[media-credit name=’BEN CLASSON/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The 2007-09 state budget passed through the Legislature Tuesday night, after more than 100 days of partisan feuding.

The bill first passed in the Republican-controlled Assembly 60-39, ending roughly four hours of deliberation. The budget was later passed in the Senate 18-15, with all Democrats voting for and all Republicans voting against the bill.

The budget is currently awaiting final approval by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Both Democrats and Republicans are not completely satisfied with the new bill, yet many said they understand the need to compromise and pass a budget.

Mike Michelson, spokesperson for Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said the budget is problematic and Doyle will have to amend it in the next two years.

“[Doyle] openly admitted he’s going to have to make changes,” Michelson said. “Under this budget, $200 million over the next two years in state expenses will have to be cut.”

Josh Wescott, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, said this bill is not perfect, but passing the budget through both houses today is still a huge step forward for the state.

“From our perspective, nobody gets everything they want with compromise,” Wescott said. “There are a lot of things to be proud of in this budget, [because] it gets to the root of Wisconsin values.”

Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, also said he is pleased a budget bill was passed. Like Robson, Suder does not believe this version of the budget is ideal, however, he voted for the budget because of the importance of passing a bill.

“Although it’s not a perfect document, it is a bipartisan compromise that still provides a budget taxpayers can afford,” Suder said.

The bill passed today, Suder added, does not have the large tax hike proposed in the original version of the Senate’s budget. While this budget raises taxes, it does so at a rate acceptable to many Republicans.

“I think Republicans achieved some major victories by blocking the largest tax increase in state history,” Suder said.

But Nass thinks the approved tax rates are still too high. Michelson said the bill is not balanced, and Nass voted against it because of the high likelihood this bill will lead to future problems.

“There will be bills throughout the next year-and-a-half to fix the holes in the mess,” Michelson said. “This can turn into a major fiscal crisis for the state.

Many budget expenditures are based on money coming into the state through taxes. If taxes do not meet expenditures, Michelson said the state could face a fiscal disaster.

“The budget bill was built on the estimation that we were not facing a recession. That [money] might never come in,” Michelson said. “We could be 3, 4, 5 million dollars short.”

However, the University of Wisconsin System is happy with this version of the state budget. UW system President Kevin Reilly said in a release Tuesday this budget provides peace of mind to many students awaiting financial aid. He also said the budget provides necessary funding to educate those who will help Wisconsin’s economy grow in the future.

“Our public university will always be an accessible, affordable institution of promise,” Reilly said in the statement. “By investing today in the Growth Agenda for Wisconsin, legislators will help more of their constituents transform educational opportunity into lifelong success.”