Tom Reilly in MA gubernatorial debate on CBS4 news

On Education: Charter schools are a matter of giving parents choice

PATRICK: Chris, you’re wrong that I don’t support charter schools. As important as charter schools are and as helpful as they are, we need to come up with a different and better funding mechanism before we raise the cap.

REILLY: Deval, if there was a moratorium proposed by the legislature, to curb any growth in charter schools, would you sign that legislation? I wouldn’t. I think Chris would veto it.

GABRIELI: I would veto it.

REILLY: Would you veto it?

PATRICK: Yes, but listen, we’ve got to be serious about funding. The formula works in theory, but in real life, there are real tensions between real families and that is not community building and that is not advancing ed reform.

REILLY: It’s a matter of giving parents choice, give them a choice.

On Health Care: Experienced with saving struggling hospitals

REILLY: For the past eight years, I’ve been working to save the health insurance for over a million people with the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare plan when that company was going under. Saving and turning around struggling hospitals, so I understand that system. I’m the only one with that kind of experience going into this race. The next governor better know something about healthcare. We can’t continue like this because of the cost of healthcare. We have to make it more affordable. I know where to start, cutting those administrative costs, 1/3 of the amount of money that’s spent on our healthcare delivery system is spent on administrative overhead--those forms going back and forth, endless waste of money--we have to change it. Government can drive that change, we’re the largest purchaser of health insurance.

On Local Issues: Staff working round-the-clock making progress on Big Dig

REILLY: Well, Deval, you should say there’s a lack of curiosity to the people of my staff who are working around the clock, night and day, to get to the bottom of this, going through hundreds of thousands of records. They are making progress, substantial progress. The Big Dig, and the problem with that, is a series of Republican governors who have tied my hands. But despite that, we have recovered and saved $75 million of tax-payers’ money, plus six people under criminal indictment.

On Principles & Values: People looking for independent who fights for average people

REILLY: People are looking for independents. I’ve been an independent Democrat throughout my career. Willing to stand up to my party when it was right for the people of Massachusetts. A big issue in this campaign is rolling back the taxes; I’m the only Democrat in this race who is willing to stand up and fight for the people on things that are important to them. I have a proven record of getting things done, and things that are important too, their safety, the protection of their children, also on the education of their children as well. So I have a proven record of standing up for people and fighting for people. I live the life of a average working family in Massachusetts, I understand that life, I’ll be a governor who is going to be on their side.

On Tax Reform: No right to ignore will of the voters on income tax rollback

PATRICK: Small wonder people say, give me my money back. But the tax to cut, is the property tax. That’s the one squeezing people, and the only way to do that is to that is to restore state aid to cities and towns. And the only way to do that is to postpone the income tax and invest in ourselves.

REILLY: No one has a right on taxes to substitute your judgment for the will of the voters.

GABRIELI: I disagree with Deval [as saying] “here’s what you can’t do.” I’ve put forward a can-do plan: We can cut the income tax by taking 40% of income growth [towards tax cuts], and leave 40% in there for continuing local aid and investments. But I can hold down the property taxes just as well. I don’t think we should ignore the voters.