Former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona on Wednesday night challenged his opponents for governor on taxes, claiming that former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and state Sen. David Ige would be more inclined to raise taxes because they both supported a general-excise tax surcharge for the Honolulu rail project.

Hannemann had urged the state Legislature to approve the surcharge and Ige voted in 2005 to give the city the authority to levy the tax. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell has said the rail surcharge, which is set to expire in 2022, should be permanent.

"But the bottom line is this: Every single one of you in this room, if you remain on Oahu, you and your children and your grandchildren, you’re going to be responsible for that GET tax that was imposed by the rail project," Aiona, a Republican, said at town hall-style debate sponsored by Hawaii News Now and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center in Kakaako.

Ige, a Democrat, said he has been a strong supporter of rail but would not commit to a potential extension of the rail surcharge beyond its scheduled expiration. "We need to see the implementation," he said. "We need to hold the (rail administrators’) feet to the fire, to make sure that they give us an efficient and effective system. And then we can look at what expansion (is needed), because I’m confident that it will be a success."

Aiona said rail is a city, not a state, project, and that city and rail administrators had vowed that rail would come in on time and on budget. "Now they want to extend this?" he said. "This is what I’m talking about. This is the kind of leadership you’re going to have if you vote the same way. You’re going to have a leadership that’s going to look to — without any second thought about it — ‘Yeah, let’s just raise the GET tax.’"

Hannemann, a member of the Hawaii Independent Party, sidestepped the question of extending the rail surcharge but said the state should give up its 10 percent cut of the tax for administrative costs. "It’s a pure out-and-out raid," he said.

Hannemann went after Ige for taking credit for policy successes over his 29 years in the Legislature but not accepting any responsibility for the state’s problems.

Ige fired back that he is the only candidate who has passed legislation that restructured public schools or allowed for public-private partnerships at public hospitals. The state senator also said he rejected calls for tax increases and cut the Abercrombie administration’s budget requests.

"It is so easy for people to say and talk when you’re not really responsible for things," said Ige, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Hannemann persisted. "You know, David, every time I hear you say I did this. I did this at the Legislature. I go ‘Ay, yai, yai, yai, yai,’" he said. "What about the 75 other legislators — senators and House — that had to help you achieve the things that you said?"

The 90-minute forum, the last televised debate before the November election, was moderated by Hawaii News Now’s Tannya Joaquin and Keahi Tucker. The discussion was held before a live audience of UH political science students, who asked some of the questions.

Asked what policies of the Abercrombie administration that they would reverse, both Aiona and Hannemann cited the Hawaii Health Connector, the struggling insurance exchange under the federal health care reform law.

Ige, who defeated Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the primary, said that for him it is not about reversing policies, but emphasizing issues such as empowering school principals and teachers to improve public education.

Responding to a question from a student about the high cost of college, Aiona suggested that UH tuition for students enrolled this year be frozen over their four-year college careers.

Ige said he and others at the Legislature urged the UH Board of Regents to impose a moratorium on tuition increases.

Aiona and Hannemann both said they oppose the legalization of marijuana.

Ige said it would be inappropriate for the state to legalize marijuana until the federal government legalizes the drug. He also said he was against the state’s medical marijuana program because patients were given no safe way to obtain the drug.

Ige said he is open to marijuana dispensaries so medical marijuana patients do not have to turn to drug dealers as sources.

Asked to gauge the power of public-sector labor unions, Aiona said that the unions have too much power.

Hannemann did not rate the degree of unions’ power, but said the relationship with unions depends on the leadership ability of the chief executive.

Ige said that the unions have just the right amount of power.