We are hosting this debate with Public Health precautions with minimal staff joining us. All of us onset are separated by plexiglas barriers. The candidates joining us are republican state representative Ashley Hinson and democratic incumbent abby finkenauer. Welcome to you both. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having us. Joining us is james lynch, writer for the gazette, and kate anderson, news director for radio iowa. One of the most pressing one of the most pressing issues is recovery from the direct show. Homeowners and businesses access to a variety of federal aid. Abby finkenauer, you have been critical of the federalist bonds. What would you want to do differently and why are you the best person to represent the district during this Recovery Period . Rep. Finkenauer we were on the ground following at and my husband and i live in cedar rapids and i knew by the way that we were going to need all the help we could get, so i asked the governor to ask for an expedited president ial disaster declaration knowing that it was going to be a long road and we needed help and we needed it now, so that is something i was proud to have called for early, but eventually, it did come about a week and a half later, we were grateful that the president did decide to declare that and for the other counties as well. It is one of those things, when you are looking at the devastation of folks not having ice, not having gassed not having gas for generators to keep refrigerators running, keep their kids fed, there were a lot of needs not getting met at that thatt, but now that now we have the president ial declaration, we have seen the end. One of the things we did on friday was we had fema invite local leaders so we could hear from the people on the ground. One of the things that continued to come up with housing was housing insecurity issues. We will do with the same with the state level to make sure we get those needs met and get the mets as soon as possible because there are a lot of folks getting buried as it will start getting cold out. Rep. Hinson my family was impacted like everyone else, that is the story here, no family was left untouched. I was in the basement with my kids and husband as we were dealing with it and as we emerged as a neighborhood, it was clear that we had work ahead of us. I was on the phone with the governor that afternoon advocating that she get to my district by the way so she could see the damage because it was clear to me what we were going to be dealing with was a long path ahead. State disaster declaration the next day, which i think was incredibly fast and im happy about the speed of your at the congresswoman reference, by the next week, the president was on the ground. I was able to advocate for additional aid for our communities and i think we have done that, the president delivered on the aid he promised and we are going to keep advocating for additional aid. What is needed now . We have the disaster declaration. What is next . What do people in cedar rapids and marshalltown need to help them move forward . The number one thing i discovered was Food Insecurity was a problem not just as it was passing through, but as families lives have been disrupted, it is affecting Food Insecurity is affecting families that were secure before and all of a sudden they had this devastating incident, so what we saw happen was this bubbled up and that is going to be the issue many families are going to deal with. Allmber of my constituents found themselves with a hole in their roof endo place to live and being told, you have to get out now. That is the biggest challenge, making sure we have enough places for people to live. Insurance companies are following through with their premiums and people have the resources they need. Is there Something Congress needs to do now . Rep. Finkenauer one of the things we have been hearing a lot from constituents, the Food Insecurity issue is one that we saw the first couple weeks immediately, that saturday, we were trying to feed people because they didnt have anything left in their refrigerator. That was one of the most heartbreaking moments i had, realizing that you might not have enough to get peoples bellies full and that is something i know we continue to have to work on but the other thing for homeowners who have insurance, see removal will be a huge issue. These are trees that are 200 years old that came down, this has never happened in iowa like this. Making sure that we have that supplemental, whether that is working with the city to make sure that fema is covering the tree removal or they are looking at a possible supplemental package. Rep. Hinson one of the things that was discovered is many people realize how old the power structure is in terms of utilities and power lines. One of the things that was discovered as many people realize how old the power structure is in terms of utilities and power lines. Many people could not make calls, they could not have kids go to school because they did not have broadband access. I know firsthand the challenges a family would face. I was in quarantine so i had that added challenge of being in quarantine and dealing with the derecho but i had to drive two miles north to get to a point where i had service to get a call out. The number one thing i would do is prioritize investments in infrastructure, looking at the research to make sure we are investing that last dollar and last mile to get the broadband where it needs to go. It is expensive to lay the ground, the fiber, all of these lines. Our line men did an incredible job and i want to thank them. They have labored a lot over the past few weeks to get the job to havei think we need their backs and making sure we can do that Going Forward. You continue to depend on the private sector to provide broadband or do we need a public utility . I think you have a great five Public Partnership in iowa. A great private Public Partnership in iowa. We have a Great Program where we compare the funding with people who have a project that is readied to go so we are making sure tax dollars are spent as efficiently as possible. That is the model i see Going Forward. During the president ial campaign, you had Democratic Candidates say it is time to ake rod band broadband public utility. Rpcs to anauer our incredible job, but they need extra funding and the grants to continue to get it done. One thing in congress has always been a priority was looking at broadband and making sure we have the right investments in the right places and what we realized is we need to have the most uptodate maps when it came to where folks needed connectivity and you might be in a neighborhood where it shows one house has connectivity but then it says the neighborhood does because the house does the writer we know that is not accurate. That is one of the first bills i worked on, to deal with this issue. Fcc decided the to deal with that and change how they were mapping broadband and connectivity. We brought one of the commissioners to iowa to talk to folks, whether it was our teachers, health care professionals, Business Owners about why broadband was important and it is something we have to get right not just after this derecho but also after this pandemic. Congress is gridlocked on the next phase of relief. Democrats have proposed a 3 trillion war in the next phase, the chump administration and republicans as 1 trillion will be enough. How big should that package be . What should be included . Week int include 600 a unemployment, another round of ppe for businesses . Beenthink the ppp has effective, they have used that to keep the doors open in a challenging time. We look at the relief that has come, the 600 a week that went away and the president had to take action because of that and i applaud the administration for doing that. We need to be looking at, as we are making those investments, lets look at the data to make sure the funds reach the places they need to reach. I was checking on the hospital today because they did receive a huge amount of the money that came from those packages and some of them are saying, we are fine on the ppe and having the resources we need to get that outspread others are saying, to get that out. Others are saying, we need more. 6 trillion is a lot of money. Do we need that much more to get the job done . Rep. Finkenauer we have priorities we need to get done and we need to deal with how much that its going to cost, whether it is state and local funding. Firefighters, Police Officers, utility workers that desperately need it right now. That weto make sure fill those dollars because our cities, counties, and states are losing millions of dollars right now and it is going to put Public Safety at risk if we dont backfill the states right now and these communities and on top of it, we have to make sure that we help our essential workers and make sure that they have paid time off as well and have hazard pay. Your Party Leaders differ in washington. Democrats are asking for trade trillion three chili dollars, republicans are asking for 1. 4 trillion. Is that a difference in this campaign . Of moneyr was a lot spent, they should vote for abby finkenauer, is that a fair way to decide . I want to see money targeted in the best way to get the solutions that we need and we need to be cognizant of the fact that we dont have an endless pot of money and i am cognizant of that and that is how i have operated in the house. Our state is the number one state to had all these disasters. It comesenauer when to how much needs to be spent, we have to have the priorities first and it should be narrower than what we have seen come out of the house. One place i have differed with my leadership because of the fact that i wanted to get something that we can find Common Ground on. Republicansts and in d. C. Net to get out of that corners and get something done and that is something we have been advocating for, uplifting the story so people know what is happening because at the end of the day, it is more than dollars, it is peoples lives. A couple of quick items on the pandemic. Should vaccines be mandatory . Rep. Finkenauer we need to listen to the experts. Vaccine,ally get a which i know we are hopeful for, as soon as possible, we also need to make sure it is safe in that it goes to the proper channels, so that is something i would have to listen to would you oppose a Vaccine Mandate . I think we need choice in that regard. That is a definite issue here and people being and power to take care of their health care during this challenging time, i would like to see that choice up to the individual. Angela merkel in germany required masks in public. Do you think that u. S. Should have a Face Covering mandate . Rep. Hinson what we have seen is a lot of local leaders doing that but everywhere i have been going, i wear a mask because i think it is the right thing to do to protect my family and constituents. I think the local businesses have taken this into their own hands and iowa. I dont know of a single business that has not already had a requirement that you wear a mask going in. I respect our local leaders and if they have issued a mask mandates, i hope more people wear masks. They are not enforceable in iowa according to the attorney general. Another issue facing our society and questions surrounding facial justice. Racial justice. How do you want to improve the Racial Climate . Rep. Finkenauer one of the things we did following George Floyds death was start having tough conversations. Conversations that i should have been having as a congresswoman a long time before then. One of the things we did, we brought the Waterloo Police chief together along with local leaders and activists and started having those conversations about what changes do we need to see . Specifically things like bsns bans on chokehold. When we were having that conversation, the police chief was updating his use of force as we were doing at. Totop of that, when it comes Racial Justice and policing, it is more than just policing. That about making sure when it comes to health care, black Maternal Health care is something that has been overlooked for too long and i am appy to work with congresswoman on a number of issues, but also education and mental health. That was one thing i got out of that conversations. They should have happened a long time ago and we have more work to do besides the Racial Justice parts. Rep. Hinson we have had tough conversations here, we have lead on this issue nationwide bypassing bipartisan bills due the house, the seven it the senate, the governor signed it and they were Uncomfortable Conversations but we stepped up and had them. I am in favor of law enforcement, support line enforcement, and i am against police brutality. We need to be clear on that. Ids to defund the police when we are experiencing some of these challenges, i think that is a radical idea. I dont support defunding the police. Congresswoman, i would ask where you are on this issue because we have not heard a lot from you on this. I think we need to have tough conversations Going Forward. I am going to be at the table and betty do ready to take action. Rep. Finkenauer i do not support defunding the police. Need toright now, we make sure there are enough funds to have proper training. That is one of the bills we worked on, the justice in policing acts. I want to say thank you to represent a hinson for voting representative hinson. The black caucus did an incredible job but i was happy to see that that day. It was one of those moments where i think we need to see more of that in government, democrats and republicans getting together on something that we should be able to come together on. The charges being made against you is you say you are for Border Security but you voted against funding for construction of the border wall. Hypocritical in playing both sides of this . Rep. Finkenauer it is not both sides. I support securing our borders and some of the best ways to do that is through technology and here is the other thing. When we talk about our borders, it is not just our southern borders, it is our points of entry that have not had the funding they should have for a long time and it is one of those things where we need to make sure that we are cracking down on the drugs coming into our country, and human trafficking, and one of the best ways to do that is investing in technology. Everybody says they are for immigration reform. What are you going to do to make it happen . Rep. Hinson first thing i want to say, i challenge you on that, what you said about your support and not being hypocritical because you voted against the bill that made sanctuary cities illegal and you voted for an amendment that provided health care for illegal aliens. What would you do . Rep. Hinson what i would do is first approached the h1b see h visa program. I have talked to Business Owners who need these reforms so they can expand their businesses. We have seen a pandemic that has thrown some curveballs the growth we were seeing to the growth we were seeing but we are going to get there again. That would be the first step i would do, i would work on the h1b visa before and we need to focus on our worker pipelines and that its a Great Partnership in making sure we can do that. Did you care to respond . Rep. Finkenauer when it comes to keeping our communities safe, i listened to our sheriff and Police Officers when it came to the bill you are referencing. , they end of the day spoke to us and we do not have sensuality cities in iowa and they said yes we do not have sanctuary cities in iowa and they said that bill would cause so much fear and communities that when there are folks who are scared or wanted to report something, they would not do that and it would make things worse for their communities. Lets circle back to health care. You did not get to answer the mask mandates question so lets cover that. Rep. Finkenauer we should listen to the experts and the experts are suggesting that every person wear a mask to cut down on the spread of this. Day, i want tohe go to Football Games and i want to be able to have our businesses open and have everybody feel safe, have our kids feel safe in schools, but at the end of the day, until we get this under control it is going to be a bids, even when we get a vaccine, we are going to have to take precautions. We need to make sure folks are being as safe as possible so we can get our economy back on track and have arcades feel safe in school. Courts rule that the Affordable Care act unconstitutional what would you replace it with . Rep. Hinson we need targeted approaches but i dont think we can repeal and replace until we have a plan to cover preexisting conditions. Suffered for more than a decade before she passed away so covering preexisting conditions is a priority. It is clear the Affordable Care act is not doing what it intended to do which was lower premiums. We have not seen that happen. They have more than doubled since 2013 and that is unaffordable. They should not be deciding between paying health care and paying for food or medicine. Happenwould like to see is targeted fixes on administrative costs, working on getting generic drugs to market faster. Ondont need artificial caps costs, we need to talk to pharmaceutical companies to balance getting new drugs to market and get those lifesaving medications invested in safe ways to our consumers but they also need to be affordable. Your party, you hear people talk about medicare for all, the public option, which is what your nominee has been an advocate of, and to hear people who want a single pair system. Rep. Finkenauer i think we need to add a public option, give folks the option to buy into medicare. Not only would that ensure that every person in our country has health care they can afford, it also drives competition in t