Shibilski talks about budget gridlock, Lawton State Sen. Kevin Shibilski (D-Stevens Point) along with his wife Sue hold a news conference Monday (photo by H. Marc Larson). He says he has paid the price for voting his convictions By Heather Chrudimsky News-Chronicle State Sen. Kevin Shibilski called for an end to budget gridlock and talked about his new opponent for lieutenant governor during a campaign stop in Green Bay Monday. Shibilski, D-Stevens Point, said at Teamsters Local 75 that if a legislative conference committee doesn't act soon, a $1.46 billion school aid payment due June 17 may be in jeopardy. "We don't have the money," he said. "State government is playing a game of chicken over the state budget that could hurt schools, local governments, taxpayers and Wisconsin's reputation." Shibilski described the gridlock as a product of a broken system that puts all the power in the hands of a few legislative leaders. Next year's budget process will be even harder than this year's, Shibilski said. Shibilski also talked about Sunday's entrance of Barbara Lawton of Green Bay into the race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. They will square off in the September primary. He said he believes Lawton was recruited by members of his party because he voted with Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee in March to break an 8-8 party-line tie and move the budget to the Legislature for debate. "I face an opponent in the lieutenant governor's race not because of essential differences on policy, but because I committed the sin of rocking the boat and tried to move the budget forward," Shibilski said. "Anyone who dares to challenge the old way of doing things and the leadership is punished as an example to others." Shibilski said that he and Lawton have very different backgrounds. "I think I am on the side of the people," he said. "I am on the right side, and we (my wife and I) have done the right thing. We have the best grass-roots campaign and we are confident that we will succeed." Shibilski served on the Portage County Board from 1982 to 1987, and was that county's register of deeds from 1987 to 1995. He was first elected to the state Senate in a May 1995 special election and was re-elected in 1996 and 2000.