[Music] good evening I'm Rebecca Hawthorne president of the League of Women Voters of the wetta Plymouth area I'd like to welcome our candidates our audience and our viewers on behalf of the League of Women Voters wetta Plymouth area and our co-host the minona Eden Prairie Hopkins League the League of Women Voters is a 104y old volunteer nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy the league does not support or oppose any political party or candidate the views expressed in this forum tonight are those of the candidates not those of the League of Women Voters it is our purpose in sponsoring forums such as this to provide you with an opportunity to hear candidates discuss face Toof face the issues that are important to you this is a nonpartisan Forum we ask that campaign buttons or campaign t-shirts not be worn nor signs or literature distributed in this room please please silence your electronic devices at this time and now I'd like to introduce your moderator for this evening's Forum Deb Brinkman of St Louis Park and A League of Women voter St Louis Park member good evening good evening tonight's forum is provided to give you the opportunity to learn about the candidates running for Senate District 45 their backgrounds motivations and goals in relationship to the seat that they seek candidates will be answering questions submitted in advance or during the Forum these questions have been reviewed by an impartial committee familiar with the issue it's Our intention and good faith to select questions that represent the interests expressed by the voters that are focused on the future and not based on hindsight that are relative Rel relevant to the office being sought and are not personal in nature hostile embarrassing or unclear questions will be addressed to all candidates and may be Consolidated or edited there's never enough time to cover all the issues in a settings such as this if your questions were not addressed feel free to contact the candidate directly the rules for this evening's form are as follows candidates will be allowed an opening statement with a maximum of two minutes during the question and answer period answers will be limited to one minute unless designated by me as the moderator and we do have one question that will be a little bit longer opening statements will be given in alphabetical order and questions will be answered in a rotating order a 15c warning will be given to the candidates the candidates will also be given an opportunity for a one minute closing statement candidates please finish your sentence quickly when you see the stop sign or you will be interrupted we ask that there be no demonstrations in support or in opposition to the candidates or their positions and that candidates be allowed their fulltime to get their points across recordings of this event whether in person or by computer may not be used without the express written approval of the League of Women Voters the league will only only allow audio video of this event to be broadcast in its entirety except by the media reporting on the event if you have a question please write it on a 3x5 card that's available you should have gotten one when you walked in and they'll um just hand it up and one of our volunteers will come and get it and pick it up and that will go back for review at our question table the candidates running for Senate District 45 are Kathleen folk and an Johnson Stewart so we'll begin with the two minute opening remarks first we'll start with Kathleen folk well first of off I want to thank the League of Women Voters for hosting this event and I also want to congratulate my opponent on her win in the primary I am a proud mother grandmother and business owner I decided to run for the state senate because I love this state and I believe you fight for what you love our state has been knocked out of balance by the lack of listening the lack of openness and by the lack of compromise I believe we can do better we must do better when I'm out listening to the voters at the doors parades or and many of my community events that I've have attended I hear one message loud and clear they are tired of the chaos and the const constant divisiveness if elected to the state senate I pledge to listen gather the best ideas and then Implement them I'm here tonight because I want you to know I support business both large and small they employ our neighbors and our friends and we need to ensure that Minnesota is a great place to do business I'm here tonight to once again State I will not vote to ban abortion or place heavy-handed restrictions on women I look forward to implementing solutions that support women and young families I'm here tonight to let you know I will be an advocate for our schools teachers and children our kids deserve the best education and with flexible funding we can accomplish just that I'm excited to be here and share with everyone my vision for a better Minnesota for a balanced Minnesota single party control showed us dangers of one-sided government I look forward to heartfelt discussions so we can Implement real solutions I promise to be a voice for common sense and I look forward to sharing that Vision with you tonight thank you thank you Kathleen an Johnson Stewart well hello everyone it's good to see a full room I'm Ann Johnson Stewart I'm a civil engineer I'm a former state senator a former business owner and I teach at the University of Minnesota I ran so that we could build thriving communities where all of us regardless of who we are or where we live uh who we vote for or who we love can Thrive I live in minaka with my husband and my family and our two dogs were both very active in volunteer work especially at the University my parents were both Public School teachers so I learned early the value of hard work but also that the value of public education and what a difference worldclass teaching can do in my in our lives I first ran for Senate to address the need for common sense gun reform and I was also concerned about the lack of our lack of maintaining our infrastructure I felt very strongly that we needed a civil engineer in the Senate um those issues still motivate me a lot but I also know that right now we must maintain the responsive and compassionate leadership that voters deserve we desperately need legislators that trust women to make their own health care decisions as a civil engineer I know how infrastructure works and what I love about it is it doesn't have a party we all depend on it we take it for granted and we expect it to work and we need it to power a thriving economy in 1995 I started a small business I grew it from zero or one I suppose you'd say to 35 uh like-minded professionals who value datadriven problem solving and who love building those things we depend on I sold that business in 2022 uh and to focus on teaching and volunteer work and public service I hold those uh values very high and uh think it's a noble cause to continue to teach and to run for Senate oh sorry about that I was looking back there sorry very good thank you an now we'll start with the questions again um we'll go in rotating order and you'll have one minute to answer these first few questions so we'll first start with an what is your top legislative priority for district 45 and why well that's an easy one for me my top legislative priority is infrastructure and securing bonding money and other Public Funding for our Drinking Water Systems in sd45 we have significant challenges in that our communities were built uh very sporadically many of them uh were built for homes that are much smaller than what sits on the shores of Lake motanka now and we have several communities that have drinking water issues that are severe Mound for example cannot people who live in Mound cannot drink the water coming out of their kitchen sync I think that's uh appor and we should be uh not standing for that we also have several communities that need significant uh increases in funding for public works and drinking water uh treatment and distribution as their Senator that's going to be my priority to make sure that we uh have everybody uh with upto-date drinking water not just frankly in sd45 but in the whole state thank you an Kathleen over the past two years we have seen a state spending $18 billion in Surplus I am running because I think this is wrong with that $8 billion Surplus spent and zero ground Common Sense achieved that one-sided government forgot about the seniors the mental health facilities the hospitals the schools and additionally the oversight that was needed never came when the1 billion doll was spent in fraud we can and must do better with inflation being high and everything costing more I am running because I believe we need to lower our taxes not raise our taxes if elected I will ensure that we have transparent and accountable state government I will be sure that the we fund education hospitals and our senior facilities and every decision I make will be driven by what is best for the people in this district and across this great state thank you Kathleen kathen will start with you for this next question how would you work for bipartisan support on issues that divide your District please give an example well there's many examples that we could talk about one example Ann brought up already and Mound needs clean drinking water I think this should be a bipartisan uh Forward Thinking matter there's no reason that any City in the state of Minnesota shouldn't have clean drinking water I understand that uh senate or representative Andrew Meyers did get them $10.3 million as I talked to um the mayor Jason Holt just a couple months ago I understand that they need another 20 million to get that done I look forward to working across the aisle to make sure that mound has clean drinking water thank you Kathleen an well I think motans share a lot of values not only around infrastructure but about public education and Public Safety and for any of these things to be uh well resourced we have to have bipartisan work when I was in the Senate one area that I worked constantly as a bipartisan member of the Senate on was the bonding committee so while we have excellent infrastructure in the metro area with the exception of a few places places where we really need some drinking water repair uh it's mostly the rural communities that are um represented by Republican legislators that I worked with to try to pass bonding bills um and bonding trickles down to all these other programs so education is often funded through bonding money whether it's for facilities or for um buses or whatever and also Public Safety is often funded through bonding we see a lot of outstate um fire departments that severely need those facilities so that's an easy one thank you an okay the next question Ann we'll start with you few it's on education few Minnesota schools have gone unscathed from the effects of inflation higher than usual salary increases and lagging state aid if elected what would be your view of State education funding and whether to reduce maintain or increase the funding well part of the um part of the challenge with Public Schools is we've been severely underfunding it for years I remember when I was in the Senate the Republicans and control proposed almost nothing for public schools so last year when we did fund two and a half billion dollars to public schools that was just a start to get us caught up and address the issue of severe underfunding that we've seen for years I would continue on that catching up and continue to Pub continue to fund Public Schools I think that that's a value that we can agree on whether you're Republican or Democrat and we know what teachers need we know that we also need to train more teachers so there's a lot we can do as a state and I think that both our Senate finance and our Senate policy committees have done a great job in the last two years we just need to continue with that work thank you an Kathleen so education is so important um yes we did fully fund education this year but education did not get the dollars that they really needed I have met with the superintendents across the district and they were all very grateful for the funds but the mandates that they put on the school districts well it had left them scrambling why some of these mandates it's accomplished worthy goals we should provide our schools with funding then let them decide how best to spend the money as I've talked about with the neighbors they're concerned about our large classroom sizes my granddaughter being 11 years old lives in the district she had 32 kids in her class last year that's too many kids she had a great teacher but that's still too many kids if elected I will prioritize three things in education provide flexible funding insure insure pay parent involvement and review mandates and ensure benefits outweigh the costs we need teachers working with parents and we need parents supporting our teachers thank you Kathleen and we'll start with you for this next question the topic will be on safety many are concerned with crime in our communities What legislation if any would you support regarding Public Safety yeah well that's an important one I just met with uh the sherff Shane yesterday as we sat and had coffee and chatted for about an hour and a half our police departments are not funded we have we have so many issues regarding Public Safety I don't even know where to start if we look at 2020 and what has gone on with the riots and the protests and the burning of our city it's very clear to me what we need to do to help our cities we need to make sure the cops know that we have their backs right now police officers don't want to go into policing the kids so the cops where they're at right now 80% of them asked their as were asked would they recommend their children becoming a cop and 80% of them said no what does that mean thank you Kathleen and an thank you well well I'm committed to protecting our communities and making them safer for sure I originally ran for to lower gun violence and we really cannot address the issue of reducing violence in our communities without addressing gun violence we also need to make sure that our police and our firefighters and our First Responders are uh well funded and have the resources to do their jobs in Minot tanka we have worldclass fire fighting equipment and um clothing and Facilities that is not the case in rural Minnesota as I said in my last answer uh making sure that we fully fund Public Safety is more than just talking about it it's actually making that it's making sure that rural communities have adequate fire equipment and Fire Halls and they're keeping their own selves safe and not bringing home uh chemicals and fire retardants to their children so every Minnesotan should uh have access to the same public safety equipment thank you an okay the next question is going to be on the erra and this is the question that's will allow a little bit longer so we're going to allow two minutes to answer this question you don't need to use all two minutes but we'll give you two minutes and I'll just double check with our Tim keeper make sure she's good all right and um an we'll start with you do you support the adoption of a ballot issue to add the erra to the Minnesota state constitution why or why not and what language should or should not be included well yes I do support the adoption of the erra and an amendment to um put it out to all voters uh I'm 60 years old and I remember graduating from college in the 80s thinking women have uh obtained equality things are going to be great when I'm an engineer on construction sites and now here we are 40 years later and things have not changed uh that much uh although they really haven't changed um I think we need the erra to protect us in all areas of our lives and so while I don't have the actual language in front of me I do support um the efforts to include uh reproductive freedom and choices on that because I don't trust that Minnesota will always have the governmental or the legislative environment where we can take um abortion care and birth control for granted so yes I do support it I think it's high time we passed it I think it is an important thing not just to men women but also to men and in 2024 2025 this is something that um I think we can all get behind so with a constitutional amendment going out to everyone I think it offers a good opportunity for everybody to have input and yes I support that thank you an and Kathleen well as you know I was not in office when this bill came before the legislation um we need to make sure that we are as a woman doing everything we can to support women we need to make sure that we do not discriminate against our neighbors we also need to ensure that we have our first amendment priority protected the right to free speech and the right to practice your religion my concern with this bill is once again I haven't seen it but I want to make sure our religious freedoms are protected and until I see the bill in front of me I cannot honestly make a statement regarding that it's when we need to sit down with our colleagues find common ground make sure that everything makes sense in that bill and absolutely the Equal Rights Amendment should be constitutional thank you thank you Kathleen and so the next topic that we have is on the bonding Bill and Kathleen will start with you the 2024 Minnesota Legislature was unable to find bipartisan support for an infrastructure Bill to fund water treatment plants roads Bridges University City buildings and other Public Work projects what is your position on funding infrastructure and how would you work across the aisle to enact such legislation excuse me we definitely need to pass a bonding Bill we definitely need to take care of our roads and our bridges and look what happened to our dams when we received all that rain we need to sit down again and find Common Ground solutions for these issues that come up we need to ensure that our roads are taken care of of I know in St Bona fascias they need help I understand that in Long Lake they need help with their roads we can work together because these are topics that we can work together very easily on these are important things that we can focus on and find Common Ground thank you Kathleen and an well working on the bonding Bill requires bipartisan support because any public bonding must be approved by a super majority that's one of the reasons that we didn't get a bonding Bill last year uh Democrats can't pass a bonding bill on their own and Republicans can't pass a bonding bill on their own and so it becomes a very political Hot Potato at the end of the session as different parties try to bargain for what they want I was very angry that the bonding bill was not passed last year um there are some communities that are in desperate need of uh improvements to their infrastructure there are communities in Minnesota like Mound who can't drink the water from their kitchen sink there are communities with raw sewage in their backyard I've seen it and so for us to not pass a bonding bill is inexcusable I will do all that I can just as I did as a volunteer for the last two years to work across all party lines to get a bonding bill passed because it's critical thank you an and we'll start with you for this next question question the topic is going to be on the budget surplus if elected what would your priorities be for using a state budget surplus well my priorities are pretty simple infrastructure public education and Public Safety um all of these are shared values I bet to every person in this room we all rely on infrastructure we all know what it's like if you turn on the sink and nothing comes out that's pretty irritating we all know what it's like well some of us know what it's like to have a flooded basement because your sewer pipe uh broke as ours did a couple years ago so infrastructure is something that has no party and I feel strongly that if we had a budget surplus this is exactly where we should be spending money I mentioned it earlier it's what we did or what the legislature did in the last bium they spent an additional $3 billion dollar in both cash and bonding just to catch up but I think the same holds true for uh fully supporting public education again it ties directly to bonding money and making sure that all of our police and firefighters are fully funded and have the resources they need thank you an Kathleen so when you have abundant a bonding Surplus or budget surplus you want to make sure that you follow through with the promises that you made last go around that budget surplus was supposed to go to the seniors to help them reduce their social security tax if you say something then you must follow through and do it I would like to see the Surplus used for mental health facilities our senior facilities and our hospitals as you know or may have heard North Memorial had a close eight of their beds that gave people no place to go when they were suffering eight beds were shorted can you imagine showing up to the hospital when you really needed a mental health service and you needed to either leave or go down to HCMC we can do better thank you Kathleen okay this next topic is on Health Care disparities and Kathleen will start with you Reproductive Rights remain a Hot Topic at both the national and state level what are your views on Minnesota's passage of the legislation protecting reproductive Health Care care decisions and access to care as well as protecting parents medical records from prosecution by other states as I mentioned in my opening statement since announcing my candidacy for office I have been clear about one thing I don't like extremes that means no matter what anyone says I will not vote to ban abortion that is Extreme and that will hurt women further I will not support efforts that put unreasonable restriction on women as I talked with voters what I have heard is they want women to have options and I couldn't agree more as you know they passed the pro act as you mentioned and in our state constitution it is protected now Minnesota let's ensure that women know that we have their backs let's make sure that they know they can go to a facility and receive birth control education and make sure that they can receive counseling if needed you know what she when she puts up that timer it really does kind of get get you and she's over there let's use our hearts and and our minds on this subject thank you thank you Kathleen and an well reproductive freedom is a core value for me I've been working on this issue for decades um I trust women to know what's best and to control their own bodies and their own Futures uh in the 80s I trained as a clinic escort and I know from that experience that there are as many reasons for women going to an abortion clinic as there are the women themselves I also served on the Nal pro-choice Minnesota Board and was awarded their legislative legislator of the Year award in 2021 probably because I was one of the original authors of the pro act I firmly believe that we must control or we must protect the full spectrum of reproductive care that includes family excuse me birth control and fertility treatments abortion and Healthcare last year there were six attempts by the Republicans in the Senate to put restrictions on abortion any restriction is something I'm very much uh against I am a vote that women can count on based on my Decades of experience in fighting this fight thank you an Kathleen I think I already answered that question that's okay thank you all right the next question is on housing what legislative measures if any would you support regarding housing ownership and Rental well as a real estate agent you know that the housing prices today are unaffordable we need to make sure we do have affordable housing as you look around the state there's Pockets but just very few Pockets where someone can actually buy a house that's nearly $350,000 not in Senate District 45 the homes are way way more expensive we need to ensure that our building costs come down and that is due to inflation we need to make sure that we work with our neighbors and our cities work with our state and help them find better ways to provide affordable housing but it should stay at the city level I just ask that the state work with the city to provide some There She Goes provide some um forthright and thinking moving forward we we can work together on this and as a realtor I can appreciate this no doubt thank you Kathleen an well affordable housing is a something that I think affects all of us because we all have children who or not all but some of us have children who are trying to get established in their first or second home um in motanka we have affordable housing that costs $1,200 a month to rent to me that's more than our house payment ever was and I I don't think that's affordable so I think when we talk about affordable housing we need to talk about by whose measure um this is certainly not just a case in the metro area we have significant housing needs in R Minnesota uh so much so that employers don't have enough housing for their staffs I think there are some things that the state can do we can implement um housing projects through bonding money we can uh fund lowincome loans or loans that are forgivable to Spur economic development in certain areas and we can work with nonprofits who have a handle on multif family housing and low-income housing and I'm all for it thank you the next question is on social and racial Justice and and we'll start with you what legislative policies if any would you pursu pursue to address economic disparities in labor force participation unemployment and income and poverty levels between Minnesota's white residents and residents of color well the state has put forth some money towards Workforce training in an attempt to eliminate some of the racial disparities I know firsthand because I've been doing this for the last 20 years so as an example uh I work to to train people of color and women getting into the construction trades uh I've T I've taught hundreds of people uh who are looking for a new start in Life or new ways to work and it's a very good way to put people on the path towards economic stability and towards union jobs where they can afford to raise a family and buy a home I have seen firsthand just the transformative change that this kind of funding and program makes in everyday work and that's just one example of what we can do we also need to be looking at our housing disparities and education but I think we already have several great examples of education and Workforce training that does an excellent job thank you Kathleen so the social disparities are still real in the state I believe what we need to do is we need to look at our schools our high schools and bring back the trades let's make sure our kids know that there's something else that they can do other than just going to college we need trades we need labor we have a shortage of Labor right now whether it's blue collar label labor or whether it's you know if you're going in to be a cosmetologist we I need to get my haircut I don't know about you so we need to focus on our kids and make sure that we are spurring them up and moving them forward I also was a part of a program it was called perspectives and it was a community that was in St Louis Park and in St Louis Park they had women there that were incarcerated and this program helped them reach their limit and help them get out of poverty thank you thank you Kathleen and we'll start with you for this next question and it is on Child Care Child Care is critical to our labor market what if anything should the legislature do regarding access and availability to Quality and affordable child care for Working Families throughout Minnesota I appreciate this question I would love to do all that I can to help lower the cost of child care I think if we all sit down and have a group discussion and figure out together what can we do to help lower the cost of child care people today young families are considering not having children because they can't afford child care but if we bring the constituents in a room and we sit down once again we can find Common Ground Solutions I believe it thank you thank you Kathleen and an well there's a lot that's been done but a lot that needs to be done around affordable child care it is true that many um young families or young couples are deciding not to have children or postponing it because Child Care is just outrageous um there's several things that we can do uh we can continue to fund the construction of child care centers in rural communities and in the metro area we can work to increase mandatory um minimums for pay for child care workers that's a big problem is not only we don't have the facilities but we don't have the staff we can continue to fund child tax credits for families those were really effective um in the last uh four years and I'd like to see those continued we can also work with private businesses like they've done in um the the rural Minnesota with companies like Polaris or Marvin Windows where they fund the child care centers themselves and we can give them tax credits for doing that thank you an then next question again we'll start with you it's on the environment is our topic on the November ballot motans will be asked to reauthorize or end a constitu Amendment allocating 40% of State Lottery proceeds to the environment and natural resources trust fund if you support reauthorization what environmental issues in District 45 need to be addressed if you do not support reauthorization how would you allocate the lottery proceeds well I support it to be continued we have an expert not only in the district but in the room here with uh representative AUM who does a great job on environmental issues and I'll look forward to partnering with her as I did when I was in the Senate before I think it's really important that we continue to fund um these types of Special Projects it is uh funded with a very strict oversite from Representatives representatives of both the house and the Senate and we hold dear so much that this program is allowed or allows us to fund things like parks and you know natural areas um I I think this is a very excellent idea and for sure I will vote to support it and to continue it thank you Kathleen would you would you like read it for sure thank you a bill um this is on the local excuse me on the environment on the November ballot minnesotans will be asked to reauthorize or end a con Constitutional Amendment at allocating 40% of the state lottery proceeds to the environment and natural resources trust fund if you support reauthorization what environmental issues in District 45 need to be addressed if you do not support reauthorization how would you allocate the lottery proceeds I would support um the reauthorization absolutely you know we live in a Land of 10,000 lakes and we have a beautiful bomb B Waters and we definitely need to ensure that our lakes and our streams and our boundy waters are protected we are right here it's we're right in the heart of lake minetonka so we understand the benefit that that Lake gives us I would also like to ensure that those that use the lake and rivers that they use it respectively make sure that they are cleaning off their boats when they leave the lakes and before they enter there's so many things that we can do and I believe if we work together together we can get them done thank you Kathleen the next question will be on the local zoning Authority a bill that would end single family zoning in Minnesota and Bar M municipalities from using restrictive zoning to block Housing Development has stalled in both the legislative Chambers in what circumstances if any do you think the legislature should override local decisions particular legally in regards to Planning and Zoning Authority is that my question first thank you well once again as a realtor this this hits home with me um I don't think the legislature should be involved in this discussion I think it needs to remain with the cities the cities know best how to run their cities and their neighborhoods and when a city gets overpopulated it's not good for anyone the schools get over crowded and the teach isues get stressed and it's just not a good idea let's keep it local and keep it out of the state's hands thank you Kathleen Ann well I somewhat agree um I think local communities know best what type of infrastructure and Community they want to have and one that they um are interested in developing I think the challeng uh here we go all right um okay I'm going to start over so I agree I think hold let's just get time keep aable we'll just wait for a thumbs up okay we're good okay I would tend to agree I think local communities know best what's right for their own communities and I think uh building housing uh according to what this law or this bill proposed uh is somewhat um it's too General so for example there's many communities around Lake motanka that all of the residents half of the residents are on septic tanks or on private Wells to require that a community with just you know a a variety of types of services um install or um zone for multif family housing might just not it might just be not a good fit it might not work in that community so for the state to mandate that is I think a bit too broad I do I do support the state manding some things around development but in this one area I think it's uh it's too broad based on the fact that we have so much diversity in our individual communities okay thank you and um so the next question is on inflation I'm an we'll start with you what measures would you support to address the rising living costs experienced by min Minnesota residents well prices are crazy I mean last night I was at quick trip and eggs are still $4 a dozen who else remembers when they used to be 99 Cents like what is happening so uh if eggs and milk and dairy and but eggs and milk and butter are expensive um that's a really big problem for every family because those are the Staples we rely on so uh there are a few things that we can do as a state to address uh inflation we can hold corporations accountable for Price scouching or for record profits uh but we can also help families by lowering costs on things like prescription drugs on insurance on Health Care on daycare as we just mentioned before and on college so there's a lot of ways that the state can work to make things more affordable but we need to be Innovative and we need to be thoughtful and work with the entire members in order to find those Solutions thank you an Kathleen yes well really inflation has more to do with the federal level rather than the state level the federal issue is we need to make sure and ensure our energy is flowing and right now it is not as a state we need to make sure that being that inflation is high that we do not raise taxes on our neighbors that we need to lower the cost of energy we need to lower the cost of our gas and not put taxes on our gas we can do so much better if we think about not just putting out an answer but actually finding a solution and I look towards the state to make sure that we lower the taxes for all the hardworking motans thank you Kathleen all right the next question is on the sports gambling Bill Kath will start with you do you support or oppose legislation of mobile sports betting in Minnesota and why I do um I I think less government is best so if somebody wants to bet on Sports they should be able to thank you Kathleen and an well I was in the legislator when we were um debating sports betting uh it never came before a vote so I didn't have to make a commitment and I'm not sure I could make a commitment right now I have been following this issue in preparation of possibly returning to the Senate and what I have been noticing is Senators who I align with in my values very closely both support and oppose sports betting so I have to be honest I'm not avoiding the issue I think there's concerns about high school level sports betting There's issues isues about allowing betting during games uh I think there's all kinds of concerns around sports betting and I'm frankly not convinced that the legislature has ironed that out and I I guess if it comes before us I'll have to make a decision then thank you an and we'll start with you for this next question the topic is end of life Bill end of life option Act was proposed in 2024 legislation that would ow an individual to request Medical Aid in dying provided certain requirements are met do you support or oppose this legislation please explain your position I do support the end of life Bill I'm uh very transparent about that I have read a lot about it again in the last two years I've continued to follow what the legislature is doing and I feel very confident that the guard rails I have been put into the bill that would protect those people who are vulnerable and those people like members of my own family who don't have a terminal illness and who are not of the um wherewith do not have the wherewithal to know that that's a reasonable option for them um I cared for both my parents as they died from very painful cancer both of them in their homes um it was gut-wrenching to watch and I'm sure many of us had the same experience um for me to be able to take out some of the pain that both my parents experienced during their cancer um Journey uh is something that I would have liked to have had available to at least consider thank you an Kathleen I would firmly say no I do not support the end of life bill I believe that this will do more harm to families than we know can you imagine a family that has a mother and a father that has one of them has a terminal illness they don't have money and the kids don't have money and so the mother or the father is going to feel as though they need to end their life because they don't want their kids to suffer and I just I would not support this bill period thank you Kathleen Kathleen will start with you with this next question and it is on Mental Health our youth are experiencing rich High rates of mental health issues what legislative action if any do you support to address this yes mental health is a huge issue and as you know it's one of my priorities on my platform in meeting with the superintendents around the district I have realized that even in the schools today there they have one counselor but there's a waiting list to see that counselor we have issues here not just in the state but across our country we need to support those that have the silent voices I lost somebody um several years ago from mental health and I promised her mother that once elected I will do everything in my power to make sure somebody that needs mental health help has it like I mentioned earlier North Memorial closed eight of their beds I'm thankful that Aline of Health has helped and supported some of these um mental health facilities the one that's located in Fridley by by chance a line of health is doing good work and I hope to use them as a focus on how we can do things better in the future thank you Kathleen and an I agree that there's much more we could do around providing more resources to both teachers and counselors in our public schools and I very much would support that uh there was just an article in the Star Tribune last weekend about uh reimbursement for mental health services and it occurred to me that we're not doing things right if we specify how much therapists can get reimbursed for counseling sessions and how many counseling sessions uh a patient is entitled to I've seen this firsthand in my own family so the cost of therapy is not reimbursed fully by insurance at least in Minnesota and the number number of visits that are allowed by private insurance is is mandated I think that as a um legislature we could look into that and we could allow therapists and psychiatrists psychologists uh be in charge of their own treatment and I think that would make a big difference thank you an and an will start with you with this next question the topic is climate change What legislation would you support to address climate change and its effect in Minnesota and what is your view on nuclear energy well I wrote my first paper on nuclear energy in eth grade and I've been studying it ever since uh I have to tell you I frankly am not a big uh proponent of nuclear energy just simply because for us to meet our uh carbon free goals by 2040 which is just 16 15 years from now there's no way we could Even build a nuclear plant in that time even the smaller ones that you're reading about in trade journals so I think looking to nuclear as a way to solve our energy crisis is somewhat impractical the last nuclear plant that was built in Min in the US uh was built in Georgia and it was it was billions of dollars over budget and uh still is not up and running I do support increased solar I think we could be doing much more with solar energy not just on farmland or on ground but on all of our buildings on our schools on our parking lots and so I would look more towards solar than nuclear energy thank you an and Kathleen yes well this topic I can talk to you about all day so um you picked a great subject for me we need to ensure that we have clean reliable and affordable energy here in Minnesota we do have an abundance of renewable energy which is great but the fact is we are all still connected to that Big Grid we cannot just run on Renewables and batteries alone we need carbon free nuclear energy and natural gas if we want our grid to stay reliable further I don't support mandates that are not based on science energy is essential in our lives we want our homes to be cool in the summer and comfortable in the winter as Senator I would Advance clean energy initiatives at the speed of value thank you thank you Kathleen all right this next question and this is the last question that I have that's been submitted it has to do with um with the m with migration of Minnesota residents and again we'll start with Kathleen what would you do to stem out migration of Minnesota residents working age people are leaving the state and it's Weighing on the economy well we have to address why they're leaving that's that's the first thing um our taxes are high our property taxes are high our estate taxes are high what tax in Minnesota isn't High you can't die here or you're going to pay a lot of tax it's sad we want to make sure our mothers and fathers stay here and they're around for our grandchildren it's important topic I hope that I want if I'm so honored to be elected can get into office and make sure we reduce taxes to make sure people are not leaving our state thank you Kathleen and an well uh as far as migration of new graduates goes I think that is an issue and as somebody who teaches at the University of Minnesota in the engineering um school I see this firsthand I think there is a lot that we can do as a state to address migration uh as Kathleen said we need to look at why why uh new grads are leaving and what we can do to keep them here the federal chips act for example uh offers States a huge opportunity for creating new technology and new facilities that not only keep engineering grads and other other um uh young people in the state but also attract them here and I know that our state is doing a lot of work to secure those grants and to make Minnesotan Minnesota a great place to live I have to say it's a myth that Minnesota's are leaving a recent study in the Star Tribune showed that that's actually not happening uh across the state and we all know why it's a great place to live thank you an all right we'll now move to our closing statements again you'll get one minute for your closing statement um because Kathleen started with opening statement and we'll start with you with our closing statement and we can go ahead and begin all right well thank you so much Deb and all the League members uh thank you Kathleen it's a pleasure um we know that there's a lot of stake in this election we both have very different Visions which have been evident tonight uh but we both we all know that reproductive freedom is under a attack by Republican legislatures around the us as a mom and a grandma I'm very worried that my girls and my granddaughter will lose control over their bodies and their Futures if I don't win this Senate race remember I served in the Minnesota Senate when the Republicans were in the majority I remember countless attempts to restrict or outlaw abortion I remember zero money for public schools and no concern for our changing climate or energy needs this election is about Minnesota moving forward and continuing the progress we've seen in the last two years and I ask for your vote on November 5th thank you thank you an and Kathleen yes thank you again for holding this discussion tonight I'm running for the state senate to bring balance back to Minnesota the one-sided government gave money to our schools and then they restricted how it was spent the one-sided government spent your $18 billion Surplus and then they raised your taxes the one-sided government seemed to have forgotten our seniors as they failed to eliminate or reduce the tax on social security if elected I want to ensure that our communities are safe our businesses can prosper and we can live in a Minnesota that works for us all I vow to support women and families and find solutions to help reduce child care costs I vow to protect your religious freedoms and I vow to be your voice in the Senate I look forward to a brighter and balanced tomorrow my name is Kathleen folk and I would be honored to receive your vote thank thank you Kathleen this concludes a Senate District 45 candidate form on behalf of the League of Women Voters I thank the candidates for being part of the democratic process by running for office and for being Welling willing to serve our community audience please join me in thanking the candidates with your applause [Applause] a little bit more hold on thank you also to the League of Women voter volunteers our audience here and those viewing this event virtually for your participation in this candidate form thank you to the minaka city staff for supporting this event and for Comcast for broadcasting live live streaming and recording tonight's Forum on demand viewing can be accessed at lwv swpa.gov 411.org the League of Women Voters awardwinning One-Stop shop where voters can register to vote find their polling place and learn how candidates stand on issues please remember to vote in the no November 5th election by absente Ballot or in person early voting begins on September 20th your vote is your voice the League of Women Voters welcomes new members both men and women at lwv wpa.net [Applause]