to bring this great project here and bring these to southeast iowa. Senator, would you like 30 seconds here . I think whats important is to understand, in my business with my wife, that we tax credits in areas that no other developer would go in. We build affordable housing. And on august 21, the Des Moines Register wrote an editorial that said our use of tax credits was appropriate, the governors use negotiating with forrest, largest one of the most and profitable Egyptian Companies in that nation, was questionable. A public good by providing housing for lowincome iowans. Hes providing additional dollars to one of the most profitable corporations in the world. Now we move on to a social media question, our first of the night. Governor. R the johnny writes, since the governor brags about the deal in bringing the fertilizer plant to iowa, which was a good thing im quoting here increasing workforce and putting a lot of people to work with this deal, how many of those jobs iowans . Went to most of those i have met, in working around the building, say that weaver, iowa, is on out of town contractors, bringing their outoftown workforce with them. First of all, its brought a lot of jobs to the areas. Been filled by iowans. There have been some that have come in from other areas as well. Its been also great for the economy here. The entire area here. Im really proud of the fact we have that. Also this year passed legislation for more opportunities opportunity for people to learn while they earn, apprenticeships. Were working, because theres a need for more people in the we losttion industry, jobs in the Construction Industry during the recession, were now rebuilding that. We have a great opportunity. We tripled the funding, the funding for apprenticeships. That way people dont have to go into debt. Can learn while they earn in construction and manufacturing. Say we work with building and construction trades, and we worked with the contractors, and we got that approved this year. And its now in the process of being implemented and helping more people for those jobs in the Construction Industry, like those at the fertilizer being createdrs all across the state of iowa. Up iner, theres jobs fort dodge, once in woodbury county, all over the state. So this isnt the only project, but this is the biggest and one of the best. To thatfollowup question, were there not enough skilled iowans to do these jobs . No, there werent enough. Thats the reason why we need morenticeships, to train people for these skilled jobs. You can talk to if building the building and construction tradespeople. Theyll tell you they desperately need more people with skills. Working handinhand with them to train people in those construction, trades jobs. Those are good careers. And we want to have more of them in iowa. Hatch, 45 seconds. Thank you. Were talking about the possibility over the next four to six years of an Economic Opportunity explosion in jobs. Do it if were going to put all of our eggs in the basket of large cooperations corporations and large projects. Then you will have an inability to attract the workers to do the job in construction. On isere going to focus in Small Business. In Small Business, i want to toms southeast iowas vision, when he brought seamen, anheuserbusch, when he widened highway 34 and the avenue developed of the saints. Thats whats going to create southeastunities in iowa and all over the state, by our ability to focus on developing Job Opportunities for Small Businesses in the state. Lets move now to the topic of minimum wage. Danielle has a question for senator hatch. In youror hatch, campaign, you talk about growing Small Businesses and increasing wage. Nimum many of the Small Business owners weve heard from say how an worried about increase in the minimum wage would affect their business. Be in favor of both . Well, you know, good question. [laughter] but youre assuming that all businesses pay below the minimum wage, which is wrong. There are 216,000 iowans that get less than the 10. 10 that we are proposing. Thats not a high wage. That allows an individual working 40 hours a week, works by the rules, works hard, works every day, to get just above the poverty. No iowan should be able to work not get the wages necessary to lift their lives above the level of poverty. Thats my value. Believe in sot i much, that we had no problem recommending that wage of a minimum wage. And it would lift 216,000 iowans, possibly 20 of them, off of general assistance. Are not thesses type of businesses that pay cheap. Like my wifeses, and i, pay very well. And theyre all over the state. Cant be afraid of that kind of wage. And we know that from other types of proposals, and when we wage before,imum which the governor signed, there was no outcry from the small they were losing jobs and opportunities. Just the opposite. Money. Got that they spent it in their communities. To get off of general welfare and they were no antipovertyf that program. Governor, 45 seconds. Well, if the minimum wage was important, why, when the minimum wage bill was assigned to the committee that senator on, was it killed by the democrats who controlled that committee . They didnt even bring the bill out of committee. So it couldnt have been that big a priority. Reserve judgment until i see where a bill ends up. The house ands the senate in the same form. In this case, the minimum wage not even was not even approved by the democraticcontrolled senate, the republican house. My focus is on trying to bring iowans and toto help people get the skills so they can have a living wage and support themselves and their families. We work at that every day. On workforceg development and Economic Development and coordinating them. Hatch, if that is the case, with the blockage in the fix this . E, how do we well, you know, harry truman in thepublicans believe minimum wage, as minimum as possible. [laughter] so when we saw that bill come yourgh, senator courtney, senator here, was the chair of that subcommittee. There were negotiations all year legislative session whether or not the house would pick it up. No. House said we went to the governors office. Could you help us . Wouldnt. Thats not leadership. They had no intention. Majority leader said you know what . This is a Political Year. Were not going to put our members in the way of being criticized in a Political Year and then have workers who are trying to lift themselves out of poverty become the political pingpong ball during the election process. That. Very sensitive about we could have passed it without a problem. The fact is, it would have been stopped. Was stopped by the republicans and by the governor. Governor, well continue that from social media. Cody cooper asks, i work 40plus hours a week in construction three kids and a wife thats a cna. We still live paycheck to paycheck. Is that right, and is there any way that will change . Thats the reason why were these jobsou know, at the at the fertilizer plant. Well. S very were working to try to bring more of those kind of jobs to companiesof iowa, like kace and like ge, here in burlington, provide good wages. And c. J. ,like cargill biosciences, iowa homegrown businesses like hagey, have all been growing and expanding while ive been governor. And were working every day to try to do that. We also want to make sure that for thosee the skills jobs, and thats why we started bill mawp, thef program, why they have led the efforts for science, engineering, technology and math. Were working with every high school in the state to train people, because jobs of the future require knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math, and we want to make workforce of the future in iowa has those skills. Im going to continue to work on day. Every i have recently proposed a center for Human Capital enrichment, which would coordinate what were doing in Economic Development with our Workforce Development so that we have the workforce with the skills for those jobs that can their incomes and better provide for their families and of the economic wellbeing our state. Governor, thank you. Senator hatch, in the 45 seconds remaining in our first half hour, your reaction to that . Its interesting. The governor said hed like to done. Ate what hes the state doesnt have enough money. So im sorry. Cant do that often. And the fact is, we need to be use what our friend said in his question, as an thattunity to understand every middle class iowa family is working paycheck to paycheck. Theyre being taxed too much. We may talk about this later. A middled proposed class tax cut, where every family under 220,000 will get a cut, because were working on productivity. We understand that if you have live paycheck to paycheck, has the responsibility to invest in our communities and theSmall Businesses, not big undeserving corporations like we have. And we will continue property taxes, income tax, accountability and leadership, much more still to our gubernatorial debate. The debate between republican Governor Terry branstad and his democratic challenginger jack hatch for Iowa Governor will continue in a couple of minutes. Tomorrow, at noon eastern, our campaign 2014 coverage continues with a debate between Texas Governor candidates, Democratic State senator wendy davis and Republican Attorney general greg abbott. This is the first time in 14 years that texas will elect a new governor. Thats at noon eastern. Well follow that at 1 00 eastern with the arkansas governors debate between democrat mike ross and republican asa hutchison. Mr. Rios served as u. S. Congressman for 10 years in arkansas fourth district. Mr. Hutchison is a former u. S. Congressman in Arkansas Third district. He also served as the administrator of the u. S. Drug enforcement administration. That begins tomorrow at noon eastern on cspan. Cspan campaign 2014 debate coverage continues monday night at 7 30 eastern with the pennsylvania governors race between republican governor tom corbett and democratic opponent tom wolf. Thursday night at 9 00. Nebraska second Congressional District debate between the incumbent republican representative leitery and state senator brad ashford. And next sunday the iowa u. S. Senate debate between u. S. Congressman democrat bruce braley and republican joni ernst. Cspan campaign 2014. More than 100 debates for the control of congress. And now we resume the debate between republican Governor Terry branstad and his democratic challenginger jack hatch. Governor branstad is iowas longest serving governor. He served from 1983 to 1999 and then was elected to another term in 2011. Jack hatch is currently an iowa state senator with 22 years in the iowa house and senate. The Cook Political Report has this race listed as likely republican. This is Live Campaign 2014 coverage on cspan. Our partners tonight, we continue our conversation now with the focus on accountability in leadership. Throughout the campaigns, we have seen on television, and on our various airwaves, radio and newspaper as well, senator hatch has accused the Branstad Administration of being scandal ridden with no higher list, illegal buyout, settlements of state employees and now our chance to discuss this matter in particular. We begin with dale who has a question for senator hatch. Yes, senator. Iowans clearly like their governor. They keep reelecting him time after time. By wider and wider margins. Yet instead of telling iowans how you might lead the state, your advertisements and press statements focus on the criticismless. Are you saying that iowans dont get it . What im saying is that iowans need to listen to the problems that this governor has had over the past four years. It is the most scandalridden administration in the history of this state. And its beginning with the Iowa Work Force Development offices that he closed, that the Iowa Supreme Court said was unconstitutional. And it was then the Iowa Juvenile Home that he closed. And the District Court said governor, thats unconstitutional. Then it was the settlements and the political changes of merit employees. 990 of them were moved over to political positions including Administrative Law judge. Meaning that they no longer had qualifications but could be fired for any reason. Right under the direction of the governors office. And then you had the secret settlements to fire employees have been there before and then hush money to keep them quiet. Then the black list of do not hires that now theres a class action suit against the governor on peoples names that should not have been on there. Firing of top aides. And the d. C. I. Agent that reported the governors vehicle for speeding doing a hard 90 on route 20. He was fired for reporting that. And then of course was the commissioner godfreys position. Where he was asked the governor asked him to resign. He wouldnt. And then commissioner godfrey who just left for an impressive position in washington sued the governor for defamation of character. That is not leadership. Thats not something iowa wants. Thats not something that iowa values have. It should very well be looked at. And there are now investigations of the senate and the courts to look at how governor branstad has been managing the state. Governor branstad. 45 seconds. Well, iowans know me. They know that i go to he have county every year. I have a press conference every week. They know im honest. Im straightforward. Im transparent. Ive released al my taxes. They know these attacks are false. They are not correct. And the people of iowa know that. And i trust the people of iowa. I have nothing to hide. Im very proud. Fact when we found out about confidentiality agreements, i signed an executive order to prevent them in the future. Senator hatch and his friends in the senate killed that bill, which would have made it available to the public to know whats in those personnel records and why people have either been dismissed or not hired. I want honest, open, clean government. Im committed and the house passed that by an overwhelming bipartisan margin. The senator and his friends killed it. 30 seconds, senator. Sure. The fact is iowans dont know whats going on. And if you look at his ads that are attacking me, you would think that im the one thats under investigation in the statehouse. But thats not the case. Governors ads are false. Dont take my word for it. Des Moines Register and their series of articles understood that i had done nothing wrong and they said that i followed the rules. And kcrg did a fact check and again, they said nothing was right in his advertisements. That his advertisements were all false. Ladies and gentlemen, and governor, i would like to ask that you take the key from one of your political heroes. Ronald reagan. And he said, and i keep it to you, you stop lying about me, and ill stop telling the truth about you. [applause] an opportunity to also answer that if you choose. Governor, social media question. Twitter. Why postpone deposition if charges are true . Why didnt you want that information out there . Well, first of all, this lawsuit was filed about three years ago. Its been delayed by the plaintiffs on many times. Were in the midst of a campaign. I have a very busy schedule. And thats we have agreed upon the date for the deposition. Like i said, weve got nothing to hide. First of all, i treat everybody with respect and dignity. I dont make these outlandisch attacks. Everything thats in our ad has been documented. It is true that he killed a bill that would have reduced the fees for the kind of tax credits and also true that hes made millions of dollars off of tax credits. He may complain about the tax credits that have created good jobs here in southeast iowa. But he has no complaints about that. Nor will he release the tax returns to show the people of iowa how much money he made and what kind of tax breaks he got. Senator hatch, lets talk about this because this is a lot of information for the voters to go through. One side having one big issue and another bringing up other issues. Lets talk about whether the politics in play regarding the some of the lawsuits against the governor right now and some of the accusations you face. Sure. The fact is im only repeating not accusations, but lawsuits, investigations. Even the state auditor said that the governor had mishandled the investigation of the secret settlements, that there were more secret settlements even after the governor and his staff said there werent. If youre going to be a leader, you need to be a governor whos going to be open and transparent. And its just unacceptable that the governor stands in front of us that hes open and transparent and has nothing to hide when thats all theyve been doing. Is hiding and not just an attack of a candidate. But the accusations come from legitimate sources of the legislature. The state auditors office. From the courts. And from individuals who have taken the time to sue him personally and his office. These are not the actions of a governor who can lead. Governor, would you care for 30 seconds . This is iowa, not illinois. Most of the former governors in illinois are in prison. Im back in office because the people of iowa trust me. They know me. They know im honest. [applause] and i have been totally open and transparent. And i have a press conference every week. And i take the tough questions from the press. And anybody can file a lawsuit. But i can tell you we worked with the auditor. There was one agreement that was agreed upon before i signed the executive order and was signed later and when it was discovered that was the case, it was changed. They eliminated the confidentiality clause in that. That has been enforced. I will continue to enforce it. But we want to extend it to local governments and to the legislature and the house passed it with an overwhelming bipartisan vote. And my opponent and his friends in the senate killed it. Because they dont want the public to know the truth about whats in those confidential files on employee personnel. I think the people of iowa deserve to know that because its their tax money thats paying it. And as i give you 30 seconds on this, because i think this is such an important issue, i will remind our audience, please, do not applaud until the end of our debate so we can continue moving forward. Senator hatch. Gary and the audience, its really important for us to understand that these accusations could go back and forth. Its not something weve made up. The Republican Governors Association and the governor have spent millions of dollars attacking me on tv. On accusations that are untrue. And hes expanding his search to find something more. Im very proud of my company with my wife. We spent a lot of time being successful. And the fact is we did not kill a bill that would lower the amount that develop coerce receive and in actuality if you read the Des Moines Register story, governor, you would see that what they said is that my developer fee was actually less than 10 . It was 9. 2 . And that bill had no support with anybody else. And it wasnt dead t wasnt taken up. This is the kind of leadership you would expect from a governor of illinois. Not the governor of iowa. This is also a subject matter that can be intertwined with the following questions so lets move to property taxes now. For a question for governor bran stand from dale. Sure. Governor, last week, we published a story looking at property tax reform and how it looks to be working against smaller low growth communities. In fact, in the story, the state was accused of institutionalizing devaluation. Apartment complexes, for example, have been taxed at 100 of their value. Theyre on their way to being axed like residential rates. Retail and Industrial Properties are also headed lower. Somebody must pay for the cost of government. If taxes are being lowered for the upper values, the burden must fall on someone. Do you know how this is going to shake out . Do you know how this will work out for slow growth communities like burlington which are kind of more the rule rather than the exception . And how can you assure ordinary iowans that they wont be asked to shoulder an even bigger burden . Well, thank you for asking that question. Because this has been a problem that has faced the state of iowa for 30 years. Multiple Residential Properties should have never been taxed as commercial. And that is being corrected. That was actually something that Senate Democrats wanted. I wanted to provide permanent tax relief for commercial Industrial Property. And the agreement we reached between the house and senate and the governor does all of that and by getting the states financial house in order, putting together a fiveyear projected budget, and the state providing the money to repalatial the commercialIndustrial Property tax is going to provide tax relief to businesses, small and large, across the state of iowa in communities of all sizes. It will especially help slow growth communities and Rural Communities because the property tax credit is significant. It also benefits for Economic Development commercial development in our state as well. And the state is providing the money to replace the local property taxes. And i insisted that we put that money in a standing appropriation so the legislature couldnt renege on that commitment. Senator hatch, 45 seconds. The commercialIndustrial Property tax bill that was passed as the governor said with his insistence did nothing for Residential Property tax receivers. And his priority was to reduce corporate taxes, not residential. If it wasnt for the Senate Democrats who he is so openly criticized now, that provision of allowing commercial property tax for Small Businesses and property depressed areas would never have seen the light of day. And so we came to a conclusion. I think theres going to be issues in the future about how the state will be able to fund all of those Property Tax Reliefs. But it didnt help the middle class. It did not help the Residential Property tax owners. And it certainly gave a boone to the largest out of state Corporate Leaders that are taking more taxes away and out of this state. Governor, would you care to respond . I would just point out that this was passed with bipartisan support in both houses of the iowa legislature. It was long overdue. Our commercial property taxes were the third highest behind minnesota and illinois. We dont want to be there. This is going to make a difference. And its going to be the most in ificant property tax cut iowa history. And its going to be phased in over a period of time. And we have the resources to do it. And ive protected it because weve cut the size and cost of government. So we can afford to fund the education, leadership bill that we passed for teacher leadership and Property Tax Relief. Senator hatch, youll probably get a chance to respond to that if will you in this next question from danielle. Regarding property taxes. Senator hatch, your Campaign Website says your proposed income tax cut for middle income families would cost the state about an estimated 300 million a year. Over the next couple of years. At a time when you say we need to fund our schools and our infrastructure needs, vital and immediate investment, why would that be the best use of that money . The best use of that money for middle class iowans, youre right. Its the best use for that money. Iowans who are in the middle class working every day, 40 hours, 50 hours a week, need a break. Middle class iowans need that kind of help. We are the sixth highest state with dual income families. We are a low wage state. And we are a state that values children. So when our property tax lief, we identified families that have dual incomes. And we gave them a 1,000 tax credit. Because we value the productivity of the state. And we also valued the children. And i think governor bran stand and almost every politician will say they are our greatest resource that is need protection. So right now we give them a 40 tax credit. Theyre valued a lot more than that. Under my proposal, we give them ad 500 tax a 500 tax credit. When you put them together it provides us with a very strong middle class tax cut. That will help the people that need it the most. Not these corporations. But people need that. To answer your question on the budget, it is a priority. The budget is a priority. Someone once said you could tell me all you want about your values. But show me your budget. Then ill tell you what your values are. This would be a high priority of our administration. Do you believe that the legislature would pass such a plan and why . Well, i think the legislature will engage in this discussion. I cant guarantee anything. But i know that the Democratic Caucus in the house and senate believe very proudly and very clearly that middle class has got to get a break. That middle class iowans cant be left out in the cold. They were under the governors commercial Property Tax Relief. Thats the largest Property Tax Relief in history. But it wasnt for the residential taxpayers, it was for the corporate taxpayers. I want to give residential Middle America the everyday iowan the tax break they deserve. Equal to the tax break he gave. To the corporations of this state. Thank you, senator. Governor, your response. Well, first of all, eliminating federal deductibility will raise taxes for some low income people, too. Because if your income varies from year to year, you wont be able to able to deduct your federal taxes. The bill that we passed, the Property Tax Relief, isnt just for corporationings. Its to all commercial and Industrial Property including all the main street businesses in burlington and fort madison and all over the state of iowa. And people have gotten those tax bills and they can see theres real significant tax relief for individual iowans that own commercial property. Ive heard from them. All over this state. And theyre saying thank you. Finally we got some real tax relief. And im proud that we did that. And thats going to continue next year. And we want it to continue in the future. If you instead going out and spend that money on another program, then we wont be able to do that. And the education money thats commitched also for teacher leadership. 30 seconds, senator. Being a governor means that you set priorities and that you lead. The governor just said he wanted to provide the commercial property commercial and industrial Property Tax Relief for commercial businesses in this state. I want to provide Property Tax Relief and the middle class tax cut for the residents of this state. For the citizens of this state. For the everyday iowans of this state that need a tax cut. My priorities will always be with the middle class. Corporations, which we are one, were good at what we do. Well figure out a way. And well be able to continue to provide the jobs that are necessary, but i want middle class iowa to get the support they need. With just under 10 minutes remaining in our debate lets try to squeeze another category in if we can. Regarding gas tax, infrastructure, roads, bridges, the question is for the governor from dale. Times going by quickly. I like it when youre having fun. Youre a pay as you go guy. But the state needs money, too, to improve its infrastructure. Youre administrator of the department of transportation says theres not enough money to maintain the network that we have. Local coalitions have lobbied you for some time to widen u. S. 61. Between burlington and Muscatine County and thats more important with all the traffic coming from the fertilizer plant. Lawmakers told in us january that there was support for an increase in the gas tax. If you would have indicated your support, but without such an indication, nobody was prepared to propose a tax that might get vetoed. During the state fair debate, you said you were working on a transportation funding plan. But were not prepared to reveal it. Why not . Why the wait . Paul trobini has put together a series of opses and ive been discussing that with legislators for the last several months of how we can go to a hybrid system that would replace the gas tax partially with an excise tax on fuel. Like you have with the sales tax and also increased fees for heavier loads that go across the state of iowa. I would also compliment paul trobini when we had that flood in 2011 on the missouri river, he was able to put together a strategy to rebuild all of those roads even though we only had 60 days to do it. We rebuilt all those roads and got the federal funds reimbursement to pay for all of that. He also weve had the two biggest road building years in history. The last two years. Because hes reduced administrative costs by 50 million. Im continuing to work with him. I intend to work with a Bipartisan Group of legislators as we did the last time we addressed this issue back in 1988. And we got a majority of both house and Senate Republicans and democrats to agree to do this. And i will lead but i want to make sure that we have a majority of both parties, both caucuses, supporting it. Senator, if you can, for time constraints, 30 seconds, please. You cant lead with legislators unless you have a proposal. Ive offered a proposal for over two years. 10 cent gas tax. Two cents a year for the next five years. Not only is highway 61 needing a four lanes, but highway 20 up in fort dodge to sioux city. There are areas there that need four lanes. Plus the bridges in this state. We have the second worst the second worst state in bridge repair in the country. We cannot have a repair of our county roads and our state roads if we dont have revenue. Jackson county said they are just now reducing the tonnage of 44 bridges in jackson county. From 10 tons to three. You can get a van with children on that three ton bridge. But you cant get emergency vehicles. You cant get ambulances. You cant get the fire trucks. You cant get the farm implements. The combines and the trucks that need to pass and to provide commerce for power farmers. This is a crisis. And for the governor not to recognize it, to have a cash force that he doesnt liston and waiting for the special interests to say you can do it now is not the leadership we want. We need a leader to take the lead. It is time for us now to get to our closing statements. The order is determined by the coin flip. Senator hatch, you are first. Thank you. Gary, i thank you very much. Sponsor, the a chamber of commerce and the hawkeye. I commend the two panelists and yourselves for providing this for this opportunity. And also i want to acknowledge my wife, sonya roberts, and my running mate, monica vernon, in the audience. And if i could give a quick shoutout to my daughter in anchorage, alaska, whos an nbc affiliate reporter and weekend anchor. So for danielle, shes im as proud of her as im sure your parents are of you. But being governor means that we have to lead our state into a new area of economic explosion. I want to return iowa to the tom vilsack iowa where we focused not only on Agriculture Insurance but we diversified this economy to finance Information Technology and advanced manufacturing. In iowa where we are not picking winners and losers but create regional authorities we can rely on local leaders to match the priorities of our local and our county leaders. To do this, we need to reorganize an Economic Development effort into four regions. Equal to the Congressional Districts. Establish regional boards of directors. And provide leadership, locally. And i will announce and tonight that my running mate, monica vernon, will take the lead being a city council person, she knows how to bring people together. Shes done that. And shes a leader in the community. Local Business Leaders know what they need. Advice. Rely on their we need a community of Economic Development proposal. Not a top down. We need local people picking what they want to invest in not winners and losers from a board in des moines. Thank you very much. Governor branstad. First of all, i want to thank the greater burlington partnership, kwqc, burlington hawkeye, and all of you in the audience for being here and for sponsoring this. And great to have this debate at the first territorial capital of iowa in burlington. Im really proud to be here. My mother was born here. Im proud to have my wife and a lot of members of my family, my stepmother here. And i also want to say i love this state. I grew up on a farm. I learned to work hard at a very early age. And i worked every day, the Lieutenant Governor kim reynolds and i go all over this state. We go to every county every year. We work hard every day to bring more good jobs to iowa. To make iowa the best in the nation in terms of education, to reduce the tax and regulatory burden. Weve reduced the size of government by over 1,400 and were not done yet. Were focused on things like College Affordability and reducing student debt. Two years, no increase in resident state tuition. And were going to do more. To reduce that and make college more affordable, weve proposed a center for Human Capital enrichment. And connect every acre so that we have high Speed Internet everywhere in iowa. I would appreciate having your vote of confidence, your support, and the opportunity to work hard for you for the next four years. I love iowa. And im proud to have the opportunity to serve you. And i would appreciate your vote. Thank you very much. Gentlemen, thank you. [applause] the ersation conversation continues at your next debate. But that is all the time we have for tonight. We would like to thatching our candidates, senator jack hatch and Governor Terry branstad. Lets give them a round of applause. [applause] watch us at kwqc. Com and on hawkeye. Com. Thank you for watching tonight. Xowmw, heres a look at a of campaign ads from the governors race in iowa. Four years ago, 114,000 iowans were out of work. Highest int was the 25 years. 900ur states budget was million in debt. Then Terry Branstad came back. And so did iowa. Have a budget surplus, 140,000 new jobs. And governor branstad is just started. Terry is back. Iowa is back. Terry branstad is building future. The jobs are there. Our employment is low. Were seeing young people moving back. Iowans working today than at any other time in our im reallyry, optimistic about the future. He definitely has a passion for state. Its really fun working with him. Im really blessed. Years, iowans are tired of governor branstad. The scandals, bad deals and favors. L theres the 110 Million Dollar bad deal. Taxpayer money given to an egyptian billionaire. Economists called it the dumbest economic decision made in iowan. To abolishen tried preschool funding while pushing wealthyto well f interests. Its time for a fresh start. Governor. For there are two men running for Iowa Governor. Terry branstad, who supports tax undeserving corporations. Governor branstad was giving away 200 million in taxpayer wealthy egi egyptian putting jack hatch was iowans to work. Theres only one thing they have in common. One thing toos many. Im jack hatch. Like you, im ready for a fresh start. Houset, in a white ceremony, president obama awards the medal of honor to two vietnam veterans. Then filmmaker ken burns talks about his new documentary on the roosevelts. After that, a discussion on the challenges facing american youth. On monday, president obama awarded the medal of honor to bennie adkins