California governor's debate hosted by CBS News California and the San Francisco Examiner

[0:00] the ballots are out but many voters are still undecided tonight seven candidates all vying to [0:09] become the next governor of the golden state making their final case on the issues that [0:15] matter to californians the most this is the scariest part of my trip looking at that price [0:21] i think we need more housing hosted by cbs california and the san francisco examiner [0:27] this is the california governor's debate building inside the julia morgan ballroom here in san [0:40] francisco i'm ryan yamamoto with cbs news bay area i'm joined by tom wait with cbs los angeles [0:46] and skylar hudek prionis editor-in-chief of the san francisco examiner with less than three weeks [0:53] until election day many voters are watching tonight's debate at home with their ballots in [0:58] front of them this is your final chance candidates to speak to them directly and tell them why [1:04] you are the one they should vote for and tonight we're going to bring you stories of real [1:09] californians and the issues that they face we've got several different themes to show you housing [1:15] affordability and climate and each of these topics will be introduced by juliette goodrich [1:21] in our kpix studios here in san francisco san francisco well some ground rules each candidate [1:27] will get one minute to answer our questions 30 seconds for follow-ups and 30 seconds to respond to [1:33] a challenge from another candidate at the moderator's discretion we will also try to get some [1:39] lightning round questions if time does permit and now let's get to our candidates in the spirit of [1:46] getting your message across directly to voters we've asked candidates to prepare opening remarks we begin [1:52] with miss porter please let our viewers know a little more about you and also your top priority if [1:59] elected governor you have one minute californians when you fill out your ballot i want you to think [2:05] of one word trust who can you trust to fight for your family to look out for your best interests to [2:13] actually deliver a more affordable life i'm not a billionaire i push a shopping cart i pay the bills and [2:20] i fill up my minivan unlike others on this stage who have cashed corporate checks from big oil and big [2:26] pharma i'm the only candidate who has rejected corporate contributions when you think about trust [2:33] think about our track records i'll put my track record of delivering for families and putting them [2:39] first up against anyone my record includes keeping californians in their homes during the foreclosure [2:45] crisis going toe to toe with the wealthiest ceos in this country to push them on how workers cannot [2:53] afford to make ends meet and pushing trump to deliver free covid testing for all californians you can [3:00] trust me to fight for you thank you miss porter mr bianco you have one minute thank you so i'm the [3:07] sheriff of riverside county southern california i am the fourth largest sheriff's office in the entire [3:12] country 4500 employees five jails contract cities i have 17 of them i'm the chief of police of 17 cities [3:20] 17 city councils mayors all of those things so i run a 1.3 billion dollar budget per year in the black [3:27] because i believe that government should not be spending more money than what it has i am the only [3:32] person on this stage that has 33 years of proven public service based on integrity honesty character [3:40] transparency and most importantly proven leadership california does not deserve or should we have [3:50] another career politician promising you pie in the sky ideas what we need is a proven problem solver a [3:58] leader who will combat the policies that have ruined most of your lives and make california [4:04] the dream that we all had once again thank you mr bianco mr viaragosa first of all i want to thank [4:11] you all for having us today and all of you for being here for caring enough about this state to to sit [4:17] for an hour and a half and hear us this is a great state a state that's given me more than i could have [4:22] ever imagined growing up on the east side in a single family household with a mother who struggled to make ends meet [4:29] but let's be clear this is a state with big challenges the challenge of affordability the [4:35] challenge of health care homelessness and uh dirty streets and crime-filled streets the fact is i'm [4:43] the only candidate on this stage who in addition to hitting donald trump which i do have challenged us [4:50] challenged this party and said hold it a lot of the problems that we face has come from sacramento [4:57] policies we need someone with the courage to take on donald trump but also take on our friends when [5:05] they're wrong i've had a record of doing that as mayor and speaker i'd be honored to have your support [5:11] thank you mr viaragosa mr becerra you have one minute thank you my parents came to california with [5:18] 12 in their pocket they worked really hard they never had a chance to go to college but they gave my [5:24] three sisters and i that very opportunity and as a result we got to live the california dream but [5:30] too many families today don't believe that the california exists today for them that's why i've [5:37] been fighting all my public life to make sure that people get to experience what a construction worker [5:42] and a clerical worker without a college degree had a chance to do that's why i fought to protect the [5:47] affordable care act when donald trump tried to eliminate it the first time he was president and i took [5:51] him all the way to the supreme court and we beat him that's why i had to go at him toe to toe over [5:56] and over more than 120 times when i was attorney general and we beat him whether it was saving the [6:01] daca program or whether it was making sure that we protected our families against ice we fought and we [6:06] won we're going to do the same thing again because today it's housing it's health care people want a [6:12] fighter people want someone with experience i hope to gain your vote thank you mr becerra mr mayhan [6:18] california i want to speak to you directly we need change everything is too expensive and our state [6:24] isn't working for working families the change we need is rooted in accountability for results it's not [6:31] to change billionaire tom steyer's offering which is higher taxes and bigger government it's not to [6:36] change fox news talking head steve hilton's offering fear division and more donald trump and [6:42] let's be honest javier becerra is not offering change he's the embodiment of the status quo [6:48] as mayor of san jose i have led us to reduce homelessness by one-third we've made our city [6:53] the safest big city in the nation we're building thousands of homes for working families that's the [7:00] kind of change we need real results challenging the establishment to make government deliver for [7:07] working people i'm asking for your vote not for me for our kids and our grandkids who deserve a brighter [7:14] future mr mayhem thank you mr hilton you have one minute the change we need is away from the policies [7:22] that have brought us to the situation that all the people on this stage describe there's a difference [7:28] though only two of us here actually represent real change away from that like millions of people before [7:35] me i came to this state in search of a dream like my parents who left communist hungary to england in [7:41] search of freedom i was brought up in a working class immigrant family i made it to oxford university [7:49] started a business worked in 10 downing street came here in 2012 with my wife and my two sons taught [7:57] at stanford started a business and now leading the race for governor i want every single one of [8:03] you to know that i see you i believe in you i won't accept that the california dream is something [8:09] we talk about in the past tense wherever you want to go i want to clear the barriers away more money [8:15] in your pocket your first hundred grand tax-free enough with the bureaucracy and the nonsense we [8:22] will restore the california dream thank you mr hilton mr steyer you have one minute i'm running for [8:28] governor because californians can't afford to live in california anymore 15 years ago i walked away from [8:34] my business and dedicated my life to fighting for working californians in that time i've taken on [8:40] corporate interests over and over and i've never lost and that's exactly what i expect to do as [8:46] governor i'm going to take on this special interest and lower costs for working californians i'll build [8:51] a million homes californians can afford i will get single-payer health care because it's not right [8:58] that families have to choose between food on the table and seeing a doctor and i'll break up the [9:03] electric monopolies and reduce electricity costs by 25 this is the richest state in the richest [9:09] country in the history of the world it is unacceptable that so many californians are struggling to make [9:15] ends meet and let me say the powers the corporate powers that be are spending tens of millions of [9:20] dollars against me because they know i'm the only one who's threatening their profits if you want real [9:25] change in california i'd be honored to have your vote tomorrow tonight and let's get this done together [9:31] thank you mr steyer and thank you candidates let's go back to juliet inside our kpix studios with our [9:36] first topic affordability ryan thank you so california has the highest gas prices in the nation by far [9:44] add in increasing grocery prices utilities and the costs really add up lenner mirrors introduces us [9:50] to a working mother who's making some tough choices every single day to make ends meet behind the wheel and [10:04] with one of her little ones riding in the back grace is doing the math before she even reaches the gas [10:09] station this is insane like and so for this single mother of two her plan at the pump changed with the [10:16] surging prices i don't fill up my car anymore at all i am lucky if i put like a quarter to a half tank [10:25] grace works at a substance abuse recovery center and she's a full-time student at san jose city college [10:31] she hopes to transfer to san jose state university and earn a degree in social work i want my kids to look [10:37] up to me and see a mom that is doing everything she can to try to support them but on trips to the [10:44] grocery store like this her finances dictate that every purchase is calculated skip this one and i go for [10:51] this one because it's a little cheaper then she comes to the meat counter this is the scariest part of my trip [10:58] i'm looking at that price 18 i'd probably go with more something on this line because this will last [11:04] me two days probably at the checkout counter just these few items add up to a price she can afford but [11:12] it's not much for 41 i want to improve for my children's sake because they're my everything that's [11:19] why it's hard in this economy it's really hard because you have to balance a lot of balancing [11:27] i love you say hi miss porter for many like grace the california dream can feel completely out of [11:37] reach how will you lower costs across the state you have one minute i have four concrete policies to [11:44] lower costs the first is less expensive housing that takes the biggest bite out of most people's [11:51] paychecks so it has to be our governor's top priority if we build faster the same speed as our [11:58] competitor states then housing costs here will be 10 to 20 percent cheaper second if housing isn't your [12:05] biggest expense it might be because you have young children free child care will make our entire [12:11] economy grow it's not just something we do for kids it's something we do for everyone to help our [12:16] economy boom third free tuition at our state universities this is something california used to have [12:24] it's putting money right back in the pocket of young families that we want to stay here in our state [12:30] and last an idea that i took from republican steve hilton because i'll take good ideas even if they come [12:36] from that guy is eliminating california state income taxes on those earning less than one hundred thousand [12:43] dollars thank you miss porter mr steyer the cost of tariffs are hitting californians at the kitchen table [12:50] as governor what would you do to offset the impact of federal tariffs you have one minute so as i said [12:58] the biggest problem in california is affordability and it goes to every part of this economy it goes [13:06] starting with housing it goes directly to health care it goes to or the cost of gasoline at the pump [13:14] the electricity that you pay in your house and it very much goes to food and in every one of those there [13:20] is a special interest that is killing it by driving up costs for californians and in every one of those [13:27] we're not going to get an answer unless we make structural change and we take on those special [13:32] interests and i am the person on this stage in every one of those areas who is taking them on i am the [13:38] person who will tax the billionaires like me and the big corporations so we can afford to make the changes [13:45] so we can pay for health care so we can pay for great education we need structural changes we need [13:51] to break the monopolies and get lower costs across the board for californians thank you mr steyer mr [13:58] mayhan as miss porter stated child care costs have risen dramatically around the state and many [14:03] californians pay more for child care than they do for housing what steps would you take as governor to [14:09] lower child care costs you have one minute thanks the answer is to lower costs across the board starting [14:15] with the issues we have the most control over i've called for suspending the gas tax and reforming [14:21] it so that ev owners pay their fair share for maintaining our roads in san jose we've removed [14:28] one-time fees that make housing more expensive than it should be and reform permitting which has gotten [14:33] thousands of homes under construction so the answer is to put more money in people's pockets by bringing [14:39] down costs tom steyer's structural trade change sounds to me more like socialism his plans literally [14:47] would double the size of state government that's not going to drive affordability steve hilton is [14:52] touting his donald trump endorsements you've got tariffs and wars driving up costs nobody's talking [14:57] about how they're going to pay for anything let's bring down costs by building housing making energy more [15:03] abundant reforming the gas tax pulling down the unnecessary costs that we've imposed through [15:09] failed policies that's the fundamental answer mr steyer you have 30 seconds and i will come to you mr hilton [15:15] so let me say if he thinks that the oil companies are the good guys that's news to me i've been fighting [15:21] the oil companies and they are taking advantage and ripping us off at the pump as a result of this war [15:26] in iran and that's a buck fifty a gallon that they are costing and go up a penny if you think the [15:31] electricity of the electric monopolies are doing us a favor and we should be nice to them let me say [15:36] this they're charging us twice as much as everybody else in the united states of america those are the [15:41] people who i'm going to be taking on the people who are using their market power to rip off californians [15:46] and make our costs go through the roof thank you mr steyer mr hilton you have 30 seconds i love the way matt [15:52] um talks about how he's going to lower costs when his city was recently rated the most expensive the [15:59] least affordable for housing in the world that's why we're fixing it he's why we're building that's [16:04] why we're building housing steve that's how it works he's not fixing it because he's not fixing it [16:09] because we're building housing are as high this year as they ever were all the plans he talks about have [16:15] not actually reduced the cost of housing because fundamentally he supports the policies that have made [16:22] housing and gas the most expensive in the country we need to change from those policies not more of [16:28] the same i mean steve you came to san jose to see our success on interim housing now you're against it [16:33] because i'm in the race i mean come on you're talking out of both sides mr hilton thank you mr [16:36] mahan mr viragosa people are leaving california our population has been dropping over the course of [16:42] the last several years and many of the people who are leaving are making north of 200 000 a year [16:49] how do you reverse that trend you have one minute let's be clear sacramento is too expensive this is [16:55] the toughest state to do business in the united states of america including for small business [17:00] that we have the highest gas prices uh on average two dollars a gallon more and the fact is it's not [17:07] iran uh that's the only reason because that's picked it up another dollar uh the fact is it's sacramento [17:14] policies you know we've made it impossible for refineries to exist some of you know valero just [17:20] down the way they're closing they're all closing a dozen of them have closed they they produce the [17:27] cleanest fuel in the united states of america the fact is uh we've got to address this affordability [17:33] issue and look in the mirror and say what have we done wrong what do we need to do to address that [17:39] affordability thank you mr villaragosa mr bianco cuts in washington have resulted in healthcare [17:46] premiums for programs like covered california to skyrocket many people are dropping their plans and [17:52] are just uninsured what will you do to bring people back into insurance plans and how will you lower [17:58] premium costs to help keep californians covered you have one minute yeah i'll get into that but the [18:04] first thing that we have to realize and we've seen from the last three debates and this is i can already [18:08] see this is going to be the fourth when your three-year-old writes on the wall with a marker [18:12] you don't give him a gallon of paint and let him fix it we are in this position because every single [18:18] person up here and the decisions and the the the policy decisions and the policy directions [18:24] that they have supported throughout their careers that have put us here and you're listening to the [18:28] same things you're listening to 30 years of more tax regulation and free stuff and you think that the [18:34] cost of living is going to go down you think the cost of health insurance is going to go down [18:39] that is why all of these costs are going up so when you eliminate the regulation you eliminate [18:44] the excessive business taxes that are forcing people out of this state then you can fix government [18:50] you do not fix government with the same tired old policies of bribing you with free things for an [18:56] election and then four years later we're going through the same conversation because nothing changes you've [19:02] got to vote for something different mr bianco could you explain how you would keep people on their [19:07] insurance plans with health care premiums going up number one we wouldn't have to worry about health [19:14] care insurances going up because of washington if california managed its finances we are we want to blame [19:21] everything about california donald trump was named 10 times in the opening statements we want to [19:28] blame one year of donald trump on 30 years we are going to fix the financial problem in california [19:36] caused by all of these the waste the fraud the abuse the excessive fraud embezzlement and abuse in [19:42] our medical system that allows that to happen in the first place you've had a 60 percent increase in [19:47] your budget since you've been sheriff thank you mr vieira goza right mr becerra comment mr becerra the [19:56] trump administration announced just yesterday it will withhold 1.3 billion in medicaid payments [20:01] to california over hospice fraud as governor how would you crack down on health care fraud [20:07] in the state you have one minute brian the same way i did it when i was attorney general we established [20:13] a bureau that dealt with medi-cal fraud working with the federal government unfortunately trump is a [20:19] problem because trump took a trillion dollars out of the health care system out of the medicare or the [20:25] Medicaid and the medical system trump is now trying to deprive california of another billion dollars [20:31] in health care for medical he doesn't have the right to do that you still have to prove that there's been [20:36] fraud and abuse he is in advance taking money even though he hasn't proven in court what he's done [20:41] so we should go after him the way i had to do over 120 times when i was attorney general we will fight [20:47] to get those tax subsidies under the affordable care act back for california families we will fight to [20:52] make sure we get the money that we sent to the federal treasury for medi-cal in california because [20:58] otherwise three million californians are in jeopardy of losing their health care we won't let trump get [21:03] in our way and whether it's the trump uh gas tax because he's reincreased the fight uh the price by going to [21:09] war in iran or whether it's the tariffs that are taxed we're going to fight against trump thank you mr [21:13] becerra on the issue of health care do you believe in single-payer health care i absolutely have said over and [21:20] over yes i do yes i let me just be consistent i i have medi-cal for all is a form of single-payer [21:27] for more than 30 years i have been a proponent an author of legislation for medicare for medicare for [21:32] all which is a form of single-payer and i've done that over and over now what i will tell you is this [21:37] ryan what we have to do because people in california don't care what you call it at the end of the day [21:42] what they want is access to a doctor when they need it and a bill that they can afford to pay and that's [21:48] what we'll do and when i was secretary i advanced more coverage for more americans than ever before [21:53] and we lower prices thank you mr becerra mr hilton as someone who has lived in uk under a single-payer [21:59] health care system you have been highly critical of it and said as governor the only way to bring [22:04] health care costs down is to stop covering illegal immigrants what do you say to voters who believe [22:09] health care is a right and not a privilege you have one minute well i don't think it's fair [22:14] that california taxpayers who can barely afford their own health coverage should be paying for [22:19] the health care of citizens of other countries and if you look at the um record of javier it's exactly [22:27] what chad was just saying that you cannot believe that any change will come from these people he as [22:34] health secretary dismantled the unit and hhs that were supposed to crack down on fraud billions of [22:42] dollars of fraud as a result of his rule as hhs secretary and there's another point i think we [22:49] have to acknowledge we learned today that javier implicated in this corruption scandal today we [22:57] learned that he knew about illegal and improper payments from his campaign account to his former [23:05] chief of staff honestly and it pains me to say because i like you personally javier but you shouldn't [23:11] be on thanks a lot you shouldn't be in this race you should be preparing your criminal defense thank [23:17] you mr hilton mr bacero you'd like to respond you have 30 seconds sure with with with friends like [23:23] that who needs enemies right uh first it's hard to respond to lies we did not dismantle we actually [23:30] increased oversight in fact in fact what we did was we increased oversight over nursing homes because [23:35] nursing homes had been the place where more deaths occurred as a result of covid so we actually [23:41] increased oversight and what i will tell you is this the record speaks for itself steve under my watch [23:47] we went to more than 300 million americans who had health care coverage that was far beyond what donald [23:51] trump your daddy gave us and we are going to continue to move forward in california mr bacero would you [23:56] like to respond to the the federal charges that he had brought up if you were elected into the top two [24:01] uh election runoff in november can you guarantee that will not be a distraction uh i can because [24:08] as i've said from day one i was not involved in the wrongdoing i had nothing to do with that i did [24:14] nothing wrong and don't take my words for it take the words of the uh u.s attorney who said no candidate [24:21] running for governor has been implicated in this particular matter so steve you may not want to accept [24:28] it but the truth is what it is you don't get to make up the facts the facts are the facts let's talk [24:34] about your chief of staff who said that you knew about these payments let's talk about if i can [24:40] respond to that if i can respond to that respectful the the district uh the the prosecuting attorney in [24:46] the u.s attorney's office is the one that handled this case steve unless you tell me otherwise i don't [24:51] think you've gone to law school but the u.s attorney did say and katie to your point [24:58] then the the the u.s attorney has said no candidate including me uh running for governor has been [25:05] implicated in this case and they looked at all the facts and decided that there was no involvement [25:10] on my part they want to continue to repeat saying that i get it because it's a campaign except the [25:15] facts let me just say this javier you're saying accept the facts let's go to the videotape let's [25:24] trust the people who are saying it when it comes to single payer you went and talked to the largest [25:29] lobbying group against single-payer in the state of california and the head of that group the next [25:33] day said you very clearly indicated you were against single-payer and i didn't just say it [25:38] for better they didn't just say it they endorsed you and they gave you the maximum amount of money [25:43] that they can give a candidate so are they lying they clearly gave you the money they clearly gave you [25:50] the endorsement and they clearly stated that's what you said miss porter so respectfully mr becerra you [25:57] your quote at the end drifted off a little bit from the words what the quote was was that you had [26:04] not been mentioned in the charging documents that is in the indictment of dana williamson your long-term [26:11] chief of staff sean mccluskey or greg campbell but as you know that does not preclude because you are [26:17] also a trained attorney you know that does not preclude an indictment from being issued against [26:23] you we do not know what dana williamson said about your involvement and the government if i can respond [26:32] will have the ability to reveal that later the last word thank you yeah i mean look i'll let the lawyers [26:39] battle that one out but there's also a lot of fraud that happened under javier's watch that we know about [26:44] let's just stick to the facts as attorney general for the state of california as hhs secretary javier [26:51] becerra oversaw a growing bureaucracy that we now know put out 32 billion dollars worth of fraudulent [27:01] unemployment claims billions of dollars of fraudulent hospice claims he wasn't minding the shop i mean [27:07] the biden administration had to sideline him during covid this is not the leadership we need thank you sir [27:13] mr becerra your final word this is what happens when you take the lead in the polls and you're ahead [27:19] of everyone else they all come at you so i get it i'm getting in the polls i think i get it i get it [27:26] i get it so they have to try to bring it down this is a great trump tactic that's used i didn't expect [27:32] it to come from fellow democrats but it's coming but here's what i will katie i will quote to you what [27:36] the u.s attorney said no candidate running for governor has been implicated in this case you may not [27:43] like that but that's what the u.s attorney said thank you mr becerra thank you candidates we're [27:48] going to take a very quick break we'll be right back with more issues including housing climate [27:53] ai and much more welcome back to the governor's debate we want to get to our next topic housing [30:15] owning a home may be the american dream but for many people like the couple you're about to meet it is [30:21] simply out of reach max darrow has their story on a walk along san francisco's embarcadero joe mortimer [30:34] and kate youding are grateful they've found a home in the bay area but to them that word home is [30:40] synonymous with renting we are told somewhat regularly that renting is a waste of money [30:46] and homeownership is better like long term just feels impossible our mortgage taxes hoa everything [30:52] else would be twice what we pay in rent right now they're both working professionals and their [30:57] experience of homeownership seeming unattainable isn't unique we need more supply no matter the supply [31:03] in 2022 california set a statewide goal of hitting 2.5 million new housing units by 2030 governor newsom [31:11] has made changes to sequa and streamlined permitting and approval processes but according to a public [31:16] policy institute of california analysis 677 000 new housing units have been constructed in the golden [31:22] state over the past six years the whole process has been over simplified san mateo resident laurie heater [31:29] thinks there is a better way to approach the situation building more has not brought the prices down i just [31:36] want to see thoughtful planning and the city taking action to save some of the remnants of the history of san [31:44] mateo paving the way for a sustainable future while keeping character intact mr becerra more housing supply [31:52] could help people like katie and joe reach their goal and their dream of owning a home here in california [31:59] we've been falling short in the state of building as much housing as we need what is your specific [32:05] target for new housing units per year you have one minute realistically given that we've seen about [32:12] a hundred a little more than a hundred thousand units built over the last few years if we can double [32:17] triple that get it to about 300 000 that would be a pretty good achievement we have to go beyond that [32:23] but let's start to unstick the process let's streamline the regulatory process so that we can get [32:28] uh developers through the process much quicker let's ask our local governments to stop imposing so [32:33] many impact fees let's try to make sure that we're working with the local governments to have a statewide [32:38] coordinated housing policy so it makes sense where we build how we build let's make sure where it's densely [32:44] populated we go up we build by transit let's make sure in newer communities we take into account fire hazards [32:51] and let's make sure that we take into account what property insurance costs because it's hard to buy a house [32:56] if you can't afford the property insurance for it and so we will do a number of things that's why [33:01] i've said i will declare a state of emergency when i become a governor to make sure we have the [33:05] ability the authorities of the governor's office to move this as quickly as possible thank you mr [33:10] becerra mr villaragosa what would you do in your first 100 days in terms of concrete steps [33:17] to increase housing supply you have one minute well let me tell you what i did speaker i got the cbia [33:24] building industry uh legislator of the year for capping fees because we were charging fees that made [33:32] it impossible to build when i was mayor of los angeles i built more market rate workforce affordable [33:38] and homeless housing in eight years in the middle of a recession than i did than they did in the 12 [33:43] years before me the next governor's gonna have to do the following we got a streamline permitting [33:49] uh we've got to put like a nipa a standing rule that it has to be on the environment not anything you [33:55] want today you can sue from richmond virginia for a project in richmond california that's unacceptable [34:01] we've got to fix our broken uh zoning laws and we've got to put a one-stop permitting uh all across [34:10] the board not just for the state but require that cities and counties do the same thing thank you mr [34:15] villa-ragosa over to you mr hilton republicans typically and traditionally defend local control [34:22] as governor what would you do to cities would you punish them if they fail to meet housing production [34:28] targets you have one minute no instead of trying to force housing into places that don't want it we [34:34] need to build housing in the places that do want it and i'm afraid all this conversation around housing [34:40] we're not thinking big enough it's all just fiddling around the edges it's a crisis here in california [34:46] so many young people i see they've given up on the idea that they could ever own their own home we need [34:52] to build outwards not just upwards with apartment buildings shoved into suburban neighborhoods you know [34:57] that only six percent of our land is developed in california we could increase that to seven percent [35:03] and there would be room for 10 million households and single family homes so that young families could see [35:09] their kids play outside in california we need to think big again back to the days when we used [35:15] to build amazing things in california the suburbs of southern california the state water project we should [35:21] be thinking about how we restore the ambition the abundance of california mr hilton thank you [35:28] ms porter some of your opponents have stated homelessness is not a housing issue but instead [35:34] a drug alcohol and mental health issue as governor what do you do to get people off the [35:39] streets who refuse service and do you disagree with that statement you have one minute so [35:43] homelessness comes in a variety of forms homelessness includes families that are crowded together three [35:49] and four into a one-bedroom apartment we heard those stories during covid those people didn't go away [35:55] they're still overcrowded includes foster youth who are aging out of foster care and often couch surfing [36:01] students on our dorm our campuses who are living in their cars but yes people who are chronically [36:08] unsheltered who live on the streets very often have severe health mental health and substance use [36:14] issues being on the street is a big risk factor for developing those things if you didn't have those [36:20] problems already we need to provide treatment for people and we need to provide a process simply [36:26] putting someone in jail and holding them for a day or two does not give them any meaningful treatment [36:33] sure they're not there tomorrow when you drive by but they'll be there two days later you need to [36:38] have a pathway into treatment i think we should revise the care court to be much more effective than [36:43] it's been thank you miss porter mr bianco in riverside county you've actually recently seen [36:47] the number of unsheltered dropped 19 and many credit a collaboration of the county and the 5 000 [36:53] active non-profits in your region but you have said as governor quote every single bit of money [36:58] going to non-profits and ngos for homelessness ends the day i take over so the question is how would [37:04] that impact your county you have one minute it will impact them for a few minutes while they reach out [37:09] and say this is what we're doing and you're going to cause all of these people to be put back on the [37:14] street and then we will give them their money back and then the thousands upon thousands upon thousands [37:19] of ngos and non-profits that don't come asking for their money back and showing us how many people are [37:23] going to be affected we'll arrest all of those because that's where the waste the fraud and the [37:28] abuse is happening in the homeless industrial complex this is not about homes it's never been [37:33] about homes we take a different approach in riverside county we actually offer them the mental health [37:38] and the drug treatment that they need and the alcohol treatment that they need we do it very [37:43] different and it involves arrest we put them in the jail i don't want them there but that's the first [37:49] start and then we get them into the housing the transitional housing we get them into the care that they [37:53] need we get them into mental health treatment we get them into drug and alcohol treatment so we can [37:58] help them get rid of their addiction get rid of their mental illness state that they find themselves [38:03] in to get them back to the homes and family that they already have thank you mr bianco mr steyer care [38:10] court conservatorship and involuntary treatment reforms have produced uneven results across counties [38:16] would you sign a law expanding involuntary commitment criteria so let me say this nobody gets well [38:22] on the street the people who show up on the street only one in seven of them have a serious mental [38:27] health issue so my job as far as i'm concerned would be to keep people off the street by giving them [38:32] rental assistance by getting them off the street as fast as possible into emergency interim housing [38:37] to places they want to go and after repeated uh addresses yes i would ask people to get i would [38:45] force people to go into treatment but let me say this i want to talk about housing because housing is the [38:49] biggest problem in the state of california and people aren't being realistic about it yeah we [38:54] need permit reform and i'm going to do that too yes we need zoning reform i've pushed for both of those [38:59] we need to construct houses differently because it's far too expensive we have tens of thousands of [39:04] permitted zoned units we're not building and mostly i will call a special election to close a corporate [39:10] real estate tax loophole so we can use that money to get the cities to actually agree to build housing [39:16] that is the big problem they are dragging their feet and they don't want it because they can't afford [39:21] the people who are going to live in those houses and anyone who's not talking about that [39:25] isn't talking realistically about how we're going to build a million houses in the next four years [39:30] thank you mr steyer mr mahan californians are frustrated about how intractable a problem [39:35] homelessness has been what is the quiet part that politicians aren't saying out loud about why this [39:41] problem has been so intractable look san jose has created the model that the entire state needs to [39:47] adopt and as governor i'll hold every city and every county accountable for doing its part in fact [39:53] half of the candidates on this stage have come to san jose to see our success with interim housing [39:58] we're investing in prevention so fewer people become homeless we're building shelter and interim housing [40:04] we're building treatment capacity and when it's available we are requiring that people come [40:09] indoors and we don't have to throw everybody in jail like the sheriff would do we actually petitioned [40:14] to get them into drug courts mental health courts and katie's right the care courts need to be more [40:19] robust and get more people into treatment but just back on housing i i have to disagree with javier [40:25] bacera again his big plan on housing costs is to cap insurance which is how we lost the insurance [40:31] companies in the first place that's not going to work and he didn't have a housing plan until a week ago [40:37] that he couldn't explain at the forum with the new york times how it wouldn't actually raise costs [40:42] it's not a credible plan for bringing down costs mr bacera i want to give you a minute to answer but [40:47] we also want to follow up on that and ask what the revenue plan is yeah so once again it's uh it's [40:54] amazing how people don't read plans and they they try to interpret what other people are saying what i [41:00] will say to you matt is this we know what we need to do to try to construct we have to reduce the the [41:07] regulations that are keeping developers from being able to pencil out projects we know that local [41:12] governments are very afraid of trying to move too quickly your party if i could just finish if i could [41:17] just finish steve and so what we have to do is leave a word he's saying his party increased those [41:23] regulations mr hilton mr bacera please finish yeah so it's not rocket science what we do have to do is [41:30] take advantage of what we know can be done quickly there are 40 000 shovel ready projects affordable [41:36] units ready to go if we could just help find the financing when i declare that uh emergent state [41:42] of emergency when i get in we will find the money to get those projects on the way and i will tell you [41:48] this if you don't believe that we can deal with high home insurance rates matt then you shouldn't be [41:54] running for government we're actually bringing down i'm gonna actually really quickly he didn't answer the [41:58] question i'm sorry the point i was i'm gonna tell you most families are if i could just finish the [42:03] voters gentlemen california voters want to hear everyone's perspectives as recline had to ask him [42:08] four times i do want to actually give mr vieragosa an opportunity but in fact i could just finish [42:13] the sentence what is his revenue plan if i could just finish the sentence and say raise your hand if [42:18] you want to hear mr becerra plan mr becerra it'd be easy to respond if i didn't get interrupted every time i was [42:25] trying to go ahead and finish and i'm going to go to mr vieragosa and then we will move on thank you [42:30] so i i think it's unfortunate for people for candidates who believe that home insurance costs [42:36] casualty insurance costs are okay and not try to take this head on grab that bull by the horns because [42:42] too many families are not able to afford their places their homes because how uh home insurance rates [42:48] have gone sky high i will tackle that and watch price caps don't work it is thank you mr becerra mr [42:55] vieragosa i want to give you 30 seconds well first of all let me be clear uh we've spent 24 billion [43:02] dollars on homelessness and sat from sacramento and homelessness went up everybody the fact is there [43:08] is waste and fraud the fact is we've got to do something about it yes we can streamline permitting [43:14] and do some of the things that you said mr steyer but at the end of the day it takes leadership [43:20] everybody there's no one on this stage that has the record and and both as mayor and speaker to do [43:27] a lot of this just pie in the sky mr steyer we're going to give you 10 seconds quick seconds let me say [43:34] this there's no one else on this stage who actually has a plan to get the cities and counties on their side [43:39] there's no one on this stage who has a plan for finance my wife and i have financed 17 000 low-income [43:45] housing units and there's no one on this stage who knows how to build houses for a third less [43:50] which we do thank you mr steyer thank you candidates let's get back to juliet in the studio [43:54] with our next topic climate and the environment all right thank you so california has been a leader [44:01] when it comes to investing in green energy and preventing climate change but at what costs max [44:07] darrow gives us a look whether on the coast in the mountains in the valley or on the bay where emma [44:17] greenbaum takes a stroll i think anyone living in california can kind of see the changes to our [44:22] climate she's the project director for climate and landscapes at the exploratorium our whole way of [44:27] life here would change if nothing is done about sea level rise and nothing is done about climate change [44:33] an educator she says california is looked at as a leader globally with its approach to climate change [44:38] really the world does look to us not everywhere in the country are you know states acknowledging climate [44:44] change or really asking communities to plan or supporting those communities in doing so according [44:51] to a 2025 survey from the public policy institute of california most californians think that the effects [44:56] of climate change have already begun and view climate change as a serious threat to california's [45:01] future economy and quality of life six and ten support the state goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions [45:07] and 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. in recent years some refineries have shifted towards producing [45:14] renewable fuels but others have shut down or threatened to leave the golden state when it comes to [45:19] shaping and planning for the future we have a tremendous opportunity um and it's here for us to take [45:26] but i hope we don't miss it and mr bianco many californians like emma believe climate change is real and [45:34] already impacting the state so my question is do you believe climate change is happening and as governor [45:40] how would you approach california's current environmental policies you have one minute [45:45] well unfortunately for her there are no other states in the country that are doing what california [45:50] is because they looked at us and they said hey they're destroying their state we're not going to do that [45:54] that is the reason why we can no longer afford to live in california [45:59] do i believe in climate change of course we can say that temperatures are increasing is are we going [46:05] we've been threatened since i was a little kid of being in an ice age of california being non-existent [46:11] because the oceans was we're going to rise it's not going to happen am i naive enough to believe that [46:17] human beings can affect it no what california has done in the last 30 years in climate change and and [46:25] taking care of the environment with co2 and everything that they're doing was eliminated with the [46:30] palisades fire we have to be realistic about what we are doing how we are going to compensate for the [46:37] earth's environment changing and stop destroying california with unbelievable excessive regulations [46:44] that are truly environmental activist related that are destroying our state's ability to do [46:50] everything including housing thank you mr bianco mr hilton as advisor then prime minister david cameron [46:55] you're credited as the mastermind of his green campaign but you said if elected you would dismantle [47:01] california's climate policy so i'll ask you do you believe in climate change you have one minute yeah [47:07] and we need to have common sense on climate change not ideology that ends up being counterproductive and [47:14] exactly as chad said hurting every small business and family and everyone in california [47:19] i'm an environmentalist we love our beautiful natural landscapes our climate here in california [47:25] we've got to protect that clean air clean water of course that's right but look at some of the things [47:30] that we're doing in the name of climate change the wildfires that occurred in the sierras in 2020 [47:36] because the forests weren't managed properly the co2 emissions from that one year of mega wildfires [47:43] wiped out all the savings from climate policy in the previous 20 years look at what's going on with [47:49] our gas prices the highest in the country because instead of getting oil and gas from our own [47:54] oil production here in california we are shipping it 7 500 miles in giant super tankers spewing out [48:02] carbon emissions in the name of climate we are increasing carbon emissions we need some common sense here [48:08] thank you mr hilton mr mahon california households face rising utility bills while the state pushes [48:14] for more electricity to power the state how do you make clean energy transition affordable you have one [48:20] minute yeah this is the key question it's why i find it such a head-scratcher that steve hilton talks [48:25] about protecting the environment and then his housing plan is let's just build out as far as we can [48:29] that's going to be great for the climate for fire risk for our daily commutes it's going to be just [48:34] have we had wonderful i think thank you for actually traveling across california and thank [48:38] you for admitting why we don't really why he uh why would he i hope i get this extra time probably [48:44] why when he got pushed out of government in britain he said the country was ungovernable i'm looking [48:49] forward to what he does in california um i'm going to correct them so there's a lot of there's a lot of [48:55] that you would continue there's a lot of talk there's a lot of talk on this stage i've actually [48:59] taken action i held our utility pg e accountable for harnessing the investment of big tech companies [49:06] to hold them accountable for paying for grid upgrades so if they want to build a new r d lab [49:12] or data center we ensure that they pay the full cost of modernizing the grid and we can be even [49:18] smarter right now in the middle of the day california dumps extra solar i get extra time i hope because i [49:24] got interrupted about ten times this is the insanity of our current policies in the middle of the day [49:30] the cost of power because of abundant solar drops to zero we pay arizona to take our extra power what [49:36] we should be doing is paying ev owners to charge in the middle of the day plug in at night and power [49:43] the grid we need smarter policies that don't put the burden of achieving our climate goals on the backs [49:49] of working families thank you mr hilton i'm going to give you 30 seconds to respond look um i don't [49:56] know if you know how many evs are on the roads in california the proportion the idea that that's going [50:04] to actually half of the vehicles purchased in santa clara county are evs millions on you actually know [50:10] the number man statewide yeah how many steve do you know it's about a million it's no the percentage of [50:15] our vehicles on the road ten percent yeah and it's seven percent and he wants to power our power [50:21] grid with that it's a lot of batteries this is what you get tell me the math on the batteries thank [50:26] you mr hilton you get from ideologues who are not practical it's actually it's actually called [50:31] innovation steve innovation gentlemen thank you very much it's how we fix things understand how to make [50:36] things work i'm going to move on to miss porter miss porter should california introduce climate impact [50:46] standards specifically for ai and cloud computing infrastructure similar to building or vehicle [50:53] emission standards we should have climate standards for everything we're building building has climate [50:58] effects that doesn't mean that we shouldn't build if you're building green energy that has climate [51:04] effects but they're not positive in my opinion so it is important to look ahead to get ahead of things [51:10] that are coming into our economy and to try to have climate thoughts about it we need to think of if [51:15] this is going to take a lot more energy which we know it will electric vehicles are also projected [51:20] to take a lot more energy in the future we need to be putting more green energy and more battery storage [51:26] and grid transmission in the ground so yes it's absolutely important look if you're going to pollute [51:32] if what you're going to do is going to pollute it's going to take water it's going to use energy then [51:37] you should be prepared to pay for it that most costs should come out of your profits not out of [51:43] california families pocketbooks i just want to use my remaining nine seconds what is mr becerra's [51:53] revenue plan sure i i'm actually moving to mr becerra no excuse me and i will come to you good because [52:01] the last one i got 30 seconds i want like a minute to you mr becerra i was about to ask you how you plan [52:08] to regulate ai energy throughout the state and the specific steps but i also invite you to respond to [52:15] ms porter's question so i get a minute to respond to the question in the 30 seconds to respond to [52:19] ms porter let's start with a minute okay i'll so i'll respond to your question and if you give me 30 [52:24] seconds i'll respond to katie's question so on artificial intelligence we want to make sure that [52:31] when artificial intelligence is based here and it should be based here because this is the home of [52:36] artificial intelligence that it is doing more than just taking care of its own needs it is helping [52:41] take care of the needs of communities that are in california because it is an industry that is going to [52:46] offer us great opportunity at the same time we want to make sure we're offering the protections that our [52:51] families need our children our workers we have to make sure that as we harness ai we do it before ai [52:57] harnesses us and so that means taking advantage of working with them to establish a clear set of rules [53:04] on how they will operate they will provide resources to have the infrastructure that they need but also [53:10] expand that to provide the california people with a little extra and we'll do this without imposing [53:17] the type of regulation that would move them over to places like china mr becerra you have 30 seconds [53:22] to respond to ms porter and then we will come to mr vieragosa absolutely as the only person who's actually [53:27] done tax policy because i sat on the ways and means committee for 20 years in the house of representatives [53:33] and i can tell you what we will do katie we will make sure that we change the tax code so we don't [53:38] just tax doctors and nurses and firefighters and teachers at rates that are higher than billionaires [53:45] like tom styer what we will do is make sure that everyone pays their fair share that won't be so [53:50] difficult if you look at the governor's budget from this that from today in fact he actually calls for [53:56] getting rid of some of the corporate welfare loopholes that are allowing corporations to pay less [54:00] we have the resources to go out and create the revenue we need and we'll make sure that everyone [54:05] is paying their fair share make sure thank you mr becerra i defer to my colleague well may i say i [54:10] want to talk about climate i'm the person on this stage who's working on so i'm not going to let this [54:16] go without speaking i was told that i get the next i have a nuanced one second first you can respond to [54:22] but let me ask you a question first what is the biggest environmental challenge right now facing [54:27] california and what steps would you take to alleviate it you have a minute first of all let me speak to [54:33] the record everybody when i was speaker of the assembly uh 100 percent environmental record i'm the [54:39] author of the carl moyer act which was the biggest effort to clean up the air since the clean air act [54:44] until ab32 and sb32 when i was mayor i said dream with me we'd make la the greenest biggest city in the [54:50] country we went number one american city reducing carbon emissions number five in the world reduce our water [54:57] consumption in 1970 levels when we had a million less people and the port the biggest port in this [55:02] state the biggest in the country is the greenest port in the world but folks anybody that thinks that [55:10] the climate deniers have a you know a policy that works or the ones that believe we're just going to go [55:17] all renewables that's not going to work we need an all of the above energy policy almost anybody that [55:23] knows anything about this knows that and we haven't spoken to it we built 167 000 charging stations in [55:30] the last 10 years we need 2 million in the next 10 years and if we built it we don't have the grid [55:37] or the generation so we have to build again thank you and all of the above energy policy thank you mr [55:42] steyer california water use and allocation have been debated for decades with little built name one of [55:49] the major water infrastructure projects that you would personally fight to break ground on with [55:54] your within your first term you have one minute well let me say this when i look at water i look at [56:01] the ways that we're going to capture water and i will do all the things to capture water we're going [56:05] to have to store water and we're going to have to use it much more specifically than we do now it's [56:11] not going to be the huge projects you're talking about it's going to be the kinds of things that los [56:15] angeles does all those things plus reuse but i want to talk about climate because that's the big question on [56:20] this stage and no one is talking about it smartly look this is about costs the cost of clean energy [56:26] is much lower than the cost of fossil fuel energy the big risk for california is falling behind the [56:31] rest of the world who are moving to clean energy renewable energy and electric vehicles as fast as [56:37] they possibly can this war in iran only points out how much more expensive and trustworthy untrustworthy [56:44] fossil fuel energy is and let me say this javier becerra has been taking money from these big oil [56:49] companies he's been saying we need them he's been voting for drilling more in california that is the [56:55] exact wrong thing to do we should be moving with the times leading the electricity revolution it's [57:02] she would like to respond you have 30 seconds sure tom just look at my record when i was attorney general [57:07] i sued the fossil fuel companies over and over when i was attorney general i took on donald trump [57:13] who tried to eliminate california's clean car standards and we beat him when i was attorney general [57:18] i sued oil companies who were trying to uh monopolize an industry and we beat them i will stand on my [57:25] record i won't have to talk about inflated promises because i could show people what i've done when i [57:30] was ag and what i will do as governor to make sure that we continue to move towards a transition to clean [57:36] energy look i have been fighting the oil companies for 15 years and i've never lost javier becerra is [57:42] taking money from them and he is doing their bit okay let's uh let's let's move on here we're gonna [57:52] do a quick lightning round question here it's a yes or no question we're gonna start with mr hilton [57:57] as governor would you increase drilling off the coast of california yes or no yes we have to lower gas [58:03] prices thank you mr steyer no way miss porter no mr bianco yes mr via ragos no mr becerra absolutely not [58:14] mr mahan no thank you candidates up next education the candidates will tackle questions about california [58:21] schools we'll be right back welcome back to the governor's debate our next topic for the candidates [1:00:42] is education conor mcgill heard from two teachers in west sacramento who want to see more investments in [1:00:49] the future of our children zach caley's journey into the classroom is different from most first [1:00:59] year teachers was in the military for 10 years used the benefits to go back to school and kind of [1:01:05] fulfilled by life laundry being an educator the former service member now teaches social science at [1:01:10] river city high school this is like a peek inside what the hindenburg looked like i wanted something [1:01:14] different and i definitely didn't do it for the money uh i do it because it's it just means so much [1:01:20] more today but like many teachers in california kaylee says stagnant salaries and higher costs are real [1:01:26] concerns it's something i'm very concerned with in terms of what's the long-term plan on reconciling [1:01:31] that down the stairs and through the courtyard 15 year teacher veteran melissa gowdy is opening the [1:01:37] door to a very different kind of classroom these are going to be part of the decorations for the actual [1:01:44] rally her students are preparing for the next school rally in prom but she worries budget cuts could impact [1:01:50] their classes and extracurriculars if we end up moving into a place where funding gets cut the mental health [1:02:01] of our students is going to be at risk governor gavin newsom's draft budget proposed holding back 5.6 billion [1:02:08] dollars earmarked for schools we are saying that we believe in students and we're saying that we believe in the [1:02:13] state of california and um the access that we want to provide all students and we have to show that and [1:02:20] the way to show that is also with money mr viragosa we're going to start with you california is spending [1:02:27] more on schools yet many districts are struggling with literacy and math proficiency tests what specific [1:02:34] reforms would you enact to help implement and improve outcomes while dealing with a tighter budget you have [1:02:41] one minute speaker of the california state assembly i led the class size initiative to reduce class sizes [1:02:48] i authored the largest school bond in u.s history at the time a nine billion dollar bond to modernize [1:02:54] and build new schools when i was mayor one out of three schools were failing by the time i left it was [1:02:59] one out of ten a 60 percent increase in the graduation rate we've got to focus on literacy we're number one [1:03:05] to teacher pay we're 21st and per pupil spending we're in the mid 30s in reading and math and we're dead [1:03:11] last in graduation we are failing our kids i've got a record of turning around schools in the largest [1:03:18] school district in this state and i as governor i will take on those issues literacy math the basics [1:03:26] but also you know art uh and science as well thank you mr viragosa over to you miss porter uh reading and [1:03:35] math scores fell sharply during the pandemic and we saw a lot of those scores continue to drop [1:03:41] what benchmarks would you put in place and set up to help recover those scores during your first term [1:03:48] you have one minute yeah as a public school parent and somebody whose three kids were schooling from [1:03:53] home remote schooling during the pandemic i saw some of these struggles and it fell particularly on [1:03:59] families who didn't have a lot of extra resources who couldn't supplement with tutoring whose parents [1:04:04] couldn't help them because they were working or because the schooling wasn't something they were [1:04:09] comfortable helping with so i think the state at the state level we should really focus on these [1:04:14] key gates these benchmarks where if you do not get there by a certain point you fall behind permanently [1:04:22] one of those is reading fluently by age seven or eight the research is really clear if you don't get [1:04:28] there you have very limited educational opportunities and mobility if you don't make the jump from algebra [1:04:34] one to algebra two you are cut off from a lot of careers in science in the building trades so really [1:04:41] focusing on those things the third thing i'll add that happened in the pandemic that's also important [1:04:45] is mental health and making sure that we're making an investment in getting our kids into the classroom [1:04:51] those would be the three benchmarks i'd focus on thank you miss porter and to miss bianco california faces [1:04:56] persistent teacher shortages especially especially in special education and other uh stem programs what is [1:05:04] your plan to recruit and retain teachers in these special education and stem programs to keep them here [1:05:11] in their districts in california you have one minute mostly eliminating the process is forcing them to go into [1:05:16] that profession in the first place the teachers that they talk to are not telling them to be a teacher [1:05:21] they're telling them it's impossible to be a teacher our education system has to be completely revamped [1:05:27] from the top down we have teachers that are buying things for their classroom because the school won't [1:05:33] buy it where we we're laying teachers off do you know who's not being laid off do you know who's not [1:05:38] getting pay cuts sheriff it's administrators no they are it's administrators administration in our school [1:05:47] systems get half of the money that is why we are failing we absolutely must remove the ridiculous [1:05:55] policies that are in our school systems that do not allow our teachers to teach and one thing that [1:06:00] i will say about our kids that are that are failing there are plenty numerous studies out there that say [1:06:06] that humans kids learn from people they don't learn from computers they don't learn from phones they learn from [1:06:12] people if we do not start investing in more teachers and putting those classrooms to less kids and [1:06:19] getting bad kids out of the class so they can learn we're going to fail another generation of kids right [1:06:24] mr becerra declining enrollment has left many districts facing financial instability forcing staff [1:06:30] layoffs and school shutdowns as governor how would you balance the influence of the teachers union with [1:06:36] demands for greater school accountability you have one minute we should not let anyone whether it's a [1:06:43] union or whether it's administrator get in the way of accountability we have an obligation and we have [1:06:48] laws that require us to make sure that we are enforcing all the obligations that whether you're a [1:06:53] classroom teacher or whether you that principal you have obligations as the former chief law enforcement [1:06:59] officer for the state of california we will make sure that we hold people accountable but the other [1:07:04] thing we have to do is recognize that holding people accountable for getting kids to be ready to go to [1:07:09] college is a little late we have to start early because we're baking in mediocrity by not helping [1:07:14] children before they even get into kindergarten and so we have to start much earlier child care must be [1:07:19] somewhere a place where people actually get their kids to learn because we want them to be ready not [1:07:25] just at the third grade or the sixth grade or the 12th grade we want them ready before they start [1:07:30] kindergarten and i believe it's time to start going in the direction of early childhood education and i believe [1:07:36] it's time that we started to reduce class size so that it's manageable no teacher should be asked to [1:07:42] take care of 30 40 kids in one classroom expect them to become the next scientists and engineers of our [1:07:47] state thank you mr becerra mr steyer right now many teachers can barely afford to live in the districts [1:07:52] where they work some districts across the state are developing housing specifically just for teachers [1:07:58] as governor would you support providing more educational workforce housing across the state [1:08:03] and how would you pay for it you have one minute so you should know my mother was a teacher and she [1:08:09] taught in some of the most disadvantaged schools where we lived and then she taught in prison and i know [1:08:14] how important it is for society that is the escalator for growth that is the escalator for success [1:08:21] and i want to describe how actually education works the things that let kids learn are great teachers [1:08:28] and it's very clear from your question that in fact teachers in california can't afford to live in their [1:08:34] district we've heard it's very hard to recruit teachers and that's because on a on a cost adjusted [1:08:41] basis we're like 36th in the country in terms of what we pay teachers i've said on day one i will call [1:08:47] a special election and close a corporate tax loophole and we will get 10 billion dollars because the way we [1:08:53] get great outcomes for kids is to attract teachers train them and retain them and we are not attracting [1:08:59] them because we can't they won't come for the money we're not training them i've had talked to third [1:09:03] year teachers have one hour of training and we're not retaining them because they can't afford to hold [1:09:08] this job we need to support the teachers because they're the people who run the classrooms and make [1:09:12] the kids learn thank you mr steyer mr hilton admission rates for in-state students at most of the selective [1:09:19] uc campuses have fallen as out-of-state enrollment has grown would you cap non-resident enrollment at [1:09:25] uc campuses even if it means a loss in revenue we need to make it easier for working-class californians [1:09:33] to get into the uc system as we used to the costs are so high the structure of the courses all of this [1:09:39] needs to change i don't believe in artificial caps and regulation that's the kind of policy that has got [1:09:45] us into this mess and i have to say listening to my democrat friends here talking about education [1:09:50] it's as if they haven't been in charge for the last 16 years they they are the policies that they [1:09:57] support that have got us to a position where less than half the kids in our schools can read a grade [1:10:03] level for math it's 35 we need new management in this state if we're going to turn things around [1:10:09] we can't have more of the same we need to make sure we use phonics to teach kids to read [1:10:14] make sure that they can read by third grade and like mississippi does not go to fourth grade if [1:10:20] that doesn't happen we need to hold teachers accountable also to make sure that we reform the [1:10:25] pensions because right now ten and a quarter percent of every teacher's salary is going towards [1:10:31] their pension we need that to change as well thank you mr hilton mr steyer you have 30 seconds [1:10:36] look there's an old saying if you keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different [1:10:41] outcome that's insanity what we're talking about what we're talking about here what we're talking [1:10:47] about here is telling teachers how to teach the whole new idea of phonics you think they haven't [1:10:51] thought of that what we need to do here is recognize that the classrooms are run by teachers [1:10:57] that great outcomes come from teachers and that we need to pay teachers train them and support them [1:11:03] because master teachers are an incredible asset to the state of california and the idea that we don't [1:11:08] need to pay them and get them we'll just do it better that's pie in the sky thank you mr steyer [1:11:14] mr mahon i i have a question for you as well the artificial intelligence companies based in california [1:11:20] are changing our society and californians must prepare our workforce for the future how will you [1:11:26] both regulate and work with the ai companies to ensure a better future for california well amelia can [1:11:32] on the stage who's actually regulated the use of technology in my own city when we didn't get guidance [1:11:37] from the federal and state government we created the gov ai coalition that 900 cities and counties [1:11:42] now use to ethically and responsibly to pull deploy technology but look we shouldn't overuse [1:11:49] technology and ai in the classroom people need that human to human interaction one of the most [1:11:55] effective interventions that we're investing in in san jose is high dosage tutoring and i need to [1:12:00] comment more broadly on education i was a classroom teacher i became a teacher after college [1:12:05] because education changed my life i grew up in a working class community and it was my pathway to [1:12:11] a better future and i'm going to offer something different not maga and not more of the same we need [1:12:18] the governor to be accountable for educational outcomes that means moving the department of [1:12:23] education under the governor we need to teach phonics we need to reward teachers whose students show [1:12:30] more learning growth they should become our coaches and master teachers thank you mr mahan we are going [1:12:36] to go back to a lightning round question and this is for all of the candidates to answer yes or no the [1:12:42] state of louisiana has asked governor newsom to extradite a sacramento i'm sorry a california-based [1:12:48] physician for sending abortion pills across state lines governor newsom has rejected this request would you [1:12:55] as governor extradite this physician to louisiana for prosecution yes or no mr bianco absolutely yes [1:13:03] mr viaragosa no louisiana has a ban on abortion without exception for rape and incest and mr hilton [1:13:13] said he would and now mr bianco said they would extradite thank you mr viaragosa this is a state that [1:13:19] where we protect the women's right to choose 67 percent he didn't do it in california voted for a [1:13:25] woman's right didn't do it in california don't change facts absolutely no and when i was ag i [1:13:30] protected with reproductive rights here in california thank you we're not talking about california no [1:13:35] way mr hilton this is not about abortion rights this is about one state trying to undermine another [1:13:41] state's laws we have a federal system yes or no mr hilton sorry yes or no yes i would follow the law and [1:13:48] that's because we have a constitution in this country that we need to along this state protects [1:13:53] a woman's right to choose mr this is not about abortion rights this is about it is about abortion [1:13:58] no it isn't undermine democracy in another state thank you mr in that state chose differently to [1:14:04] california we heard why do you want to interfere in another state's laws in that way why are they [1:14:10] interfering with our right i don't want louisiana dictating our laws we shouldn't be dictating louisiana [1:14:17] you could move to louisiana mr hilton you've made your you've made yourself clear mr steyer hell [1:14:22] no miss porter no thank you uh we we have another lightning round question this kind of goes back [1:14:32] to our better than the last one this this question is about ai uh we would like to know yes or no do you [1:14:40] believe the state should impose more ai safeguards on chat bots that interact with young users yes or no [1:14:47] we'll start with you miss porter yes mr bianco yes yes okay mr becerra yes mr mayhem yes mr hilton [1:14:56] i'm afraid it's not as simple as that it really isn't no i'm serious this is exactly the reason [1:15:02] we get it this is a yes or no question but it's it's it's not the right way to discuss a very important [1:15:08] and serious issue do you think that there should be more i take that as a no i'm sorry it's the it's [1:15:13] this is why we get into a problem in this country all right because we go for these thank you mr [1:15:17] hilton mr steyer do you have it and it causes problems that are unintended and we need to have [1:15:21] a serious conversation about a very serious issue we have to protect children but do it in a sensible [1:15:29] way that works look at these policies that are okay mr hilton we have to move forward this is like in [1:15:33] australia they don't work it's not a yes it's yes or no sir it's really not my answer is yes and you [1:15:39] should know that that is something that my brother has been leading to make sure to protect kids he's [1:15:44] a kid's advocate for his entire life and he's been working with the industry to make sure that those [1:15:49] safeguards thank you so much mr steyer yes or no questions are a little bit longer uh one more uh [1:15:58] lightning round question it's very we won't make it yes or no we'll actually let you answer if your name [1:16:05] if your name does not appear on the november ballot which candidate on stage would you [1:16:12] consider voting for and why mr bianco we begin with you 30 seconds the only one i consider would [1:16:22] consider is steve and the reason is is what we've been discussing here failed policies 16 years of one [1:16:29] party rule that put us in this position thank you mr bianco mr villabragosa 30 seconds i consider all the [1:16:36] democrats standing on the stage thank you mr villabragosa mr becerra i could not support a [1:16:43] candidate who would be endorsed by or be supported by donald trump because we would have a donald trump [1:16:50] lookalike in the governor's office and we can't afford to do that i would support any of the democrats [1:16:55] who are on this stage thank you mr becerra mr mahan i'd consider antonio villabragosa because mayors get [1:17:02] things done we know what it looks like to be accountable for delivering results every single [1:17:06] day thank you mr mahan mr hilton this state is desperate for change we cannot have another four [1:17:12] years of one party rule we need some balance the only choice for change apart from myself is chad [1:17:19] thank you mr hilton mr steyer i would consider any of the democrats but i want to say this i couldn't [1:17:26] support one of the candidates who's following a president who's kicking people off medical who's [1:17:31] driving up our gas prices who's withholding money from us in fema and in terms of our health care [1:17:38] unfairly and who is actively aggressively attacking california any of the democrats absolutely thank you [1:17:46] mr steyer and ms porter i would vote for any one of the democratic dudes thank you i share values with [1:17:54] them thank you all very much as evidenced by this evening we see that we are living in remarkably polarized [1:18:03] and divisive times as we wrap up our debate we want to give you all an opportunity to make a closing [1:18:10] statement but we also want to ask how if you became governor you would bridge the divisions and bring [1:18:16] californians together ms porter we start with you i'm in this race for three reasons and their names are luke [1:18:25] paul and betsy they're my three teenagers god help me and the question that i think about is what kind [1:18:33] of california are they going to have are they going to be able to afford to live here am i going to be [1:18:39] able to afford to live here when they eventually not soon produce grandchildren i have a plan to lower [1:18:47] housing costs for free child care to eliminate tuition in our state universities and to put money back in [1:18:53] your pocket by getting rid of california state taxes look at your budget look at what's going in and out [1:19:00] of your bank account look at your pay stub you can see that my policies will make life more affordable [1:19:06] here that doesn't just help democrats that helps every single californian and that's who i'm running [1:19:13] to be governor to fight for and that why you that's why you can trust me to lead this state forward [1:19:19] thank you ms porter mr steyer look this election is very clear i'm a billionaire who's fighting for [1:19:28] working people every single day i'm the billionaire who's willing to tax the other billionaires and [1:19:34] himself who's willing to take on the corporate special interests who's dedicating himself to driving [1:19:40] down costs for working people across this state i don't think there's any question i would say follow [1:19:46] the money they are spending tens of millions of dollars against me to try and stop me because they [1:19:52] know that i'm the threat to their prosperity and they're not spending a penny against anyone else on [1:19:58] this stage the truth is they're backing everyone else on this stage as i've said javier is taking money [1:20:04] from oil companies and from people who are desperate not to have single payer i'm running to bring change [1:20:12] and i'm running to make people's lives better health care is a right free great public schools uh homes you [1:20:19] can afford to buy that's what i stand for but i can't do it alone we have to do it together i'm [1:20:23] asking you for your vote because i need you on june 2 and every day after that thank you mr steyer mr [1:20:30] hilton i think we get it tom you're a billionaire congratulations um look um i get on with tom i get [1:20:37] on with everyone on this stage and we're all here for the same reason we love this state and we want it to [1:20:42] be the state that once again offers young people the opportunity to make your life here better than [1:20:48] anywhere else in our country um the truth is that we've gone off track we've got one party rule [1:20:54] now for 16 years the results have been such a disappointment it is time for some balance we need [1:21:01] some balance in our system no more one party rule and the reason that i can make the change happen [1:21:07] is precisely because i get on with people from all different backgrounds i'm not an ideologue i'm pragmatic [1:21:14] i'm a problem solver most of my career has been in business but i have experience working inside of [1:21:19] a government above all i know how to work with people to make change happen that's what we need [1:21:25] in california common sense practical ideas to turn things around and restore the california dream thank [1:21:34] you mr hilton mr mayhan we'll bring californians together around results just as i've done in san [1:21:41] jose as mayor of the third largest city in the state i ran for an office that's non-partisan i'm [1:21:46] judged and held accountable every day for the work i do to make people's lives better we've led the state [1:21:51] in reducing homelessness by one-third we've led the state in reducing crime and made san jose the safest [1:21:56] big city in the country we've reduced gun violence by over 70 percent we have thousands of homes under [1:22:02] construction for working in middle-class families those are the results that people are looking for you've [1:22:08] heard a lot of rhetoric up here we don't need career politicians who never met a crisis they [1:22:13] couldn't ignore or divisive maga candidates or a billionaire who invested in better than that [1:22:19] for really for profit it's not for profit you know colleges that defrauded students and oil and gas [1:22:25] companies and private prisons let's get beyond the rhetoric this is a time that calls for challenging [1:22:32] the establishment to deliver real results that make people's lives better the only candidate who's done it [1:22:38] thank you mr mahan mr becerra i have taken on reckless governments i have taken on ruthless corporations [1:22:46] i've defended workers rights women's health immigrant rights i've launched civil rights investigations [1:22:53] i launched 988 the suicide and mental health prevention lifeline i have overseen a budget larger [1:23:01] than the budget of the state of california four times balancing it i have declared a state of [1:23:06] emergency the only candidate who can say that at the national scale i have taken on those who are [1:23:11] ruthlessly trying to stop californians from having an opportunity to fight not just fight but to win [1:23:18] i'm the only person who can tell you that the moment i walk into that office i've been through a challenge [1:23:24] that you face when you become the governor of the fourth largest economy in the world and what you [1:23:28] don't need is someone who needs training wheels the moment they walk into that governor's office [1:23:32] we need an adult in the room and as you've seen today oftentimes in these candidates it goes lacking [1:23:38] i hope that what we will do is vote for someone who knows how to manage this crisis on day one [1:23:43] thank you mr becerra mr vieira goza i could tell you i'm an adult in the room i've said for some time [1:23:56] and 20 years ago i said dream with me we'd make la the cleanest greenest big city in the country [1:24:03] number one american city and reducing carbon emissions number five in the world i said dream with me [1:24:08] we'd build a subway to the sea that subway as you all read just got opened up the first leg we had [1:24:14] been working on it for 40 years i said dream with me we'd improve our schools one out of three schools [1:24:21] were failing when i was mayor by the time i left a 60 percent increase in the graduation rate i said [1:24:27] dream with me we'd make la a safer big city it was the most violent big city in america when i started [1:24:33] by the time i left it was the safest big city in america along with new york we need a doer a problem [1:24:40] solver someone who's willing to take on the other side work with them but also take on our side when [1:24:46] they're wrong i'd be honored to have your support thank you mr vieira goza mr bianco that's interesting [1:24:53] because i'm the only one up here that's working every single day solving the problems that they have [1:24:59] caused their entire careers for 33 years 33 years i have dedicated my life to you to make your lives [1:25:08] safer and better every single day as the sheriff of the fourth largest sheriff's office in the entire [1:25:14] country in a blue county with a 4-1 blue board i already know how to work together to do what's best [1:25:23] for all of you the constituents it's not about party it's not about going along with the super [1:25:29] majority of every single one of these career politicians do they get things done or is it just [1:25:37] because they're in an echo chamber where everybody pats them on the back because i can tell you that [1:25:43] california is broken and we have listened here 90 minutes not one thing got answered by any of them [1:25:52] we're sick of being lied to i'm the only person that can be fired for lying they should be very very [1:25:58] thankful thank you mr bianco so fired for stealing ballots 650 000 of them no thank you your failed [1:26:07] attorney general should be fired for wasting your taxpayer dollars supreme court sided with him no they [1:26:12] didn't don't lie see here we go again it's it's all about lies all about lies thank thank you gentlemen [1:26:19] and uh ms porter once again congratulations you just wrapped up the final debate of the season [1:26:24] as we head into the june 2nd primary two of you will move on to the november election and one of you [1:26:29] will indeed become our governor so a big congratulations to our candidates so that is [1:26:39] it for us from the merchant exchange we want to thank once again our candidates for being here [1:26:44] and taking part in this debate we also want to thank our partner the san francisco examiner big round of [1:26:49] applause to the examiner and a reminder once again the california primary election is june 2nd stay [1:26:56] with us we will continue to follow all the big updates on the governor's race we will also bring [1:27:01] you live results on election night as soon as they start coming in coming up next after this break juliet [1:27:08] goodrich will have more analysis on tonight's debate hope you have a great night once again candidates [1:27:13] thank you for giving us seven different choices for the june primary