Republican Pete Ricketts and Democrat Chuck hassebrook. We welcome those joining us on adt television and radio where they can a. G. Web site and also Nebraska BroadcastersAssociation Member stations carrying us today and welcome to those joining us across the nation on cspan2. We are live tweeting this debate. Use the hashtag and e. T. Debate on twitter to follow us and you can give us your comments during and after the debate on our Facebook Page. For the next hour the candidates will face questions from nebraska journalists and each other. The rules are pretty simple. Each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to the question and if warranted me give a 30second rebuttal. Tonights debate is taking place before a live studio audience. We have asked the audience to refrain from a pausing or cheering because it will only take semifrom the candidates. Before we meet the candidates lets introduce the panel of journalists who will be asking the questions tonight. Fred knapp of net news susan of w. J. Heu radio and adrian of ke tv in omaha. Lets get started. According tot determine the order of our opening and closing statements and we begin tonight with Chuck Hassebrook. Hassebrook i would like to say a special word of thanks to the love of my life my wife kate and our sons dan, todd and peter for joining us as well as my running mate. I am running to get nebraskans working together to build a Better Future in our state for our children and grandchildren to strengthen our middle class, strengthen our communities and create good jobs and genuine opportunity for every community. From the Missouri River in omaha to lincoln into the North Platte River in the panhandle we are one nebraska. Our state can only achieve its full potential if everyone of our neighbors has the opportunity to achieve bears whether they live across the street or across the state. That has been my lifes work helping 10,000 Small Businesses with the center for Rural Affairs and making college at veritable for working students at the university of nebraska on the board of regents. Moderator now we have Opening Statements from Pete Ricketts. Ricketts thank you for muttering tonight and my lovely wife fancies suzanne and my lovely family. My family is from nebraska city. My moms dad was a farmer. My dads dad was a my mom is a public schoolteacher and my dad started a small Nebraska Business when i was 13 years old. In high school there was a dozen people there and when i returned after Business School i helped grow that small Nebraska Business and today ameritrade employs over 2000 people in nebraska. We were able to do that because we figured out ways to deliver services in a better way and we have that same opportunity in State Government. Thats what i will do as your governor. I use my realworld business experience to make government work better for the citizens. The together detailed plans for how we can have tax relief for nebraskans and improve educational outcomes for all of our kids. That is what ill do as governor and i look forward to earning your vote. Moderator thank you. Now that the candidates have made their Opening Statements is time for questions from our panel of journalists. We will begin with redknapp of nat net news with a question for mr. Ricketts. Nebraskas prisons continued to dominate the news. You have both made statements about how you do with the specific problems but id like to ask you to step back and talk about how your leadership style will help prevent or solve problems whether in Corrections Health and Human Services or other state agencies. Ricketts how do we change the culture in State Government . As an outsider looking at it in we have a culture where people were afraid to talk to the bosses to get bad news. So what we have to do is bring about cultural change not only in the department of corrections but throughout State Government and that will require new leadership so whether its the department of transportation or hhs i will do a National Job Search to find that talent that will bring about that change. We need that new leadership. We also need to put in new systems in place to be able to help do the things we do better. For instance with regard to prison calculations. Software might have helped avoid some of the errors in emails going out to the people and need to know about the fourth of prison sentences were. I would be one way to help change the system. [audio difficulty] those are some the way they can address the problems within our prison system. Supervised release and probation officers are another way to help address this. It tend as expensive to hire hire probation officers it is to incarcerate someone. All those things will help us start changing that culture in the department of corrections. Moderator thank you. Mr. Hassebrook. Hassebrook nebraskans are concerned about the dysfunction we see in State Government. The department of health and Human Services is failing to protect our most vulnerable nebraskans. We have been paying tens of millions of dollars at the expense of nebraska taxpayers to the federal government because of failure to follow federal rules. The department of corrections we have released some of the most dangerous criminals before they finish their sentences and even after. The record in prison demonstrates they are a threat to public safety. We released them to prey on our families and is a nebraskans and for omaha and our debt is resolved. As governor the buck will stop at my desk. I will take responsibility. I will be an active, engaged handson governor. I will Pay Attention. I will ask the tough questions until people accountable. There. It looks like we do have the broadcast back. Again back to the nebraska governors race. Mental Health Courts and veteran scores because those are more effective alternatives for folks who just need help getting their lives on track. One thing for sure when im governor announced we are going to stop releasing government dangerous criminals to prey on nebraskans. Moderator thank you mr. Hassebrook. Our next question comes from susan at w. J. G. Radio and mr. Hassebrook will answer for us. A state of nebraska ended with a cash reserve balance of more than 700 million. How much do you think should be in a rainy day and what would you like to do with the balance . Hassebrook that Cash Reserve Fund is critical because i served in elective position for 18 years and i went through three budget downturns. One of the things i learned in sound fiscal management includes saving money in the good time so you can get through the tough times when the budgets go south. We need to keep a healthy financial reserve. I think anything we use that financial reserve for today should not be an ongoing expenditure. We have to keep that in place for the longterm and there may be some critical onetime expenditures we need to make. For example it may be necessary for us to make investments in additional prison space particularly treatment space for prisoners with drug addictions and prisoners with Mental Health problems and we need to have funds in place to make those kinds of critical onetime investments. Im not going to draw down that Rainy Day Fund an ongoing expenditures that we are not going to be able to sustain because sound conservative fiscal management requires that in the good times like we have now you dont just blow it all to live for today. You save it for the longterm safety and sustain State Government sustaining critical investments in our future through the tough times. Moderator mr. Ricketts. Ricketts i would like to come up with what the right number is. I think its overfunded now and in fact less than 700 million more than 500 million might be more appropriate. The way i want to return at his back to the taxpayers. I think this is where you will see contrast between myself and my opponent. I believe those taxpayer dollars should be returned to the taxpayers as soon as possible and i put together Property Tax Relief plan that calls for putting more money to the Property Tax Relief plan specifically to give the sales and income tax relief back to the citizens of nebraska that will benefit all property tax owners. Thats one of the opportunities would have to turn those tax dollars back to the citizens of nebraska to be able to return that to them to get Property Tax Relief. As i have trouble in the state thats number the number one issue talk people talk about his property taxes. Whether talking to a farmer or rancher or omaha property tax will waive and that will be my goal to establish that. Moderator eight is the first question directed toward mr. Ricketts. Use of Income Tax Development project has gone up expat ali since the mid90s until today. Theres currently an interim study in the legislature to look at the use of and now it may impact property tax revenue for local governments. The support tiff to spur Economic Development and how would you change it to use . Ricketts its a tool that can be used effectively or not and ive talked to folks who have used it effectively. Ive also talked to folks who have said its been misused so i think one of the things we can do at the state has put forward some guidelines so local communities maybe have a template for how to establish that but for cause because thats what the kias. If the project wouldnt have the bot fore with the funny thing is probably useful. Its helping to redevelop a specially low economic neighborhoods to help get some of that redevelopment to clear up rolling and establish sewers and streets, those are all good uses for how we use it. This is coming up with how do we set the standards for what the for cause is met because that will help us have more effective use of tiff. Absolutely its a tool that we can have to help as redevelop or have to help is redevelop our neighborhoods and create Economic Activity and certainly one of things we should have in our toolbox for community so they can do that. Moderator mr. Hassebrook. Hassebrook i agree its a valuable tool. Sometimes its appropriately used and sometimes its not appropriately use. The purpose of tif was to help develop those areas that would not otherwise been developed. Areas that were falling behind in prosperity. I think it is used in recent years has grown far beyond that silly to go back and reexamine those guidelines and make sure we are using tif to help develop the areas that need to be developed. One other thing i would say about tif as we have a history in State Government in recent years of passing laws to commit local funds to various projects without bringing one to the table. One thing i would say is that when tif property tax breaks are extended we need to bring all the local governments that are affected to the table so they can have a say in the decision. Moderator we are watching and listening to nebraskas Gubernatorial Debate produced by net is. A reminder we are live tweeting this debate so join in the conversation on twitter at the hashtag net today. We continue now with your questions for candidates Pete Ricketts and Chuck Hassebrook and fred knapp is up next with the question directed first towards mr. Hassebrook. Today 22 of nebraska families with children are headed by a single mother in less than 70 by married couples. Thats a dramatic change from where those numbers were three decades ago. Should nebraska make any changes to respond to this trend and should we consider changing the law to favor to shared parenting and custody cases . Hassebrook im not sure about that. Its an issue i need to study more. I do think that there have been many negative impacts of the breakdown in the family and a growing number of children being raised in one family. One of the challenges we face today is we have a lot of children in nebraska who arent getting what they need at home because parents are so stressed. Many single families are living in poverty. They are stressed for time because they are trying to hold jobs and many of those children dont get what they need at home to prepare them to succeed in kindergarten. We all have a stake in fixing up because of those kids dont succeed in school they are not going to contribute to the states prosperity. They will come back to cost us in special education and public assistance and prisons. I think one of the most important things we can do this expand Early Childhood education and improve the quality of our childcare so those Young Children that are being raised in single families and lowincome families and are dependent on childcare settings that are pretty lowcost childcare settings or lowercost childcare settings can get the quality of care they need to learn and to develop intellectually and as people so that when they get to be adults they can be successful and contribute to our states prosperity prosperity. Well have a stake in making that happen. Moderator mr. Ricketts. Ricketts i have worked with innercity Catholic Schools so ive seen some the challenges are kids in lowincome neighborhoods have. Oftentimes when a child comes to school to kindergarten they havent been read two so they start behind that way and sometimes their nutritional needs. Sometimes they are counseling needs and ive seen the struggles of Single Parents who are oftentimes really challenge to help provide that schooling and do anything else they need to do like their job and everything else. So it is a huge question we face because as one of the fundamental things driving a lot of the troubles they might have been providing the kid a good education. If single parent is working to they have time to spend time with the child to do homework . I know that my house primarily my wife spent hours and hours with their kids until they started getting classes that were above our grade level. With their kids trying to help them through homework it was really a challenge trying to make sure they got that attention. Whats the role for the state u. S. Thats a great question. To me it seems like not every questions going to have a Big Government answer. This is where we need to rely on our civic organizations and thats why its so important we have strong civic organizations in our communities to be able to help work with parents, to help give them the Additional Resources they need. Certainly we can do that through the health and Human Services but at the end of the day one of the things that people need our help as they are going to need our love and the bureaucracy cant love. That has to be done by people in the community. As governor would try to foster those civic organizations trying to encourage them to get involved. Moderator thank you mr. Ricketts. Suzanne reisenberg with the next question. Is the press is close Mental Health facilities in favor of more Community Care some Law Enforcement officials have claimed that their jails and prisons have become dumping grounds for those with Mental Illness. Do you think that nebraska spends spent enough money on Mental Health issues . Hassebrook this is certainly one of issues i have heard about traveling around the state talking to Law Enforcement officials at with regard to issues with regard to people who need Mental Health care. Also having to transport inmates to get Mental Health care can be something that takes a deputy all day. It doesnt appear in anybodys budget but its expensive to the county and that puts pressure on taxes. Its one of the things we have to take a look at and your question is do we spend enough on a . I think this is not so much a question of do we spend enough but how are we spending the dollars and with regard to State Government that is worth i will start in the first place to look at are we using our dollars effectively . Again this is where my real world experience is going to be so helpful because this is what what we have to do at ameritrade all the time. Are the solutions we are providing the most effective ones and infinite there were some point in the past are they still . We need to go back and work and this is one of the reasons why performing hhs will be so important. We need to bring in that transformational leader and this is why it will do a job search to find that person who can come in and help figure out how to have them perform. How do we start changing that culture and State Governments one of continuous improvement. One thing that every successful business has is we are looking to see how we can do things better and Mental Health care with some of things we have seen a pest is