State budget update: House Speaker hopes for October deal

"The plan right now is for the House and the Senate to come up with an agreement ... that would then be shared confidentially with the governor to give the governor an opportunity to either say whether he would sign it as is, or if there are changes he would like to see," Moore, R-Cleveland, said.

"And then to have those negotiations," he said.

In the budget bill, page after page without a dollar sign

House and Senate leadership have been back and forth on the budget for months now, working through a range of issues so that the two Republican-controlled chambers can present a united front in negotiations with the governor, who is a Democrat.

"I would say we should be in a position to get something to the governor next week," Moore said.

"It's not a science right?" he added. "I don't know how quickly it will go, but I'm feeling really good about next week."

Moore said lawmakers don't plan to release their agreements on the budget until after negotiations with the governor in order to leave room for "very frank and candid negotiations." He said House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement, though, on the budget's tax package and "a lot of the capital projects" that will be included.

There are still differences between the House and the Senate on state employee salaries and on a number of policy issues, he said.

"A lot of items that were in dispute have now narrowed down to less and less," he said. "Every day we get closer."

Moore said he hopes the the budget can be finalized with the governor "in the first week or second week of October."