LIVE BLOG: Budget Battle 2008, resolution at last?

House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia) walks back to Pileggi's office.: Politicker Photo

UPDATE, midnight: A full account of Friday night's negotiations has been posted:

• Budget negotiations to resume Saturday after 'disappointing' Friday talks

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UPDATE, 10:20 p.m.: The lawmakers have finished a night of negotiations all sides considered disappointing. PolitickerPA.com will post more details later, but it's never a good sign when each side presents wildly different versions of what happened. Republicans say there weren't enough cuts; Democrats say they've already made $600 million in cuts and simply didn't make the ones Republicans wanted.

Breakdown? Not quite, but the outlook for a timely resolution certainly became much bleaker tonight.

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UPDATE, 9:35 p.m.: Game on! Democrats have returned to Pileggi's office, and both sides are apparently negotiating again.

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UPDATE, 9:00 p.m.: Now they really are on opposite sides of the aisle. All the Democrats in the negotiations just walked across the third floor of the Capitol from Pileggi's office to offices across the hall. Republicans remain in Pileggi's office.

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UPDATE, 8:50 p.m.: Erik Arneson, Senate Republican spokesman, is frequently the liaison between the group of reporters gathered outside Pileggi's office and the lawmakers inside.

Here's his take on what's keeping the two sides apart:

"Really is a fundamental difference on how much money is spent"

The two sides are sparring over individual programs within the governor's energy, health care and education proposals, he said.

Asked if the budget will be solved this weekend, he responded, "We're closer now than we were this morning."

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UPDATE, 8:05 p.m.: Lawmakers and their entourages are streaming into Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi's office -- world headquarters for Pennsylvania budget negotiations.

They're notoriously difficult to get quotes from as they rush behind the fortress-like doors of Pileggi's office despite reporters best efforts

Asked if they could agree on a deal tonight, Scarnati responded, "The intent is there."

House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia), who walked in with House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D-Fayette County) said, "We'll keep our fingers crossed," as he, in fact, crossed his fingers.

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UPDATE, 6:50 p.m.: You never know who you'll run into on the streets of Harrisburg. PolitickerPA.com just crossed paths with Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnatti (R-Cameron County) on our way to dinner as the senator was leaving the Capitol grounds.

Incidentally, the budget negotiations start at 8 p.m.

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UPDATE, 6:10 p.m.: Budget talks have been pushed to either 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m., according to state Rep. Dwight Evans' spokeswoman Johnna Pro. Apparently they realized nobody starts a party (and likewise, budget negotiations) as early as 6:30.

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After months of arguing, accusations and inaction, the state's four lawmaking caucuses and governor's office might finally lurch over the finish line this weekend and resolve the budget.

How could PolitickerPA.com miss that?

Your favorite new (note, not new favorite) Keystone State political Web site will provide every hint of progress, every line-item decision it can gleam with a live blog of the action.

The fun starts tonight at 6:30 when negotiators return to the table after an afternoon of talks that yielded neither much progress nor total breakdown. Nearly every issue -- energy, health care, economic stimulus, the Rainy Day fund and total spending -- remain on the table, lawmakers say. But they mostly remain optimistic nearly 25,000 state workers won't temporarily lose their jobs.

Get ready for a long weekend -- PolitickerPA.com will be here the whole way.