Several local conservative lawmakers were among those who voted against Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spending plan, saying it didn't do enough to balance the state budget.

While many Republicans said the state's $105 billion spending plan was a good compromise, others said they could not vote for a budget that still leaves a $5 billion deficit to deal with next year.

The North County and Southwest Riverside County region is represented by an all-Republican delegation in the Democratically controlled state Assembly and Senate. Senators Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside; Jim Battin, R-La Quinta; and Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, split from fellow local Republicans and voted no on the budget, which was pushed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"I view the budget contest as a test of character and integrity," Morrow said. "I wanted to vote for this budget. But I have a fairly simple rule for how I vote on the state budget: I won't vote for a budget that's a deficit and I won't vote for a budget that raises taxes."

On the other hand, Assemblyman George Plescia, a Republican whose district includes parts of Escondido and Poway, echoed other Republicans' sentiments when he defended his vote for the budget.

"It took us five years to get into this situation, it's going to take us a few years to get out," Plescia said.

Assembly members Pat Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, and Mark Wyland, R-Del Mar, also voted for the spending plan.

Schwarzenegger, the actor turned politician, was elected governor after Gov. Gray Davis was recalled largely on a popular belief that the former governor had mishandled the state's finances.

Early in his administration, Schwarzenegger promised that he would "blow up boxes" instead of just "moving them around," alluding to wasteful spending. Given the state's Democratically controlled Legislature, some said he may have over promised.

"The governor had good intentions," Plescia said. "But he realized the difficulty that we've been dealing with for a long time."

After a struggle that lasted nearly a month, senators in Sacramento voted 28-11 for the budget Thursday, following a 69-11 vote in the Assembly on Wednesday. Only four of 14 Republicans in the Senate voted for the budget.

Budget negotiations have been routinely late the last 14 years, but one of the governor's goals was to pass a spending plan before the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1.

While trying in vain to achieve that goal, the governor struck several deals with schools, local governments and others to smooth the way for budget negotiations.

Hollingsworth said some of the governor's concessions to Democrats went too far. Nearly $400 million in spending was added since May to the state's health and human services budget, an increase that contributed to an overall $5 billion deficit, Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth said he voted against the budget because it didn't cut spending enough.

"It was a budget that spent more than I would have liked it to spend," he said. "You need to start making it very clear that there is a spending problem in Sacramento."

Critics complained that the new budget does not directly address the spending imbalance through tax increases and deep spending cuts. Lawmakers instead relied on borrowing, one-time savings and accounting gimmicks, Morrow said.

"The naked truth is that this budget spends $5 billion more than in takes in, and that counts the borrowing," Morrow said.

However, even those who voted against the state budget said they found something to like about it -- new protections for local government money, workplace lawsuit reform, no new taxes and $1.2 billion in transportation funding from gambling tribes.

"There are good things in this budget, like getting rid of illegal and plain wrong-headed fees and no wide-spread tax increases," Hollingsworth said.

Under a deal struck by the governor with local governments, the state takes $2.6 billion from city and county coffers over the next two years in exchange for a guarantee that their budgets will not be raided in the future without a two-thirds vote. The borrowed money will be paid back with interest.

"It's a step in the right direction," Plescia said, who said he was especially pleased with the money the state gets from tribes to fund transportation projects, which could include some local roads and highways.

Schwarzenegger renegotiated gambling compacts with five tribes, including the Pala, Pauma and Viejas bands in San Diego County, to give the state up to $1.2 billion in exchange for allowing them an unlimited number of slot machines.

The governor earmarked that money for transportation projects, which could include money for Highway 56, Interstate 15 and the Oceanside-Escondido rail line. But the money will not be available until after the November elections.

That is because the money from tribes depends on Indian casinos keeping their monopoly on Las Vegas-style gambling. Proposition 70, a November ballot initiative backed by a group of horse racetracks and card clubs, threatens that monopoly.

According to a Field Poll survey conducted in June, 57 percent of those sampled said they would vote for the initiative.

However, Plescia and local transportation officials said they are confident that the governor's pledge to campaign against Prop. 70 will ensure its defeat. Schwarzenegger submitted a statement opposing the measure and is raising money to campaign against it.

Morrow warned that a tougher budget battle could be coming next year.

"I know what they are hoping: They are hoping the economy will turn around and we'll be in better shape," he said. "Frankly, that's the approach the Davis administration took."

Staff writer Dan McSwain contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-5426 or esifuentes@nctimes.com