Senate President Fred Risser has formally recessed the Senate until Tuesday; session was held in recess last night after the Senate passed its version of the budget. In the Assembly, the Rules Committee has set a meeting for 1 p.m. today to set a floor schedule for that body next week.

Now, attention turns to the formation of the conference committee.

Some observers aren't expecting a conference committee to be formally named until a budget deal is struck between majority Dems in the Assembly and Senate. Those observers cite the requirement to follow open meetings rules as a reason the formal declaration of a conference committee may be delayed.

Some observers point to Tuesday as the day the conference report could be announced and voted on by the conference committee, while others say it's optimistic to believe that the differences between the Assembly and Senate budgets could be resolved by then.

-- By Greg Bump