Sen. Jim Sullivan, the lone Senate Democrat to vote against the budget, said it was important for him to "cast a vote that was in keeping with my district."

"There is some good in this budget," Sullivan said, citing tax credits for job creation and capital expenditure for the UW System. "But in the end there were some things in here that I could not vote for and believe that I was keeping up with the promise I made two-and-a-half years ago to represent a district and not a party or ideology."

Sullivan said problem provisions for him included the JFC's proposal for regional transit authorities and the Milwaukee County sales tax, the delay of the Zoo Interchange project, and tax and fee increases, though he declined to single any out.

"However you have to make tough decisions," Sullivan continued. "The majority did that. I respect that and I'm not going to piecemeal this thing out."

Sullivan shrugged off suggestions that he was given a pass on the budget vote from his caucus because he holds a district many see as difficult for Dems to keep in 2010.

"You know there's no pass to be asked for and there's no pass to be given," he said. "We all are individual senators representing individual communities. This was not right for my district, and I communicated that to my colleagues.

"I'm not about to step on their toes for some of the hard work that people did making some really, really hard decisions."

Sullivan said he expects to vote "no" on the budget report from the conference committee if his concerns aren't addressed.

-- By Greg Bump