After months of political unrest in Wisconsin, the state Senate passed the state budget late Thursday evening along party lines after debating the bill for nearly nine hours. Gov. Scott Walker is expected to sign the state budget into law within the next two weeks.
The Senate voted 19-14 to pass the state budget at around 10 pm. The Senate voted along party lines not to adapt eight Democratic amendments, including one which would have reversed limits on collective bargaining rights. Therefore, the state budget remained unchanged from when it was approved in the state Assembly.
Walker applauded the passage of the budget which does he said does not rely on ""accounting gimmicks, use of one time money for ongoing expenses, or tax increases.""
""The budget approved by the Legislature is an honest document that balances Wisconsin's $3.6 billion budget deficit so that our children and grandchildren aren't saddled with mountains of debt in the future,"" Walker said in a statement.
Within the budget are changes to the UW System that grant more flexibilities to all UW campuses in order to deal with budget cuts.
UW System President Kevin Reilly said he appreciated the effort among legislators ""to craft reasonable changes that will enhance [the UW System's] ability to cope with near and long-term challenges.""
""Large cuts will be felt by everyone, in the form of larger class sizes, reduced services, and higher staff workloads. But we are not alone in this struggle,"" Reilly said in a statement. ""We will tackle those challenges together, employing new management tools to the maximum effect.""
Michael Spector, President of the UW System Board of Regents, also commended legislators from both sides of the aisle for preserving the UW System's involvement in WiscNet, a non-profit cooperative that provides broadband services in schools, universities, and local governments.
""In the end, this bill preserves our membership in information networks that are vital to education and research, and to our ability to fuel a stronger Wisconsin economy,"" Spector said in a statement.
However, state Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, criticized Walker for balancing the budget on the backs of the working class and local governments while giving breaks to corporations, a move which, according to Jauch, will be detrimental to public education.
""[The budget] abandons Wisconsin's moral and constitutional commitment to equal education. …The Republican majority has weakened our commitment to public education while they have expanded tax subsidies to private schools,"" Jauch said in a statement.
Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, commended the state legislature for balancing the budget.
""We dug ourselves out of a $3.6 billion deficit left by Governor Doyle and Democrats, protected our most vulnerable and did it without raising taxes — just like we promised,"" Darling said.
