Tonight we have the governors debate. Here the candidates. Numbers were drawn and after that, the opening comments. Thank you. We are so grateful every day to serve the citizens of the united states. We are inspired by the spirit that all people in north dakota have shown. Over the past four years, we have had an edible string of accomplishments. Balancing the budget without raising taxes. Raised tremendous amounts for the future. We believe in the power of the private sector. Ise, empathy, and compassion stronger than government. We believe in north dakota and sue are rising to the challenge of working gather. Next we have the democrat. Thank you to our organizers for this important public debate. Im a veterinarian, a Small Business owner, and founder of a international nonprofit. My platform of homegrown prosperity reflects our values. To bring resilience to our communities and our economy. Hello. Thank you for turning into this debate. Thank you to our sponsors and our moderator. For the libertarian kennett governor of north dakota. Im a veteran. Was on the ballot in 2008 in the general election. Was a candidate for the u. S. House. Im a prolife candidate. A strong believer. Flag legislation. Michael is to abolish property taxes. The states response to covid19 has become a defining issue of 2020. Covid cases are rising all over the country. There continue discussions of mandates,tes mask hasbeen doing the right thing . The facts be for themselves. 422 North Dakotans lost. 258 in longterm care facilities. 32,000 jobs lost. Hospital capacity has been reached. There is october and there is still no plan. This is not getting the job done. Instead of a patchwork of political talking points, i present a nonpartisan plan. I want a nonpoliticized response that provides resources and accurate data to our local government. So we can move forward out of this crisis. We need to expedite the solution to this as quickly as possible. So that families are safe. We are in unprecedented times. We have had a conference of strategy. Our plan has been heralded nationwide is one of the very best in the country. We have been doing testing of residents and those in longterm care. Helphas allowed us to protect vulnerable populations. We are doing more testing per capita than any state in the country. Up in they we end National Narrative of having the most positive test per capita. Doing a lot of testing is critical. We have a virus that can live in people without symptoms. Without testing people not know if they have it. The facts speak for themselves. 2 North Dakotans lost. Of those were in our longterm for care facilities. We have gone through three health directors. Our Hospital Capacity has been reached. We cant even contact tracer. The end of october and theres still no plan. One concern i have is mask wearing for Young Children in classes. This is something every parent should be concerned about. Im pleased that in north dakota we have one of the lowest totality rates. Each death we have is a tragedy. Across the country, the brunt of occurred in longterm care facilities. We continue to fight the battle is day. We say thank you to all those on the frontlines. Specially those working with the most vulnerable populations. There have been mask mandates without enforcement. I was disappointed in them. Someone will have to take control if these deaths continue to mount. To be a solution quickly. Masks being unable to socially distance. There is no way a state can force a mask mandate. We believe that masks work when used appropriately. But we are less confident in mandates. We support those as part of the mitigation strategy. The facts speak for themselves. We have reached Hospital Capacity and we are unable to contact trace. Our response is not working. Mandated masks have been enforced in many states that have slowed the spread. Masks. Mandated connection with overall strategies and plans. That is why i came up with my plan. Help our local communities make sure they have resources and correct information. To help them enforce the mask mandate. I will pass on this one than 10 peopless doing Contact Tracing to over 400. We are asking people if they test positive, have consideration for those around you. You should let people know. The facts speak for themselves. We are unable to do Contact Tracing. Virus is spread exponentially. There is no theft that this will calm down. The testing we are doing a show we are not testing enough. The state has received a lot of money. As the state spent the money responsibly . Working with the legislature. It is almost two thirds of the total dollar amount. We are fighting a virus that will be gone at some point in the future. I am very confident about how the dollars are being spent. If the governor had invited a full legislature to discuss this or listens to the people like i , he might have realized that instead of plugging holes should belds, we plugging holes in family budgets. Care, paidhealth family leave. That is what i will prioritize. I will supplemented with state money. I would like to know how much of that money will be spent on Mental Health. We are in a very large Mental Health crisis. Isolation. People are losing their jobs. May be losing their life savings. Going into a state of depression. We have to bring new industry to south dakota. We have to make positive gains from this. We have to open new technologies that will serve people. We will have a major industry moving in like amazon. People toeasier for get their orders quicker. Will be a big upturn in business is like this. It will make a difference for americans. All of these new industries that we will create will be a positive for north dakota. I agree. Mental and Behavioral Health is a key issue. We have been updating the public and what we have been doing on mental and Behavioral Health. On the unemployment front, we put almost 400 Million Dollars into that employment fun. That took pressure off of unemployment. This will help us get our Energy Sector back on track. Will dollar spent there drive the budget. The fact that is the economic crisis coupled with the isolation. Due to the failed covid response. We need a plan that will battle these diseases of despair. That is an investment in Community Health. We will battle diseases of despair with a full response plan. There are many areas of concern. That will be thanks to education. We will have to come up with many different ways to help our citizens. We might run into a situation where we are never able to control this. This question is from our partners at aarp. With new pathways being made available to the federal government, would you pursue north dakota being able to import Prescription Medication from canada . Safe importation of prescription drugs in canada is a worthwhile avenue to explore. Candidate make sure is willing to negotiate with us. Meantime, we need to lower prescription costs. If i write that his gift into a human pharmacy, it is 800. The difference between the bet clinic and the pharmacist is a multibillion dollar middleman. That entity needs to be transparently processed. Medical prescriptions are getting very costly. Because of our politicians in washington and big pharma. Way thato change the pricing for medical drugs works. How many people can afford 1000 for medication for a week . I cannot. And a note many people who can. I dont see how people can afford to live. We have to make things more streamlined and cheaper for every citizen of our nation. I agree. We want to do everything we can to get a stake in the global market. This included all kinds of drugs that looked perfect and form of labeling. How they were manufactured. They were sent to canada. On canadianailable websites. But there was no medicine in the middle. If we can get the real things at the right price, im all for it. I think i stated my case. The Affordable Care act has been controversial. It is in front of the court again. It was implemented by barack obama. I have spoken up against it. I hope he gets repealed. I think the whole debate around obamacare and the Affordable Care act was misguided. We spent a decade talking about insurance that covers a quarter of the population. We never talk about increasing productivity to lower costs. There are certain aspects that are part of the system. They have helped in north dakota. If we are going to have this debate for another decade, lets talk about how we build healthier communities. I 100 support the aca. Our rural hospitals will become insolvent without it. I want to add north dakota care for all north dakota and. Simply being a resident will to a privatess insurance buying group. It is a coop model. Which works so well in a rural environment. That will give north dakota residents access regardless of what happens on the federal level. I believe we can have cheaper health insurance. Towe would be allowed purchase our health care any state and any company. When they limit our health care. Prior to becoming governor, i had a opportunity to work with companies in health care. We have a 20 trillion economy. For trillion of that is in health care. That is twice the size of the soviet economy in 1989. People think we can somehow regulate a 4 trillion economy. And have the federal economy government control it. These are to federally run systems. I think it is the wrong idea. If the federal government wants ,o do block grants to a state we can take care of rural hospitals that can do it better. The northtion to dakota cares for all north , i wouldd dakotans prioritize investing in Community Health. Making our local Health Officials have access to the resources and tools they need. Along with Community Health members. Our pharmacists are trained in more than just drugs. They can be partners at that local level. Where they are the most trusted members of society. This will improve Preventative Care measures. The next topic is the state budget. A recent survey of north dakota voters showed respondents favored investing within funds inside the state. They should take an additional risk if it means investing in north dakota economic of element. Is this a prudent path to take . We are all in favor. I would want to see the deal flow on that. Sure north dakota and is getting the right return. We have to look at total return. What is the return on investment . To the community . In terms of sales tax . What are the other benefits that might calm . I think theyre real synergies to investing. That is one of the reason we supported the Theodore Roosevelt president ial library. If weys as an endowment can raise 100 million of iva capital. If there are ideas about how we can take the legacy fund and get matches, i will be in the front of that line. I stand with the majority of north dakota and people who believe that money should be invested locally and managed by local people. I think it will generate new revenue. Towill give Food Security our state. Other areas like Higher Education and Soil Sciences and meet sciences. The value added is not just meet. Meat is run by the best Business Models for rural states. Keep the power for the people. And the flexibility in business management. Fund. But i dont want to use that much of it. I believe it is an advantage for north dakota. We have to keep that advantage. We collect a billion dollars in property taxes. The people cannot afford that anymore. They want that money back in their pockets. When we take a look at state finances right now, we know that during covid we were facing a big downdraft with Energy Prices and act prices ag prices. We will go into the end of this with more money. More than 100 million than what we predicted. We healed our balance sheet. We got it back up to 736 million. Reth continuedting roads to get our products to market. That is a good use of the legacy fund. Our infrastructure needs to be funded i dont know if it is to be funded to the legacy by. Thanks for willing as pipelines are optional on. Does are Wise Investments for our nation. We quit shifting oil, we will hardly move it all. How much of that product will we be losing . We have to make our investments. We have been investing significantly in infrastructure in the last four years. The legislature but in 28 million to build her statewide unmanned aerial system. Some of the Top Aerospace companies. These will help with applications for pipeline safety, energy development, the environment, agriculture. There are all kinds of exciting ways to invest in infrastructure. This is the time for us to be building infrastructure. Ag will always come from rural states. They are mean revenue producers. We need to be investing in roads and transportation to get our products to market. Another key piece of infrastructure interstate is the infrastructure that builds resiliency and communities. Making sure we have access to water. Has invested significantly. In my not in fargo. Minot and fargo. This will protect over 24 billion of property. These kinds of projects are supported by the north dakota legislature. They are key for us to continue to have a vibrant, present brilliant community. We will continue to fight for resources. If you have to reduce the state budget, where would you do that . What should be a priority . We should not have to cut the budget. It may be one we have to cut. , we have toom their add to other parts of the budget to take care of what is happening with covid. Because we are running ahead, looks like we will be in pretty good shape. Towe start planning, we have be looking for ways to deliver Government Services cheaper, weter, and more efficiently were able to have people work remotely. I think there are many opportunities for us to reduce costs. Confident that even though the revenue picture looks good, we can continue to have costs out of the budget. Not only hurting services but helping services be more efficient. Kind ofpayers the same experience they get from anyone else. You can interface with them seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The governor had for years to reinvent government and balance the budget. He really just pass the buck to local leaders. Taxes now are 9 . So they can produce a water tower. That is not a balanced budget. That is just passing the buck. We need to increase our revenue. We will have a budget shortfall. We get whatake sure we are owed. We need to take a surgical approach. So many things to do for the citizens of north dakota. I will work with the legislators to trim the budget where we can. Add that to the budgets that really need that money. Dakota progress. We have to take care of our citizens. This is government by and for the people. In terms of water projects, the state Water Commission invested hundreds of millions of dollars in local projects. As far as property taxes, that created over 178 Million Dollars of permanent Property Tax Relief for the citizens of north dakota. It wasnt about having a bigger budget. We have held Strategic Planning meetings with over 57 agencies. We will keep doing that to improve how we do Strategic Planning and budgeting. School measures are not passing anymore due to the continued tax increases. It is october and our children are still not able to safely attend school. They do not have the resources they need. It is time we start investing and ensuring that everyone is paying their fair share. I will ask a followup question. Defendant to dependent on oil . We are very fortunate to have Robust Energy in our state. We should be grateful every day for the work they have done in the prosperity they have brought. All there have been over 20 billion invested in north dakota. This creates a major portion of support. The state of north dakota 10 years ago was paying 25 of local k12 expenditures. Now the state pays 75 . That will be driven largely by the success of the oil industry. 53 of state revenues came from oil. That is not diversifying our economy. We lost energy jobs. We are in competition with 27 other states for the electricity market. We need to continue to be competitive. We have cold plant closings. That will affect whole communities. We have become too dependent on one source of income. He does not have the grit to do it. Coal plant is actually going to shut down. We collect 1 billion every year in property taxes. 700 million of that goes to public schools. We need to start using the trust that 700 million that goes to education out of our property taxes. So we can eliminate property taxes. That makes it much easier. I lost my train of thought. We are getting close to the end of the debate. This question relates to what you were talking about just now. Supportinga has been and all of the above Energy Strategy. With the impending closure of cold creek station, should the state be making an investment to keep the plant open . When i heard it was going to close, that was the first thing i thought of. Does the state have the money to invest in that . Do we have to buy the electrical transmission lines that go with it . That is something i have not been able to answer. We have to maintain all of our energy industries. I am not a fan of windmills. We see so many reports about them. It adds cost to our energy. We dont believe it is environmentally sound until the end of their life. We have to look at positive things in the energy industry. I dont believe putting windmills all over our beautiful landscape is a positive thing. We are committed to in all of the above Energy Strategy in north dakota. We have seen tremendous diversification with all kinds of investments in wind energy. Much of that d