Gov. Walker Explains Policy Decisions During Facebook Live Chat

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker explained policy decisions ranging from refusing to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin to freezing college tuition in his first Facebook Live chat Friday morning.

Walker answered pre-selected questions from Facebook users during the half-hour session from his Capitol office. He used the questions to segue into explaining moves he's made since he took office in 2011.

He said he refused to expand Medicaid because he doesn't trust the federal government would maintain its reimbursement rates and that he froze University of Wisconsin System tuitions because they had risen astronomically in the decade before the freeze. He said the system's schools still rank among the best in the country.

He also defended his decision not to raise the gas tax or vehicle registration fees to fill the state's road-funding shortfall. Raising taxes, he said, would hurt the state's economic recovery.

Walker's fellow Republicans in the Assembly have balked at Walker's stance, saying he has offered no long-term solutions to paying for roads. Walker reiterated Friday that he'll veto any attempts the Legislature makes to raise taxes for roads without a corresponding decrease in taxes elsewhere.

Nearly 12,000 people had viewed the archived recording by early afternoon. Supporters left comments lamenting he isn't running for president and thanking him for everything he's done for the state. Opponents called him a liar and other names.

Scott Walker