Governor Doyle may be on a trade mission to Asia but questions about the state budget are not far from his mind.
Legislative republicans wanted governor Doyle to cancel the trip so he'd be around for budget consultation. But from Tokyo the Governor says his staff is working on the budget day and night and always available for questions.
Doyle says he has personally been in touch with legislative leaders. And while he won't tell them how to negotiate a budget in public he says you can guess they've talked about education, the UW and health care.
But those leaders are still in a stalemate over the budget which the Governor called "ridiculous".
The governor says there's no way he would approve items separately as the republicans are suggesting saying they can't be serious if they think he would approve such a step.
The Governor is in China Wednesday. The budget committee meets again Thursday.
