"I just don’t believe the consumers have the money to spend," Hansen said. Walker "gave tax credits across the board heavily favored to the top end."

The shortfall is likely something the Legislature will have to deal with, Larson said. But he doesn't expect action to be taken before Election Day on Nov. 4.

"I don't think the Republicans have the courage to admit they're wrong now, so unfortunately we have to continue to walk in the wrong direction for at least the next 54 days through the election, instead of just turning around and fixing it now, which would save us a lot of money," he said.

Shilling said she and her colleagues believe that if no budget repair bill is introduced, Wisconsinites deserve to know which cuts will be made to resolve the shortfall and how they will affect families in areas like school funding, infrastructure, financial aid and higher education.

In addition to accepting the Medicaid expansion and scaling back some tax cuts, Shilling said Democrats would support an increase in the minimum wage to keep "more money in working families' pockets."