After the state Republican Party called for her opinion on the federal health care exchange, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke said Gov. Scott Walker should have taken federal dollars to expand BadgerCare.

Burke said at a meeting with the University of Wisconsin College Democrats Wednesday that health care should be affordable for all families, including those “thrown off” BadgerCare following Walker’s decision to delay a BadgerCare enrollment deadline and his request for Wisconsinites to be able to buy insurance outside the federal exchange.

“I was talking to a couple that have a family farm,” Burke said of a recent trip to Eau Claire. “They have two kids. They are struggling to get by. They were one of the 77,000 people that are being thrown off BadgerCare Plus. And they didn’t know where to turn. They didn’t know whether they could get on the exchange. They didn’t know how much it would cost, whether they would be getting any subsidies that would make it affordable.”

Burke added Walker should have taken federal dollars to expand BadgerCare, saying federal money “is our money” because after paying federal taxes, Wisconsin people expect to receive money back to help them.

Minnesota created its own state level exchange program, Burke said, which has resulted in lower premiums for Minnesota residents than Wisconsin residents.

However, Burke said it will take time “to see how [the federal health care reform law] shakes out.”

Students also asked Burke her opinion on the recent discovery of undocumented UW System reserve funds.

After finding nearly $650 million in reserve funds resulting from increased tuition rates among other things, the Joint Audit Committee also found an unaccounted for $142 million related to the UW campus.

David Giroux, UW spokesperson, said in a previous interview with The Badger Herald the funds are intended to fulfill possible losses in federal research grant dollars.

“We have to look carefully at what those reserves were,” Burke said. “Certain of those reserves were allocated to specific projects, so we have to determine what exactly is the reserve. We also have to look at what is an adequate or reasonable amount of reserves. We have to do everything we can to hold tuition increases down.”

Several students in attendance at the meeting also expressed concern about gay rights in Wisconsin, as Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois now have same-sex marriage while Wisconsin has a constitutional amendment banning institutions similar to same-sex marriage.

If a bill to repeal the constitutional amendment reached her desk as governor, Burke said she would “definitely” sign the provision.

Burke also said the state should not fear making investments to benefit the future.

Burke cited her time at Trek Bicycle as an example, when the company spent money on improved engineering, which lead to growth in sales and better products.

During Walker’s term, Burke added the state budget has grown by $4.6 billion, despite cuts to education and technical colleges.

Burke said although public schools experienced cuts, $75 million was given to private voucher and choice schools, which Burke said do not positively impact student learning.

“There’s actually no research that shows choice voucher schools improve student learning,” she said. “I think we have to focus on strategies shown to be successful.”