We are live from the studio in rapid city. There are three candidates on the ballot in november. We would like to thank each of you for agreeing to participate in tonights debate. We would like to give viewers a quick rundown of the rules this evening. The debate will be 60 minutes, no commercials. Each candidate will have up to two minutes to respond to a direct question, opponents and will have one minute for a response. The order for questioning and statements were drawn before the show, ms. Clint will go first followed by representative smith, then governor noem. You have one minute for your opening statement. Ms. Quince, we will begin with the. With you. I grew up in the midwest, i have lived in south dakota for quite a while now. Im running for governor because i am not a politician, but i love the state of south dakota and i love the freedoms that we enjoy here in our state. I think i want to make sure that those freedoms continue to be strong and we can continue to build on those and to thrive as a state. And that is why i am here. Representative smith. Thank you. Thank you for having me here today. It is great to be here. Thanks for the people at home for tuning in. Making an informed decision about who you vote for so important. I come from teachers. My wife is a teacher. My mom worked in special ed. My that is a math teacher. I myself was a teacher and coach. Later i had to change the changeover to business. To make a Better Living for our family. In doing so, it gave me the opportunity to be in the south dakota legislature. When i was there, i was able to understand what people are looking for in a leader. What they are looking for is somebody they can trust. Somebody that has the integrity to lead the state. And somebody that will work on their behalf. And that is exactly what i want to do was governor, so thank you again for this opportunity. Governor noem. Good evening. Im not just your governor, i am also a wife, a mom, and a grandma. Ive also been an employee and an employer. All of these experiences have made me who i am. While other states in this country were locking down, mandating masks and vaccines, south dakota chose a different path. We stayed open for business, and today we have the strongest economy in the country. Our incomes are going up faster than any other state. Our kids are outperforming students than anywhere else in this great country. We have done incredible things together. By making sure parents have more control over their kids education. Weve also allowed them to have fairness in girls sports and continued to define your constitutional rights. We have incredible opportunities ahead and i am so looking forward to having this conversation tonight. Ms. Quint, the first question goes to you, governor noem two days ago propose to permanently eliminate state sales tax on groceries. What is your position on that issue . I think that is something that i definitely support. That is something thats been a Long Time Coming and should have been looked at a long time ago. As a libertarian, i think we should be doing everything we can to reduce the tax burden on the citizens of south dakota, and i think that, with that being said, we should definitely take a look into that, especially for things that are essential, such as food. We should be reducing the tax burdens on the people, and those things should be able to be a bods without having the burden of taxes on top of them be able to be bought, without having the burden of taxes on top of them. Representative smith, youve been in favor of eliminating that tax for some time. What would make up for the loss of revenue and eliminating that tax . First of all, thank you for the question and think you for the timeliness of it. We work very hard year after year. We brought this bill that the governor now supports, the year after year. Year after year, its been part of our strategy for what we want to do to help people in the state of south dakota. Because food tax is one of the most regressive taxes there is. So i am glad that the governor now sees that this is what we can do. To replace the revenue, there are lots of Different Things we can look at. One of them would be by using the text that we get when we approve marijuana here in the state. I just find the timing of this ironic, because a governor definitely didnt support this last session. And now five weeks before an election, it is a great idea. So that becomes an interesting thing that was done here, i believe, to stoke the fire here and try to get some people fired up too. Fired up to vote. In responding to a representative smith, this is a different position that you are taking now, how do you respond to people who say that this is just a political tactic . Its not a different decision. I supported and looked at repealing the sales tax on food and groceries last year during the legislative session. In fact, my team in the office worked on it for several days. We worked with our department of revenue to see what the impact would be to the state budget. As i cross the state and im in community after community, over and over again, im hearing about how theyve been have a state of they have been devastated by rising inflation, by the policies coming out of this white house and joe biden supported by jamie smith, driving up gas prices but also food costs. Grocery bills are incredibly difficult for them to make ends meet, while they are paying those increased costs from look, bigs for milk, eggs, basics that they need. I will deliver the largest tax cut in the states history. It will be a 100 million tax cut. We are going to pay for it because we have already increased our revenues by growing our economy. I need to respond to that. We will stick with the rules for right now and we will move on to the next question. I dont get time for rebuttal . She mentioned my name. If i let you do it, we are going to have to let everybody do it on every question, so lets just stick with that, we will if we can come back to it, we will. We will go back to the next question. Mayors on Law Enforcement officials have publicly said they are not in favor of Recreational Marijuana. They say legalizing the drug will not cut down on the black market and would actually negatively affect Public Safety. What is your response to those concerns, and are you in favor of legalizing Recreational Marijuana . You have two minutes for that response. Yes, i am in favor of legalizing Recreational Marijuana. Actually, that was more popular the last election that our current governor. Marijuana was something the people voted for. I believe the will of the people should be followed. When you vote for something, that is something that you, as a leader, need to listen to what the people say. When the people tell you something, you need to follow through on that. We were very disappointed in the last couple of years that we were not able to implement that. I know theyre working through the process that we will have the most robust, safest policies in place in the state of south dakota, and it can be done. So dont believe that it cant be. Dont believe what people are telling you. We know we can learn from other states and we can make the safest, best policy here for the state of south dakota. Have a son in high school. Unfortunately it is easier to get marijuana than it is to get beer, when you are a student. That is what kids tell me. I will tell you what, we need to do something about that. From seed to sale, we will be able to understand where this product is coming from and make sure it is safe. I will follow through and make sure that we have a legal product and we will make sure that we follow through with the will of the people when they vote this november. Governor noem, good evening. South dakota voters approved Recreational Marijuana in 2020 but you helped direct a lawsuit that ultimately led to the measure being ruled unconstitutional, because of the way it was written. As you know marijuana is on the ballot again this coming november. Do you have any reason to challenge the measure this time around, based on its wording . If the measure passes, would you fight it . You have one minute. The people will decide. This appears to be written constitutionally. If it does pass, i will implement it. This goes back to really what authority a governor has and what authority they dont have. We had to during the pandemic, when so many times people were asking the government to do things they didnt have the authority to do. Remember before the pandemic even started, any decisions were made, i sat down with my general and constitutional experts, and i wanted to know what my authority was and what authority i didnt have. Because i believe that when leaders overstep their authority, especially in a time of crisis, that that is really when we break our country. So my job, when i got sworn in as your governor, was to uphold the south dakota constitution, the u. S. Constitution, and when those ballot measures pass that are unconstitutional, it is my job to look at them. This appears to be written constitutionally. If it passes therefore i will implement it. Do you support Recreational Marijuana and what are the concerns about Public Safety of it should be approved . I definitely support the passing of Recreational Marijuana. I want to see the will of the people to be carried out the selection this election. If that is what happens, if people elect that they want it legal, we have to make sure that we implement it. If we can manage where the marijuana is coming from, how it is being produced, we can make sure that the product that ends up coming through is a safe. And that we are not putting dangerous products on the streets. We need to remember that, as the government, we are working for the people, the people are not working for us. Staying with a similar theme with this next question, we will be beginning with governor noem, Medicaid Expansion on the november ballot, many have said having citizens vote on specific issues during elections is one of the best ways to understand what waters really want. But the state seemingly has a history of not abiding by voters decisions, notably Recreational Marijuana 2020. Challenged overturned by the State Government. If voters approve Medicaid Expansion, would you commit to carrying out the will of the voters on this issue . You have two minutes. Once again, looking at this measure, it appears to be written constitutionally. So if the people posit, it will be implemented. Let me cover a few facts on medicaid in our state. Medicaid covers Health Care Costs. For those today in our state that are living in poverty, that may be single moms, senior citizens, those that are disabled, what expansion would do is cover more individuals. It would cover the majority of those who would be younger individuals that are single, ablebodied, able to go get a career here in south dakota and have the potential to earn benefits that would pay their medical bills. The approximate cost of the state of south dakota would be in the future up to 80 million per year. And that is something that we would have to figure out how to pay for. I think when looking at this decision on the ballot, it is good to have the facts of who would be covered, how much it would cost and know we have responsibility in south dakota to balance our state budget. Weve always been fiscally responsible. South dakota has a constitutional requirement to balance the budget and we have done that. Since ive been governor, we put more money into reserves and we have ever done before in our history. We have a aaa credit rating. The best pension fund in the nation. And we are continuing to grow and have the strongest economy in the country. That is something to be proud of. We need to continue to maintain far into the future for the benefit of our kids and our grandkids. One minute on the topic of Medicaid Expansion in south dakota. Like i said before, we work for the people. If that is what they vote for, that is what we will work to implement. We will work to do it in the best way we possibly can, the most fiscally responsible way we can implement it. I do believe there are other ways we can reduce medical costs besides utilizing Medicaid Expansion. But i will be working for the will of the people and if that is what they want in the state, i will work to make sure that that is what happens. Representative smith. One minute on Medicaid Expansion. Medicaid expansion is so important for the state of south dakota. I cant even tell you. I want to tell you a quick story about my wife. We do have insurance. She was able to go in and get a mammogram. Because of that insurance, when they found a little tiny spot, they said, lets do a biopsy. Something didnt look right. When that something didnt look right, they went further with that and she was diagnosed with cancer. Well, because of their early diagnosis, she didnt have to do chemo or radiation or any of those things. What was able to be done is she was able to be six years outright now clean and healthy. I think of another woman three kids, worried about how to pay the bills, works really hard, employer doesnt offer insurance, she looks after her kids instead of taking care of herself. Well, that choice right there could end her life. We could help that woman by expanding medicaid and giving her the opportunity for the insurance she needs to lead a healthy life and be there for her kids. Governor noem, you just mentioned the cost to expand medicaid would be 80 million a year. You have said you dont support expanding medicaid because of the tax increases that would have to happen to pay for it. The fiscal note for amendment d on the ballot notes Medicaid Expansion would produce cost savings that will cover 98 of the states Medicaid Expansion cost. So the net annual cost of south dakota based on the amendment d fiscal note would be around 750,000. Is the information on the state ballot for amendment d true or false . Looking at an analysis of that ballot measure, it doesnt look into the future, what costs would be there, what the response ability of the State Government would be, and three or four years on the road, we are anticipating the annual cost for that Medicaid Expansion ballot measure would be 80 million. One of the things i am incredibly proud of is my work on what weve done in policy and health care in the state. I proposed and brought forward and completed bringing highspeed Internet Access to every corner of the state. So those people who lived in smaller communities that had a tough time getting to health care not only could they get Internet Access, they also could get health care access, right there at home without having to drive all the way across the state to get it. Weve also increased transparency on insurance costs for people. So they knew exactly what insurance was going to cover and what they werent going to cover. We make sure that we were Going Forward and delivering more Mental Health care for those individuals in our state. Knowing what your Health Care Costs are are incredibly important. Thats why we put so much time into doing a two analysis of what individual in the state could incur into the future. Representative smith, your response on the cost of Medicaid Expansion. And repealing the sales tax on groceries. First of all, this has been a net zero and 39 states across our country. They have figured out a way to do this 39 states across our country. When the economists look at it, the same thing that you saw, the fiscal note that was written for this is what they have been finding and states upon states across the country. In states upon states across the country. What is so scary about providing people with the opportunity to get the health care they need . Healthy people can work. Healthy people can work. And that is so important for our state, to have workers that are able to be at work and to do the jobs. We know fulfilling those jobs is an important thing right now. It is very hard for employers. So lets do everything we can to make sure our state is healthy and these folks can get the medical care they need. Expanding medicaid is one way to do that and i support it 100 and it will not cost the state with the governor is saying. Ms. Quint, your response on how you would deal with the cost of Medicaid Expansion. Being a libertarian, adding extra costs to our state is something that i was shy away from personally. But working with other ways to try to look at, what are funding at the state, where some of the low in our government might be, taking a look at that bloat in our government might be, taking a look at that. There are ways we can save money within other realms of government waste and whatnot. They said, adding that much cost to our state as far as Health Care Concerns go, that is something i would definitely take a look at and try to find other ways of saving money in that realm. Thank you. Now to the next question. Governor noem, recent polling from south dakota newswatch shows 65 support leaving the legality of abortion in the state up to voters. Would you support that, or should the decision be left to state lawmakers . What is in this country today is the states. South dakota had a law that was passed in 2005 that today is the law of the land here. And every state will look different and make different decisions. And this is really about supporting women. Thats why we have put forward more opportunities for people to come alongside women. And to make sure they have the opportunity to get Health Care Costs covered. That they have unexpected costs in housing and budget costs met. That people can come alongside them and support them. We also have connected individuals to services that can help them through difficult times that are unplanned. Helping with adoption and foster care. One of the priorities i am passionate about his business legis