You'd think with the nice weather, lawmakers in St. Paul would come to some sort of an agreement and finalize this year's budget.

Kidding aside, it doesn't appear an agreement will be reached by the Monday deadline.

The bigger concern should be if our elected officials can reach a deal by July 1. That's when the state's fiscal year begins. So if there isn't a budget in place by then, it could very well lead to a government shutdown.

Both the Senate, House and Gov. Tim Pawlenty aren't going to get exactly what they want. We encourage all parties to come together so an agreement can be reached.