It's not a good sign.

The Minnesota Senate's education finance panel recently voted against Gov. Tim Pawlenty's budget for K-12 schools.

What's interesting, but not surprising to many, is the vote was 10-8 down party lines.

If this is any sign how the Legislature is going to work to hammer out a balanced budget, it will never happen.

The Legislature is down to weeks -- not months -- to try and figure out solutions that will lead to a budget that will get this state out of a financial black hole. And if there still isn't a solution by the beginning of July, that's when state services will start shutting down.

Republicans and Democrats are simply going to have to do a lot of giving and taking to figure out this tough solution. By looking at the above example, we hope it's not setting a precedent for more important decisions.