TX-Gubernatorial Candidates Spar Over Immigration in Debate
Gubernatorial candidates spar over immigration in debate
El Paso Times (Texas)
February 1, 2010
By Zahira Torres
DALLAS -- People who curled up by the television Friday night to watch the Republican gubernatorial debate heard few specifics about pushing Texas forward.
The debate provided the last opportunity for voters to hear Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and former Wharton County GOP chairwoman Debra Medina square off before the March 2 primary election.
The three candidates managed to jab at one another as they were grilled on topics that included solving the state's budget woes, combating illegal immigration and dealing with transportation problems.
Still, Hutchison, 66, and Medina, 47, tried to focus their attacks on Perry, calling his leadership ineffective and accusing him of cronyism.
"He takes from us so that he can play with his corporate slush fund and award his friends businesses," Medina said.
Though on the defensive most of the night Perry, 59, primarily remained calm, a change from the more tense demeanor he displayed during the first debate earlier this month.
For the second consecutive debate, education remained on the sidelines.
Illegal immigration and border security moved to the forefront.
Panelists asked candidates whether they would sign a bill that would require Texas to use the E-verify system, a federal government database that helps employers verify the legal status of immigrants.
Medina said that illegal immigrants have caused "devastation" in the state but that she did not trust that the program would be effective.
She said she would instead support legislation that would prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses.
Then, she said, Perry had not provided the appropriate leadership for such legislation to pass.
Perry used the opportunity to tie Hutchison to Washington, D.C.
He said the federal government was not doing enough to secure the border.
"The failure of Washington, D.C., to spend the money, to send the troops, to do what is required to defend our borders is absolutely an abomination," he said.
Hutchison, who promoted the program during the last debate, said she would push for mandatory use in Texas.
"We have to give employers the tools to find out if someone is legal," she said. "We cannot clamp down on employers if they don't have a way to call in and do something."
Perry was later asked whether a bill he signed in 2001 that gave illegal immigrants in-state tuition at Texas universities discriminated against legal citizens from other states.
He said the bill helps students who have lived in Texas most of their lives to enter college. And, he said, those immigrants were expected to seek citizenship.
He said the Texas Education Agency monitored to make sure those students were indeed pursuing citizenship. In fact, Universities are the ones who must take on that task.
When pushed about whether that was a contradiction to his stance on border security, Perry said comparing the two things was a stretch.
The three candidates were also asked whether they would increase a gas tax, increase the debt or build more toll roads to provide for more than $300 billion that will be needed over the next 20 years to provide for the state's transportation needs.
Perry said he would not support a gas-tax increase. He said that building new roads would require tolls, but that existing roads would remain free.
Hutchison did not directly answer the question, but instead said she would audit and reform the Texas Department of Transportation.
She said she would never support a tax increase without an election.
Medina questioned the accuracy of the number but did not say which of the three options she would consider.
The three candidates also squabbled over the effectiveness of the Texas Enterprise Fund, a program that provides incentives to companies that move to Texas.
A recent report by Texans for Public Justice indicated that several businesses helped through the fund fell short on the number of jobs they promised to create.
Perry has said that some enterprise fund contracts were canceled. Others have been changed to help the companies.
"You are absolutely wrong that this is a program with a checkered past," Perry said to a panelist who told him that the program faced obstacles.
He said it brought in money to the state and created thousands of jobs.
Hutchison said the fund is not transparent and the $380 million used from it would have been better spent on education.
"The experts say that those companies would have moved here anyway for the Texas business climate," Hutchison said.
Medina promoted her plan to eliminate property taxes and replace them with a higher sales tax that could reach 14 percent if the state continued to tax the same items.
She could not give specifics on whether she would impose a sales tax on additional items and instead said she would leave that to the Texas Legislature.
Medina called Hutchison and Perry "economic tricksters intent on destroying our freedoms and selling Texas to the highest bidder."
All three candidates struggled during a questioning round that tested the knowledge of candidates on certain state issues.
Hutchison failed to correctly name the first governor of Texas, James Pinckney Henderson.
Hutchison, who struggled to answer a question about abortion during the first debate, was again asked to clarify her position.
She said that adoption should be promoted and that she opposes partial-birth abortions. She said she does not support overturning Roe v. Wade.
Medina said she does not support gay marriage because she, along with most other Texans, believes marriage should be between a man and woman.
Perry defended his unsuccessful attempt to require middle-school girls to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus linked to cervical cancer. He said he did that because he was on the side of life.
Zahira Torres may be reached at ztorres@elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.
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