RIPON, WI - For months, Gov. Scott Walker has said he will make no formal announcement on his presidential ambitions until the state budget was passed and signed into law.

However, according to Channel 3000 news in Madison, on Thursday in Ripon, WBAY-TV reported that Walker said his goal "has always been to get through the end of the budget year which ends June 30th. We'll see after that."

That's contrary to what he said on May 7. Then Walker said "We won't do anything, we won't make any public pronouncement one way or the other, until after the budget is signed." It now appears unlikely the budget will pass by June 30.

State Senator Jon Erpenbach of Middleton said in a statement, "The GOP throwdown also underscores the real problem: The continued absence of a Governor in Wisconsin."