Takeaways from the CBS California Governor's Debate, where candidates discussed gas costs, housing and more ...Middle East

California's affordability crisis, high gas prices and the future of healthcare funding were among the key issues addressed on Tuesday during the CBS California Governor's Debate, as candidates clashed over how to lower costs and who is to blame for the state's economic pressures.

Some candidates focused on expanding housing production, lowering prescription drug costs and protecting healthcare access, while others argued for cutting regulations, reducing taxes and scaling back the state's role in the economy.

The eight candidates who took the stage at Pomona College included Democrats Xavier Becerra, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond and Antonio Villaraigosa, and Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton. 

Anchors and reporters across CBS LA, CBS Bay Area and CBS Sacramento led moderated discussions on topics including California's affordability crisis, the environment and social issues. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the 90-minute debate:

How to restore the "California Dream"

CBS LA anchor Pat Harvey opened Tuesday's debate by asking candidates what they'd do to restore the "California Dream" as prices soar and residents struggle to afford the rising cost of living.

Hilton vowed to make the state "Califordable" by cutting utilities and making home-buying accessible to young people, though he didn't elaborate on specific policies.

Fellow Republican Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County, said the state legislature's progressive agenda is "destroying California." He added that Democrats in the statehouse —  where the party holds a supermajority — would have to work with him to carry out the mandate of voters if he's elected.

"It's not how I'm going to respond to them, it's how they're going to respond to me," Bianco said.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said homeownership was "the American Dream," and said he'd work to provide down-payment assistance grants for those looking to purchase a home.

"We will build two million housing units using surplus property that school districts have in every single county in this state," Thurmond said. "And we will build two-point-three million units by the year 2030."

Cutting red tape and regulations for housing construction remained a key talking point for billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer.

"We need to work to shorten and reduce the cost of permitting," he said. "We need to drop the cost of construction."

Antonio Villaraigosa suggested a first-time buyer assistance program, offering a $25 billion initiative, at no cost to the taxpayer, that will help them get into their first house.   

Katie Porter said that to meet the housing crisis, California has to build faster. 

"California has permitting delays, a lack of labor," she said. "We need to innovate in housing to bring costs down."  

Becerra — who noted he worked on the Affordable Care Act when he served as California attorney general — said the first thing he would do in order to help protect California against future cuts to healthcare funding is "stop Donald Trump."

"Had Trump allowed the premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act to continue forward, millions of Californians would be able to afford their healthcare insurance," Becerra said.

He then took a shot at Republican candidate Steve Hilton, referring to the president as Hilton's "daddy."

"We need someone who is going to fight Donald Trump, not agree with him," Becerra said.

Hilton offered a sharp response to Becerra: "I think what you just saw there is actually what's wrong with our politics in California."

Mahan shared a similar sentiment to Becerra on healthcare, calling Mr. Trump's tax cuts "cruel."

Bianco offered a different perspective, arguing that Californians shouldn't worry about what the federal government is doing.

"California is the fourth-largest economy in the world," Bianco said. "What do we care about a cut to medical?"

Tackling California's gas prices, the highest in the nation

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan renewed a promise to suspend the gas tax in California as prices continue to skyrocket amid the war in Iran. 

"It is the most regressive tax in California," Mahan said. "Working people, rural people are spending three times as much maintaining our roads as wealthy EV owners."

Meanwhile, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said cutting the gas tax would upend the state's budget for infrastructure projects. He said he wants "everyone who is sitting here to drive on the roads, cross our bridges, make sure transit is working."

"You have to fund it [all] somehow," he added. 

Becerra said he'd instead focus on building homes and lowering prescription drug prices.

Steyer told moderator Julie Watts he believed that California's high gas prices should be blamed on President Trump and the war with Iran.

"That war has driven up prices for everybody in California… and the cost to the oil companies has not gone up a penny," he said.

In a previous interview with CBS News California, Steyer said California should outsource all of its oil refining to other states or countries. Watts asked Steyer to expand on that point.

"What I said was that we should have the ability to outsource everything because we are under the thumb of the oil companies who are jacking up prices," Steyer responded when asked to clarify.

He added that outsourcing would be necessary "if we're going to get held up by the few refineries left in California."

Watts noted that oil companies have pushed back against claims of price gouging.

Porter, Bianco spar over California's FAIR Plan

Porter called California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurance of last resort, a "huge financial liability." 

Bianco interrupted Porter's response and called the plan "single-payer."

"Excuse me," Porter replied. "I'm speaking."

Bianco then called the FAIR Plan a "failed environmental policy" that forced insurance companies to flee the state.

Porter argued that California should "insure the insurers" to help bring the companies back.

"There are ways that we can put California state dollars at play to bring down the cost of reinsurance, which would help more people come back into this market and write more affordable policies," she said.

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