TRENTON – After late afternoon meetings gave some hope to hallway wanderers, the legislature will move forward with its own budget.

Talks with the Governor appear to have collapsed for the moment.

“The Governor’s doing a press conference alone – that should tell you something,” a statehouse source said.

Speaker Craig Coughlin went back to his caucus to report the news.

He told his members he’s going forward.

“There is a difference between OLS numbers and state treasury,” a caucus member groaned.