Pennsylvania’s state budget is officially one month late. Lawmakers are discussing how to spend $47 billion in tax revenue, and if they should pull from their $10 billion in savings to cover differences.

Lawmakers say progress is “respectable, but slow”— and there’s some blame and optimism being traded as the clock keeps ticking.

Before any state money can be spent in a new fiscal year, Pennsylvania lawmakers must pass a balanced budget.

The legal deadline to do this is June 30th.

It is now August 1st—and there is no final deal on the table.

Leadership has admitted progress is moving slow, but says the fact that all parties are still showing up to conversations is a positive sign.

“We are at crunch time,” Sen. Joe Pittman said, the Senate Republican Leader. "I do believe we're closer than many realize. And I'm optimistic we're going to be able to conclude this within the coming weeks.”

The budget needs approval from the Democratic controlled state house, Republican controlled state senate, and Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro.

There are stark political differences on issues like mass transportation, education, human services—and overall what a final spend number should be.

Consensus around regulating skill games— slot machine style games that can be found in anywhere from gas stations to pet groomers— is another large issue lawmakers are grappling with.

“These are not easy issues,” said Rep. Jesse Topper, the House Republican Leader. "The easy ways have been taken. That's probably why we're in the spot that that we're in today.”

“These are hard conversations to have, but they are necessary conversations to have,” said Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, the chairman for the House Democratic Policy Committee. "This date of June 30th every year-- doesn't appear out of nowhere.”

Bizzarro, who is part of House Democrat leadership, says lawmakers are no closer to a budget deal than when both chambers left Harrisburg mid July. He says the House Democrats are waiting for action from the senate.

“There isn’t a damn thing the House can do right now,” Bizzarro said. "We have done everything we can."

The state house did pass a $50 billion budget bill in mid July, that was $1.5 billion less than what Shapiro proposed in February. That bill was not agreed to by Senate Republicans, and is still sitting in a senate committee.

“This isn’t a Democrat versus Republican problem,” Bizzarro said. "This is very much a Republican versus Republican problem.”

Bizzarro said Senate Republicans are “incapable of leading”, and that disunity and internal politics among the Senate Republican Caucus members is stalling the budget.

“They're more concerned about leadership elections next time, than they are about delivering a balanced budget that delivers for all Pennsylvanians,” Bizzarro said.

Erie News Now asked Pittman if there was credence to the internal politics statement.

“I have no idea who this guy even is,” Pittman said. "I’m not paying attention to whatever speculation some house member has relative to what we do and don’t do within our own caucus.”

On unity over policies, Pittman said the caucus is speaking with one voice when they come to the negotiation table.

“We're elected to represent very diverse parts of this Commonwealth. And that means that sometimes the views aren't monolithic, but we're quite united in what we need to do to move this product forward.”