Budget action yesterday: Talks continued between House and Senate leaders and Rendell administration aides. There will be a rare Friday session today, with the House meeting at 1 p.m. and the Senate at 3 p.m. Equally rare Saturday and Sunday sessions are also expected this weekend, but that doesn't necessarily mean a 2008-09 budget agreement is imminent.

Issues still to be resolved: Gov. Ed Rendell's plan to spend an additional $291 million on public education in the fiscal year that starts Tuesday; his $850 million energy plan, designed to increase the use of non-oil energy sources, such as wind and solar; his economic development program, keyed by an $800 million increase in borrowing for capital projects; his plan to spend $200 million a year for each of the next three years on road and bridge repairs; and a Senate Republican plan to spend $850 million, paid for with gaming revenues, to improve water and sewer systems outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.