Each party sought to paint the other with the famed budgetary cliché of "kicking the can down the road."  Here's Democratic Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg:

Steinberg:  "We aren't interested in gimmicks or papering over the deficit or hoping we just get through the year, and then praying for an even faster economic recovery.

And here's Republican Assemblyman Jim Nielsen:

Nielsen: "Raising taxes only invites continued profligate spending, and that's evidenced by his own projections that show over three years, 31 percent increase in spending in the state of California that will even be going up."

One key question may be when to ask voters to approve tax extensions - if there is, in fact, a budget deal. Governor Brown is pushing for an election later this year; Steinberg and a top Republican senator say they'd prefer 2012.