"Government Shutdown"

Now, to avoid a second year of mass layoff notices to state workers and another government shutdown scare, the pressure is on lawmakers to take the negotiated deal as-is.

Lawmakers now have 30 days to try to do what they couldn’t in the past four months: Agree on a budget and make progress on closing the state’s $4 billion deficit.

The bill does not strip funding from Planned Parenthood, a condition that some House Republicans had insisted on. The action now moves to the House.

The deadline to fund government agencies is Sept. 30. Democrats blocked a vote on a bill to extend current funding because it would have deleted money for Planned Parenthood for a year.

Speculation is rife about what exactly went on in Thursday afternoon’s closed-door White House meeting between top House Republicans and President Obama and whether it can produce a breakthrough.