"We made tremendous progress today toward reaching an agreement on the state budget. Regretfully, we are not yet close enough to stop the furlough of state employees as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and commonwealth case law.
"In terms of interpersonal relationships, this is the most bitter of all decisions I've had to make as Governor. I'm sorry we're here. We worked as hard as we could today to get it done
"I sincerely hope this will be a one-day furlough, and I have reason for optimism. By this time tomorrow night I hope we can announce an agreement that will bring our hard-working state employees back to work, and we can open our parks and museums and other services.
"For all of the people visiting Pennsylvania this week to enjoy our beautiful state, I ask you to hang in there for a day until we can get these issues resolved.
"I have been meeting with both Republican and Democratic legislative leaders since this morning and it's fair to say there are just a few issues that need to be ironed out. We will resume talks early Monday. My hope is we can reach an agreement quickly."
