California Governor Debate (NBCLA and Telemundo)

>> And welcome to the beautiful Skirball Cultural Center, a place that brings people and communities together. Good evening, everyone. I'm Colleen Williams. We are broadcasting live across the state. The top candidates for governor of California have one last televised debate to make their pitch to voters before the primary in June. Tonight, NBC 4 and Telemundo 52, in partnership with LMU, are bringing you the final statewide debate to California governor or voters, actually. I'm joined by my colleagues, Conan Nolan from NBC 4, our chief political reporter, and Telemundo 52 news anchor Enrique Ciavarra. Que

tal, buenas noches a todos. In the next hour, we'll be asking the leading candidates questions that are going to showcase their differences. We're broadcasting in studio in both English y también en

español. We're less than a month away from the election. The ballots are in the mail. They're actually already have arrived. The top two finishers face off in the November general election, regardless of party. Uh these are the uh highest polling candidates. One of them is going to be

Our goal tonight is really to explore the positions of all the candidates you see here. Our questions will focus on the job and the responsibility of the governor. The candidates will have 60 seconds to respond to questions, 30 seconds for rebuttals. Again, that is at the discretion of the moderators here, and 30 seconds for follow-ups. For our live audience, please hold your

Question number one

goes to

you, Conan. That's right, Colleen. In deference to you, one one one note here. You had a bit of a food fight last night on another uh another debate. We'd prefer that not happen here. Uh we want a competition of ideas. Please don't interrupt uh for the benefit of the voters and and the viewing public. So, let's talk about um the issue of housing. The Department of Finance last week said, "Yes, more people are leaving the We know that. Uh employers, unless you're an AI company in San Francisco, are having a hard time finding people to take jobs in this state cuz they can't afford Everybody has said we need more housing. We need to build more housing, but I'd like some specifics. Uh Mr. Hilton, we'll start with you. In our conversation, you said we need more subdivisions and to link them by freeways. Do I have

that right? Yes, the the California dream was built on that idea of owning your own home. And right now, we have the highest housing costs in the country and the lowest home ownership. Young people um saying to me all the time, "I can't imagine making my life in California cuz I'll never be able to own my own home." We've got to change direction on housing. Yes, we got to simplify the regulations that make it so expensive, two or three times more expensive to build housing compared to other states. Yes, we have to stop the hidden taxes on house building. But, the big change we need to make, which the Democrats on this stage aren't prepared to make, is to end this ideology which says the only acceptable form of housing is to shove apartment buildings into suburban neighborhoods. We've stopped building the kind of starter homes and single-family homes we used to build so well in California that made the California dream a reality. And that is what I will get back to as governor to restore that California dream of home ownership.

>> Thank you,

the biggest problem in California is Californians can't afford to live here And the number one part of that is housing. And in order to solve our housing problems, there are a bunch of things we have to do. So, we have to shorten permitting times and make them less expensive, for sure. Everyone on this stage will say that. I believe in zoning densely near public transportation, and I believe that the way to drive down costs per square foot by at least a third is by constructing offsite and then putting together onsite. But there's some other things I'll do that no one else on this stage will say. I'm going to close a corporate real estate tax loophole for $22 billion a year that's going to go to the cities and counties, and that's going to make them willing to permit housing and to make it happen. They're standing in the way because housing is an unfunded liability for them. I'm going to fund it. And lastly, our community bank nonprofit community bank has financed 17,000 low-income housing units. The state of California needs to use finance >> Thank you, Mr. Steiner. finance low-income units and also for down

payment assistance. Thank you. Sheriff

Villanueva, Yes, we certainly can afford to live here anymore, and it's exactly solutions like that are exactly why you can't afford to live here anymore, and why you will never be able to afford here to live in California anymore. Unfortunately, in the position are, I'll stick up for Steve unless you elect Steve or I because the policies that the rest of the people on these on this are proposing to all of you is just a repeat of all of the problems that got us here in the first place. You can't afford a home in California because the builders cannot afford to build homes because of the excessive regulations in California. With me as your governor, we will become, for the first time in many decades, a building empire in our country. We will build more homes than we have ever built before because we will allow builders to build them. We will remove the restrictions and the regulations that prevent it right now, and those restrictions come from CEQA, they come from the Coastal Commission, they also even from on the outside in CARB, but regulations are the key to afford housing in

California. Secretary Becerra, when we had an interview, you said that housing should be based on how many people we want to live in California. We have to determine what the essentially our population. Do I have that right? I And can you explain in your 1 minute

Sure, Corina. We have to make sure we understand how many homes we need. And you can't understand how many homes you need unless you know how many people are coming to California. I remember when my parents told me the story when they got here. They had $12 in their pocket. Yet, they got to live that California dream. They purchased a home. They were able to give my three sisters and I far more than they ever had. And that's what we have to get back to is giving every family that opportunity. I will make sure that down payment assistance programs are expanded under my watch because today California families are essentially buying a house. They're just buying it for the landlord because in their rental payments they're essentially paying the mortgage. How about we do this? How about we help you get that last cog in the in the process of buying a house, the down payment. Then when you pay a monthly payment, it's not for rent, it's to own the home. How about we make sure Wall Street isn't the person you're bidding against when you're trying to buy that house. That is unfair when Wall Street can outbid you. Sec- Third, how about we streamline regs, make CEQA work because CEQA was meant to help uh protect communities, not to stop housing.

>> Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Congresswoman

Porter. Yeah, housing is personal to me. It's personal to me cuz I've spent a large part of my career working on helping families who couldn't afford housing, who were the victims of predatory lenders, who were facing eviction. It's also personal to me cuz I'm raising three teenagers here. One of whom, I think there's a pretty good chance he's going to wind up living on my couch if we don't figure out how to build more affordable housing. It's not enough to just build housing for those who are here. We have to build enough housing for California to grow our economy. And it's not enough to just build more. We have to build it less expensively than we are now. Building faster is building cheaper. If we build faster, we can take 10 or 20% off the cost of rent and mortgages. That is a lot of money back in the pockets of California. We also need to innovate into construction technique, architectural design, manufacturing, and housing finance. When I'm governor, Californians will have a 5% down payment on their houses, not 20.

Th- Thank you. Mr. Mayor had an answering this as a mayor, should the state get involved in in zoning? It's normally a local municipality that decides what

Well, thanks, Conan. If if cities don't do their job, the state absolutely has to intervene and hold them accountable. I'm running for governor to deliver the kinds of results I've delivered as mayor of our third largest city. When we weren't building housing, we cut permitting times, cut red tape, reduced one-time fees, and got thousands of homes under construction. We built interim housing and moved thousands of people indoors. We've expanded backyard cottages for grandparents and kids coming back from college. We've actually gotten housing built. The entire state of California needs those kinds of results today to create upward mobility for our kids and our grandkids. While we're on the topic of leadership, though, I want to be really clear. We do not need the leadership that MAGA candidates on this stage are offering. It's divisive. We don't need the leadership of a billionaire who's now again everything he made his money in, or a career politician who has failed again and again to deliver results.

>> He's trying to remember his lines.

Ri- Ri- Ri- Right.

You know, for my mother struggled to make ends meet as a single mom. So, for most of my life, we rented. I bought a home at 25 years old. Young families can't do that right now. The average down payment is $140,000. So, the first thing we need to do is support down payment assistance. There There's an initiative on the ballot, no cost to the taxpayers, that will build 150,000 homes and provide that kind of first-time uh assistance. Secondly, streamline permitting. But, let me remind you all, those of you who live in LA, when I was in that when I was mayor, we built we went from 20,000 units of housing downtown to 60,000. We transformed downtown, built more housing, market rate, workforce, affordable, and homeless housing in 8 years 4 years of recession than the 12 years before that. The next governor's got to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. I will as the next governor.

Thank

Next question, a lot of people in the state of California think insurance is at a crisis situation. California investigation this week found State Farm mishandled and delayed claims from the wildfires. Major insurance companies have either pulled out of the state of California or they've stopped writing policies new policies altogether. Many people feel California's fair plan is the insurer of last resort. It is expensive anyway you look at it. What would you do to help homeowners and especially those waiting to rebuild who are still waiting a year later and haven't even received a check. Be specific on this. Secretary Becerra, we're going to start with you. You have

So, I have called for a freeze of insurance rates for the very reason you've pointed out. Most Californians don't understand why they're are losing their insurance. My mom last year lost insurance coverage for a home she has that she had paid for for over 30 years. I don't believe she ever filed a claim on that home, and all of a sudden her insurance company just dropped her without explanation. That is not fair. There are people still in the Palisades and Altadena who haven't received payment. They haven't received the debt the timeline. When are they going to be paid?

>> what specifically would you do to help

folks? And Kathleen, I was going to get to that. I'm just trying to make sure we explain the problem because it's real for everybody. And that's why I'm calling for a freeze because those

companies ought to tell us, we are entitled to know why they continue to raise our rates, why they get out of out of dodge when the going gets tough. We have to make sure they are there when we need them. We have to make sure we go through that audit and I will make sure that we base insurance on the rates based on risk and risk based on mitigation that's been done to reduce

your risk. Secretary Becerra, thank

Yeah, we can't afford to freeze rates because what will happen is every insurer remaining in this state will leave. And if people cannot get insurance, they will not build more houses, they will not build green energy projects. The solution is more insurers competing for rates.

>>

Exactly. I'm a consumer protection advocate. I have spent my life taking on corporations with or without a whiteboard who lie, cheat, or steal. And there's a lot of evidence that that is exactly what State Farm has done here. These folks are victims and they need someone who isn't taking corporate contributions from the very insurers that they claim they will hold responsible. The solution is to bring insurers back into the market to do the things that we've already done here in terms of allowing premiums to be written to the risk at the household level and to address climate change risk and invest in

service. Mayor Mahan, you have

Well, Javier, I can tell you why the insurance companies left and stopped writing policies and why your plan will only make it worse. We effectively told them they couldn't use climate data to actually model the amount of risk. We effectively told them they had to lose money by writing new policies. So, the answer is bring them back as Katie said, have them them compete to bring down costs. Now, if they slow roll the payment of claims that they need to pay, then yes, let's sue them and hold them accountable. But, the truth is the state of California broke the insurance market. We need to bring them back, have them compete, and the state and the federal government have to take responsibility for reducing wildfire risk around all of our urban areas by clearing brush, thinning forest, and reducing the risk of the catastrophic fires that are driving up insurance costs. It's It's not rocket science, but price caps will only make it worse. It'll be impossible to bring insurance companies back to California.

Mayor, thank

and my friend to my left here are right, everybody. The reason why we got here is that the only state that didn't do catastrophic modeling, the only state that didn't do reinsurance, and the only state that took longer than 3 months uh to pass a rate hike. So, the entire industry left the biggest market. So, the notion that we would freeze insurance rates it it One, you the governor can't do that. Two, uh it's just going to make it worse. Now, let me say something about the FAIR Plan because I'm on it. The FAIR Plan fair. If I lost my house today, the FAIR Plan wouldn't compensate for me. The maybe three bedrooms uh and that's about it. At the end of the day, we have to make the FAIR Plan something that works for more people until we bring the market back. Once we bring the market back, of course we're going to hold them accountable when they're not paying uh the insured appropriately.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. Mr.

Uh so, just a couple of observations on what we heard in the previous answers. I love all the stories of the California dream for some of my friends and colleagues on this stage, but the California dream they're talking about happened when you had a Republican governor in California. That's what we need to get back to to restore it. Matt Mahan talked about housing. His city was just rated the least affordable for housing in the world. So, what that all points to is that actually, if we want change in California on all these issues, we can't keep doing the same thing over and over again. Specifically on insurance, the things we haven't heard that I would do as governor is number one, enforce the actual regulation in the original proposition 103 that set up our insurance commission and the regulations around it, which says that rate changes need to be approved in 60 days. Now, it takes over a year. That's one of the reasons that they're leaving. And the other massive one, lawsuits. Lawsuits are adding sometimes up to $15,000 a year onto onto insurance premiums, and these Democrats won't change it because they are funded by the trial lawyers.

>> Mr. Newsom, thank you so much, Mr.

>> to that? Uh so, can I go Look, we've had Steve's right that we've had

Well, I'm asking for specifics on this. We'll get back to you in just a moment.

So, I think I know as much about business as anyone on this stage, and people are right, this is a huge home insurance market, and we need to harden the homes, and we need to reduce the catastrophic risk. And everyone's describing how we need to make it possible for insurance companies to come here and make money. But the truth is, someone has to stand up for Californians when people are going after them. And as someone who's been to Altadena and talked to the people there, and see how they've suffered, not just financially, but the stress that it's put in their lives, and the fact that the insurance companies are slow rolling them. And the fact that SoCal Edison is slow rolling them. and the fact that FEMA is slow rolling them. Yeah, I absolutely believe we should have an insurance market and as governor I'll make sure we reduce catastrophic risk, but as governor I'm going to stand up for the people of California when corporations are taking advantage of them and we are seeing that right now in Altadena and Pacific Palisades and it's the governor's job to stand up and fight and make sure those people pay the claims, pay the FEMA and pay the cost of having caused the fire

>>

Bianco. Yeah, thank you. So, the difference between me and everyone else after I'm your governor is I'm not going to lie to you about what's causing this problem in the first place and I have some very dire news for all of you. The insurance companies are not going to come back if another Democrat is elected, especially the ones that are on this stage because the reasons why they left is because of failed Democrat policies that forced them to leave. A government cannot force a business to go into bankruptcy and the insurance companies repeatedly told our legislature and our governor that our environmental policies that prevent our fire department from creating defensible space around our homes and our properties was going to lead to multiple cities being destroyed and unfortunately we saw it in the Palisades and unfortunately for the Palisades victims the our governor called their bluff and they left the state leaving all of them most of them without insurance. We absolutely will get rid of sequin the coastal commission, the fire department will clear defensible space and naturally the insurance companies will come back and our rates will go down.

>> Um Mayor Mahan May had because San Jose was mentioned, you have 30 seconds to respond.

>> Yeah, thank you. I mean, Steve's right. San Jose is expensive. It has been since before I was born, but as a leader in an elected office I took ownership for that and challenged City Hall to do better. That's what we need to ask of Sacramento. We reduced fees, we sped up permitting, we cut the red tape, and we got thousands of homes under construction. We're not going to fix California's housing market overnight, but we can hold ourselves accountable for implementing common-sense policies that bring investment in home building back to California and create room for working families and younger

generations.

So, on a different topic, yesterday the vice chair of the California Energy Commission told the legislature, "We have 4 to 6 weeks left

if the Iranian war continues." Now, if a bill comes before you, I I want to know, do you sign it or do you veto it? And this bill would be whether to seek an increase in oil production in in Kern County in the Central Valley. The governor of this state was not a big fan of oil. He's actually changed his tune a little bit on that. Yes or no, this is the bill. Do you sign or do you

veto it, Mayor

Can you repeat the question?

>> Would you advocate for an increase in oil production in the state? Western states point of All right. All right, very good. Mr.

Sheriff

Biaco. Absolutely. Mr. Hilton.

We don't need a bill. I'll get it done directly as governor by instructing the California Department of Geological and Energy Management to open up oil production. This is the problem with Democrats, endless legislation instead of just getting the job done.

We're going to veto it next time.

No. All right. Mr. Attorney General Becerra.

Versus

Yes, we also should stop pushing all of our refining capacity out of state and importing dirtier oil from thousands of miles away. It doesn't make

One other thing, everybody has an opinion about this. You don't need to go into detail. It'll cost another 30 billion to finish California high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield. Right. got the viaduct laid. We have overpasses. Do you finish it? Yes or no,

Mayor

Yes.

Porter. Yes, if you can build it faster and cheaper than it's been

projected. >> Okay. Sheriff

Biaco. No, I would rather arrest the people that stole our money.

>> All right. That would be on brand for you doing things that

are illegal. No,

stop spending taxpayer's money on pointless things and improve our roads, which are the worst in the country

because of

Democrat policies. Mr.

Steyer. Yes, we

need second

transportation. The slow speed delivery of high speed rail, no, but a high speed delivery of high speed rail, yes.

>> What

does that mean?

Well, it means we get rid of We get rid of all the bureaucracy that has caused all this litigation. You have to make the call.

That's either yes or no.

The bill's on your desk. Do you say yes or do you veto

Is that to me? >> Yes. I said I don't want to do it the way it's been done because we've overspent, but yes, we're going to build We're going to build high speed rail. We're going to say yes. We're going to build high speed

rail. Conan, I would send it back to the legislature and say fix CEQA, reduce litigation risk. Let's fix the regulatory environment and then I'll

sign the bill. Okay.

you. All right, let's talk about companies leaving California. So, companies are moving their headquarters out of California. SpaceX, Tesla, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, so many companies. These are just a few of the corporations that are going to more tax-friendly states. My question to all of you is, how can you reduce the state's high unemployment rate when so many employers are leaving the state? We're going to

Look, the the reality is just like with the insurance market, the housing market, what we're talking about is California has regulated itself to death. And much regulation makes sense. We're protecting workers and the environment, but when projects get caught up in years of litigation or getting a permit to open a restaurant takes a year, you kill the for entrepreneurs and small business owners to actually create a future here. So, we've got to actually fix our underlying regulations and make it easier to invest and start companies. In San Jose, I've led us to have small business growth every year I was mayor, built thousands of new homes, reduced homelessness, and become the safest big city in the country without raising taxes and with a balanced budget. to demand our government do better before we ask you to pay more. Starting with actually auditing all of the spending in Sacramento where we've increased the budget by 75% in the last 6 years.

this is the toughest state to do business in the United States of America. You know, you you heard our Republican opponents say that Democrats aren't willing to call it like they see it. I I've been willing to do that. I've challenged uh why we send so many businesses out of this state. I've challenged why we have the highest gas prices, the highest utility costs, the highest home prices in the United States of America. It's because we're looking uh for perfect. Perfect doesn't exist, everybody. That's what comes with a proven problem solver. Someone who's been mayor of Los Angeles, speaker of the assembly. The one thing I get, we we got to roll up our sleeves and fix these problems. We We have the brains of AI and tech, but the bronze leaving. And we've got to look in the mirror and ask ourselves why. The reason is overregulation. We can do this, protect the environment, protect workers, and protect business at the same time.

>> Thank you, Mr. Villaraigosa. Mr. Hilton,

you're up next. Um so, Matt mentioned restaurants. I actually did open a couple of restaurants, but But here, back in the day in England before we moved here, with my wife and my family in 2012. And unbelievably, it's actually much harder to do it here in California, which should be the home of enterprise and opportunity, the best place in the world to do business. And the fact is, when we talk about all those issues, there's this famous saying that comes to mind, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Well, here in California, we've been voting Democrat over and over and over and over again. And look at results. The highest unemployment rate in the country, the highest poverty rate, the worst climate for business. We cannot expect to make changes for the better if we keep voting Democrat. I will exclude Antonio. I agree with you, Antonio. You definitely have um a more pragmatic approach to this, and that's what we need from our next governor. >> Hilton. A problem-solving pragmatic common sense Thank you, Mr.

Hilton. Mr.

Steyer. So, California remains the best place to start a business and build a business. But it's also the most expensive >> true. It's the most expensive

>> 50th out of 50 states by Chief Executive Magazine.

And the person on this stage who is taking going after those costs and driving them down for working Californians is me. And I'm doing it by going after the special interest corporations who are driving up our costs. I'm going after electric costs that are driven by the electric monopolies. I'm going after gas costs that are driven by the oil companies. I'm going after health care costs. I'm for single payer. And I'm going after housing costs. What's driving people out of California is the cost of operating here. And I'm talking about it in terms of people. But it absolutely is the same thing in terms of the companies that employ those people and have to pay them to live here. You can tell I'm doing this cuz the special interests are spending tens of millions of dollars to stop me. But I'm the person on this stage who's willing to change California and go after the corporate special interests that are driving up the cost for working people.

>> time is

Villaraigosa, As long as we have the same policies that we've had for the last two decades, more and more businesses are going to leave. Of course, it's the best place to be. California, of course, is the greatest state in the world. But, the taxes here, the regulations here are what are causing people to leave. Yes, we want to live here, we just can't. We want to own a business here, we just can't. So, the people that are here on this stage are going to tell you everything you want to hear. They've been telling you that every time they want to get elected, and nothing ever changes. They are not going to deliver anything because it is their policies driving this up. I will make California the most business-friendly in the state because we will no longer punish businesses for being in California. We will remove all of the regulations, the regulatory environment that increases cost of business, the PAGA lawsuits that are absolutely destroying every single business simply to raise more money for the state of California because we have a spending problem, not a

money problem. >> Mr. Villaraigosa, you're up

Let me give a specific example. Right now, Hollywood is in dire condition because every place in the world wants to have their own Hollywood. We must fight to keep Hollywood here in Southern California because it creates so many great paying jobs. And so, I will work with Hollywood, I will work with the industry, I will work with the legislature to make sure we fight back as against those who are trying to steal our industry away from us. And that means whether it's the tax credit or making sure we graduate the next generation of workers who can work in the entertainment industry, we will make it so attractive that they will not want to leave. But, we have to make sure we're graduating the workforce for these industries to locate here. We have to create more public-private partnerships so it's not just that private business that does it on its own, but it knows it's got a government that wants to work with it so they can establish their business here. And we want to make communities livable where the workforce that will come can know they can buy a house and they can afford to live here. If we do all those things, we'll attract business. And then what we have to do is balance our budget. And as someone who has had to balance a budget bigger than the state of California's budget, I will do

that. >> Thank you, Mr. Becerra.

Yeah, I mean, billionaire Tom Steyer says that California is the best place to do business, and I guess it was for him because he became a billionaire off it. But for the rest of California businesses, it's been a real struggle. He says he's the one doing it, but the truth is he's the one promising it. I've actually brought down costs like prescription drug costs by passing a law in Congress to give people their money back. I actually helped write a bill and testify for a bill that became law to crack down on credit card fees. If we want employers to be able to stay in this state and to add workers to this state, we have to make it affordable for workers to live here. Labor is one of the biggest costs that businesses face, and we have to pay higher wages cuz the cost of living goes up, and then wages go up. This is a terrible cycle. So, bringing down the cost of housing, my policies for things like free child care and a tuition-free UC CSU degree will do exactly that. It will make it cheaper for people to live here, and businesses will benefit.

>> Thank you so much. 30 seconds for your

California is the richest state in the richest country in the world. You're the richest person on this stage. Cal- California is half the growth of the United States

The issue we have is we also have the highest poverty rate in the United States of America. The issue we have is the majority of Californians cannot afford to live here. After 16 years

of Democratic one-party rule, Why do you

that is? And that's why I'm talking about driving down costs. All right, thank you, Mr. Styer. We're going to move on. Thank you so much. And the companies that employ them show that we can all succeed.

Well, you're one of those billionaires who's staying in California looking for a job here, but there other billionaires who are moving on. Uh Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, uh Mark Zuckerberg, they've left. Steven Spielberg's left. There are a whole bunch. And obviously it's because well, they may not say it, but it's not a coincidence that you have on the ballot in November a wealth tax where they come in and first in the nation where they tax uh you know, what do your cars look like? How much are they worth? And what do the watches worth? So, uh yes or no, if this is again, if if it's on your desk as governor, do you support the wealth tax which is on the ballot, which the governor fears is driving billionaires out of the state, and according to the Franchise Tax Board, they pay for about 40% of the income tax? Mayor Villaraigosa, say yes or no.

tax? Mayor Villaraigosa,

Congresswoman?

What was the question

again? Uh Sheriff, uh the wealth tax, do you support it or

do you

Mr. Styer?

If

it's

on the ballot, I sign

it. You sign it, okay. Uh Secretary

Mr.

No, we should charge billionaires

Are you happy with that, Tom? How do you

>> There is

>> [clears throat] >> There is a longer discussion

here. There

is a longer discussion here. We want to move on. We want to get as many topics in here as possible. The state has spent tens of billions to solve the homeless crisis in this state, and yet there is a perception that the homeless have more rights than the people who live in this state. Homeless encampments are taking over the streets, the sidewalks, parks, and so much more. So, the question I have for all of you, and I'm going to begin with you, Mr. Steyer, is

norm? Absolutely not. I mean, we got to start with a very important point, which is no one gets well on the street. That actually being homeless and being on the street, only about one in seven of the people who become homeless have serious mental health or addiction problems, but it's so stressful and dangerous that virtually everybody succumbs to that stress in some major So, what I would say is it's absolutely critical to keep people from going on the street. That rental assistance is much cheaper and more humane than letting someone go on the street. That emergency interim housing to get people off the street into a single room with a key, with shared dining, laundry facilities where you can bring your dog, is much more compassionate. But, it what all of those things lead to the point that we don't want our streets to be dangerous. We do want our kids to feel safe. We do want I'm for someone who wants to build dense housing in the inner city and make it vibrant and walkable and fun. And it's absolutely critical that people feel safe, can walk

around, Thank you, Mr. Steyer.

and actually create the environment that Californians deserve and want.

>> Thank you,

the it was a misstatement in the beginning, or not a misstatement, but I will tell you that they are definitely not They don't have more rights than anyone else. >> No, but there is a perception that They are actually pawns in the homeless industrial complex. There is absolutely zero zero intent on helping any of them. If we did, the billions of dollars that were going there, the numbers wouldn't get more every single year. This is not and has never been about homes. This is about drug and alcohol addiction. This is about mental illness and a combination of both. And until we start calling it what it is and treating it for what it is, we are never going to get out of it. And proof of the last 12 years is right in front of us. It's never going to be better until we get them the treatment that they need. Stop calling it homes. It's mental health, drug addiction, and alcohol addiction combined. The biggest thing that we need is the treatment centers that treat at the same time mental health conditions and drugs

Putting a solid roof over someone's head is no different than a tent, and it doesn't mean that you solve the problem.

>> Sheriff, thank you. Um Mayor

We spent $24 billion from the state and billions more in cities and counties, and during that period homelessness went up. Folks, we just got to acknowledge we can't just throw money at the problem. We have to throw them We have to invest in what works and not and stop, you know, spending on what doesn't. What works according to the LAO? Uh temporary housing works. The home uh key program, rental assistance works, but we need uh permanent supportive housing as well with services uh connected to them. But the average unit is $850,000 a unit. Your kids can't afford that. So, in San Jose and Los Angeles, we're building small homes for $100,000. We've got to focus on what works and stop throwing money at what doesn't. As governor, that's what I'll do uh because what we're doing now just not working. More homelessness than in my life I've ever seen in my

lifetime. It's a state government scam.

Thank you, Secretary

So, homelessness is also a mental health crisis, and we have to attack that straight on. That's why when I was Secretary of Health and Human Services, we established the 988 program, which functions like 911 but for mental health and suicide prevention, and it is working. We have to start getting people access to the treatment that they

But first and foremost, when it comes to those on the street, we have to have accountability by the folks who are getting those billions of dollars. We have to make sure that we scale the projects that work to get people off the streets, and we eliminate those that are failing. But, I will tell you this, and I'm glad to hear some of my colleagues beginning to uh take up what I have said at the beginning. My job as governor, because I don't control the streets of the cities and the counties, is to make sure we prevent more Californians from from becoming homeless, because it costs far more to take take you off the streets, pick you up, get you the services, and get you the temporary shelter, than it does to help you get past that medical emergency or that lost job. Let's take keep

housing. Thank you, uh

Porter. Look, the cause of homelessness is the cost It is correct that many people who experience long-term or chronic street homelessness develop substance use and mental health issues. But, a a foster kid who is aging out of foster care with no money to put down for an apartment, that's not mental health problems. That's the cost of living in California. We have higher homelessness in California because our housing costs more than virtually anywhere else. Homelessness prevention is the key. It costs about $6,000 to prevent someone from becoming homeless. That is a such a better investment and so much more humane than allowing people to live on the streets. We have to stop making the problem worse. And I think it's appropriate, always, to do oversight of where our money went. I drive a minivan. My license plate is o v r s i t e, oversight. So, we should be asking, did we get the bang for our buck? Cali, we owe that answer to California taxpayers, and I think we have accountability

that's needed here. Ms. Porter, thank you, uh Mayor Mahan. Talk to us about the city of San Jose and what you've

done. Well, we've created a model for the rest of the state. I want to be really clear that 988 is not going to solve our homelessness problem. We need Never said it would. Never said it would. It doesn't

work. It's all about having alternatives. San Jose has led the way on this issue. I have the receipts to show for it. We Homelessness has gone up on your watch. We have moved thousands of people indoors. This year is the first time and I hope I'm going to get the time to actually answer the

question. For the first time in our history, a majority of people experiencing homelessness in San Jose will be indoors, not outdoors. I am sick and tired of career politicians complacency on this issue. No one should be outside in a tent encampment. In San Jose, we're building interim shelter, basic treatment capacity. We are moving people indoors. When those spaces are available, we require people come indoors. I was the first Democrat leading a major city to support Prop 36. Because if you're repeatedly committing crime out on our streets due to addiction, we need to get you into treatment to save your life and to benefit the broader community.

>> Mayor. I was interrupted about 10 times.

>> We let you go extra time. We did. Um,

Mr. Hilton. I was just trying to offer a fact check. Homelessness actually has gone up in San Jose.

>> It's actually about flat. What's important though is we've moved thousands of people indoors, 30% of whom have graduated to permanent housing. The number of people dying on our streets has gone down. It's

a solution. Mayor,

Mr. Hilton. As as you as you noted, he didn't challenge the fact that homelessness has gone up on his watch.

Now, the good news in this debate is that actually there's a lot of agreement among many of the candidates about the nature of the problem and how we solve it. But we got to think about the fact that who's

all these years? Some of these Democrats on the stage here, they talk as if we're we're in some parallel universe where Democrats haven't been running this state for the last 16 years of one-party rule. I mean, you look at Xavier, 36 years he's been a career politician for Democrats. I'm very proud of myself. >> got to change. We need change if we're going to make progress. And that is what Chad's plan is exactly right. And I'll just add one thing to it, which is we need to enforce the law when it comes to homelessness, just as Spencer Pratt laid out in the mayor's debate to you earlier. It's illegal to live and camp on the streets, and that's the starting point. We can't have people that are in I have to

give Mr. Becerra a chance to

You know, I I'm proud of my service as a member of Congress, as the Attorney General fighting off Donald Trump, as the secretary who who brought the country to the highest rate of insurance coverage in the nation's history. What I would ask is, what does a Fox News talking head know about running government? You've never balanced a budget the size of California, Steve. You've never had to worry about declaring a state of emergency the way I had to. I'm proud of my service, and my public service. You make private profit, I was

doing public service. Mr. Becerra, are you proud that you pushed out 85,000 migrant children? Uh they were, according to the New York Times, they were maimed, they were exploited, they were Some were even killed. You said those are MAGA talking points. It's a MAGA hoax. Tell that to the

So, I'm not sure what that had to do with homelessness, but calm down, Antonio. Calm

down. I'll tell you what

it had to

do with truth. It's about truth, and it's about your service, and how proud you are

of Okay. Okay. What it has to do with

>> Thank you, Mr. Hilton. I will give you a moment 30 seconds to respond to this.

Thank you. Well, well, let me tell you

what I

haven't done. We could go on about homelessness for an hour here.

Colleen, I thought we got 30 seconds to

respond.

>> him what happened to the unaccompanied

minors. >> I did get 30 seconds to respond to the attack by Mr. Villaraigosa. So, I would like my 30 seconds.

>> will give you 30 seconds, Mr. Hilton. You get 30 seconds. Then, we move on to

So, Trump lied about that, this whole situation with the migrant kids in 20

>> New York Times

lie? >>

you let

me Okay. Donald Trump campaigned against our our Democratic candidate, Kathleen, I mean, Kamala Harris, Vice President, in 2024 using lies. In 2026, now you have candidates like Antonio and Tom Steyer using these very lies. There's They were lies when Trump said them 2 years ago. They're lies today. We protected kids. We did not let them be abused. Those were the employers. But, stop lying. The facts are

the facts. Okay. There

were congressional hearings.

>> 26 Democrats condemned them. They said it was outrageous that he pushed kids out. What was outrageous was the exploitation by the employers,

not the care that they got. They invented the the

assembly line, put them on an assembly line, get them out of here. Illegal. I want to go and ask

you one more time, please. Please. We have a lot of topics here this evening. I laid out the ground rules. You had a chance to respond. Mr. Hilton, you get 30 seconds. Then, we move on. Mr. Hilton.

Thank you very much. I tell you what I haven't done, Javier, is break state and federal law by taking money from a campaign account and funneling it to a senior aide, breaking those laws, and then denying it. I tell you what I haven't done, which we revealed today, which is to take a taxpayer-funded organization from your money, your taxes, are paying illegal immigrants to campaign for Javier Becerra through an organization called CHIRLA, and he's accepted their endorsement. It is completely

outrageous. So, Colleen, once again, once

again Um

no, we have to wait. Time out.

The next topic is sanctuary. I think it's very important. Listening to the audience here, listening to the group. Enrique has a question. >> And and

and and can Colleen, as long as I understand, if a candidate is attacked >> No, it wasn't. It was up to

them and she said no, let's move on. We'll get back

to you in a second. We got to move on. This is really important. The state

That's the discretion of the moderators here. I've given everybody a chance to respond. Please stop with the attacks. We we we do the voters a disservice when we attack like that. We are trying to get more information about the topics at hand.

So, sanctuary. The state sanctuary law, as we know, that restricts local authorities from cooperating with federal agents, federal immigration officers. Uh my question goes to Mr. Bianco. What is one thing, Mr. Bianco, you would replace or change about the current sanctuary law in California? One aspect,

one. I would eliminate sanctuary state. is what is creating the issue that we have in California. It

Immigration is it is the responsibility of the federal government to enforce immigration laws. And prior to 2017, they would come into our jails and they would come into our prisons and they would remove those criminals who are victimizing us and they would and they would deport them. That ended with prop with sanctuary state law SB 54. They forced us to release those people back into our communities and then ICE has to go into the communities to get them instead of in the safety and security of the jail.

>> Bianco, so if county jails can communicate with ICE if the person in question is a convicted felon of a criminal of a violent crime. So, what would be the difference then if you want to change something?

>> a huge difference because I have someone in my jail right now that if the attorney general wants to arrest me when I turn him over, he he this is he's a convicted of a felony. But the three prior convictions for DUI, he was released from jail, he was deported on two of them back into the country, and then he killed a 14-year-old boy with another DUI. So, we have to wait until somebody dies before we deport criminals who are in our jail. And those people who are released from the jail immigration enforcement officials have to go into the communities to get them. And that is why we see what we see on

the streets. >> really quick, 30

seconds. He said that yesterday, it's just not true. 12,000 undocumented violent criminals >> Tell that to the family that lost their

child. Look, I know you're a note keeper and you feel like you can do whatever you want, but let me be clear. Let me finish my thing. May I have my time

back? >> give it to you. 15 seconds. Continue.

In point of fact, you keep on saying that they don't turn over violent criminals. That's just not true. They do. They've turned over 12,000 since 2009.

>>

Well,

>> Mr. Villaraigosa, thank you. Ms. Porter, you want to say something about this

Yeah, I mean, I think we ought to enforce the existing sanctuary laws everywhere, so we don't have crazy cowboys taking the law into their own hands.

>> Tell that to a crazy mother who lost her

child. Sir, I don't need any lectures from you about being a mother.

Of course, you

Okay. So, Uh wait, again, please. All

you

have done this evening is shout and not given me a chance to respond.

>> That was obviously a scripted answer that didn't fit, but go ahead.

>> But please, Uh No, I'm not going to be excused me.

I'm not going to be lectured cuz I have not interrupted a single person.

So, I think it's important to recognize that our sanctuary laws are only as good as the enforcement of them. We have entities right now, including local sheriffs, including state agencies in a lot of our counties that are violating sanctuary law. He says he wants to enforce the sanctuary law He wants to do away with the sanctuary law policy. That's because he doesn't want to have to follow it. Every Californian deserves the protection of their governor. Every Californian deserves the protection of their governor. Keep talking over me.

You know, Sheriff, you had an opportunity to speak. Ms. Porter, you

have I I respect you, but I don't need your help being

defended. Thank you. Okay. You know what, Conan? We have a

final question.

Do you have a final question? Very quickly, the Democrats on this panel, for the most part, support the sanctuary state law. Is that in agreement, Mr.

Secretary? It would be a Mr. Mayhan, Mayor But I'd like to

be able to respond to the accusations that were made.

I'd like to answer the question, too.

You are my enemy here. Okay, may I then answer the question?

>> 30 seconds. We're going to start with

Mr. seconds. SB 54, the Values Act, sanctuary law. I defended it against Donald Trump's attacks the first time he was president, and I beat him. That's why we still have that law in place. I stopped ICE from trying to force our law enforcement to do ICE raids because I beat Donald Trump in court. As governor, I will investigate ICE, we will prosecute ICE, we will convict ICE if they have violated the law. And what I will tell Steve and Chad is that Chirla is one of the biggest defenders of immigrant rights in this nation. They deserve respect. I

agree.

Please. So, Enrique, you're you're correct. >> and as the mayor of the safest big city in the country, I can confirm that our sanctuary laws do not provide sanctuary to criminals. What they do is they build trust between law enforcement officers in the community they serve. We don't ask our police officers to check your tax returns or your immigration papers because we want you to report Let me finish. We want you to report crime, serve as a witness, provide evidence, but we absolutely have to enforce our laws and keep people safe, and we can do both. I do want to say though, Antonio is absolutely right about the secretary's failure on the immigration issue. There is a direct line There is a direct line between his failed leadership and Donald Trump being in the

White House. So, once again, an attack. Do I get to respond to the false

attack?

You have 30 seconds. Really

quick. 30

seconds. Those were Trump lies between 2020 4, and now that you're pedaling them, Matt, they're still lies. Lies don't become facts because you're a Democrat and Trump was a Republican. You're just pedaling a Republican's

lies. >> congress members like

AOC would say that to you. >> who said it was outrageous if I could just finish

We stopped what Donald Trump was doing. Remember those days? Trump was putting kids in cages. Donald Trump was separating children from their parents. We stopped that. We took care of them. We protected those kids. We didn't do what Trump did, and we're not doing his

lies. >> that children were held in cages under the Trump administration. Mr. Stire, let

ICE is a criminal organization. They're coming into our state. They're terrorizing people. They're racially profiling people, and they're harming people and committing violence against them. I'm in favor of abolishing ICE, but along the way I did push for the sanctuary state law, which I absolutely believe in. But more than that, we should be prosecuting ICE agents for racial profiling. It's illegal in the state of California. We should be prosecuting them for violence against Californians. It's illegal and we should go up the chain to the people who who asked them to commit violence, including Stephen Miller. The truth is we should be investigating their detention centers that they will not show that are dangerous and they won't let anyone in and I guess you can figure why. We should be protecting immigrants. The state was built by immigrants. They continue to make this state run and the idea that we'd let agents from Washington, D.C. with masks and assault rifles come in here and terrorize them is absolutely against Californian values and the governor is here to protect Californians. Mr. Hilton You

profited off of those detentions. Mr. Hilton, we're going to Mr. Hilton, the private

prison system. Mr. Hilton, that's not

true. Mr. Mahanian, thank you so much. Mr. Hilton, go

ahead. Thank you very much. Unlike everybody else here, I actually am an immigrant. Um I'm a proud American American citizen and I am the candidate of the legal immigrant community for the legal immigrant community so that they can have the California dream just as my parents had it when they moved from Hungary fleeing communism to build a new life in England. That's what California's all about, but it's got to be managed and orderly and legal and that's what we have to be honest about in this whole discussion about immigration and its enforcement. I can tell you very clearly that when I'm governor, as I've said, I will be there for our immigrant communities, our legal immigrant communities, but also will make sure that all our laws all our laws are peacefully enforced. We can't just stand up here and decide which laws we like and which laws we don't. If we don't like the laws, we got to change them. But the governor's job is to enforce them and as governor I will do that peacefully and calmly and cooperatively with the federal immigration

authorities. Mr. Hilton, are you aware that not every immigrant has a privilege that maybe you had to come to this

I understand exactly what it's like to be in a country without those privileges cuz that's my life and my story when my parents fled communism in Hungary and I grew up in a household with a single mother, working-class immigrant story just like so many millions in California. My stepdad worked construction. My first job, project manager for a construction company. So yes, I absolutely understand that and that opportunity is what I want for every single one of you.

Okay, we have a few minutes left. What we're going to do is ask you several questions, as many as we can get in. Yes or no answers. Um please respect the time we have left. We want to get as much information out to voters.

Enrique, so uh so this year undocumented adults can no longer enroll in Medi-Cal. Um would you reinstate this if you become governor? Yes or no, Mr. Villaraigosa.

>>

Yes. Ms.

Porter. Yes. Mr.

Bianco. No.

Mr. Hilton. No.

Mr. Sauer. Yes.

Mr.

Becerra.

All right, film and television. It is the backbone or was the backbone of California. We've seen a lot of production move out of state. On a scale of 1 where would you place this in terms of priority? I believe we touched on it earlier, but I'd like a commitment from

That's your top priority in the whole

Please answer the question, Ms. Porter.

On a scale of 1 to 10, is it

It's

a priority. Well, of course it's a priority. Everyone's going to say it's a priority. Of course it is.

It's a it's a weird question to be

honest. I agree with Katie.

Bipartisanship. I think I think you

might even get all of us to agree with

that one. Let me give you a different question now. Very quickly, we have 2 minutes left. If you don't mind Carlene, for the people in Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, Diablo Canyon, the only nuclear power plant left in the state, 9% of your electricity, we pay three times the power in the rest of the nation.

It's supposed to go offline in 2030. Do you extend it, Mayor Mahan? Yes or

no?

>> it open. Mr. Secretary

Becerra. Yes, if

safety, yes, but safety first. Mr.

I'm sorry, Tom Steyer. Extend

it. Extend it. Okay. Mr.

Hilton. Yes, extend it and

Uh Chad Bianco, the

sheriff. Completely

nuclear. Okay. Katie

Extend. Okay. Antonio. All right,

let me rephrase the film question. Would you extend tax credits to match other countries and other states? Yes or no?

Yes.

Yes

or no? Yes.

Mr. Bianco. Yes. I published my plan on this last week. I would exceed exceed other countries. We got to be the best in the

world. Yes. Mr.

Yes,

and it's an 11 on

a scale of 1

Yes, I was the first candidate to put

out a plan to

do just that. Thank you.

Yes. Very quickly, again, we have a minute left. The um Under the California Education Code, you perform in an athletic event K through 12 based on your identification by gender. Would you change that law to match the IOC that you identify based on your or your your your birth gender? Yes or no? Very quickly, we have 30 seconds

left. Mr. Mahan. Sorry, change which law? State

law? The current law says you identify and that's how you participate.

>> Yeah, but at higher levels, I would let

the leagues decide. Okay. Mr.

Enforce the law. Okay. uh Allow

trans athletes to participate.

>> Mr. Hilton. I have a wristband that says save girls sports and I have the echo.

enforce

That