SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The lectern with the state seal was there. The television cameras were there. The staffers with their news releases were there. The only thing missing was Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The governor proposed a series of regular budget talks with lawmakers but left the job of announcing the proposal to his aides at a Statehouse news conference Monday.

Led by Deputy Gov. Sheila Nix, they promised to cooperate with the Legislature on ending a budget deadlock involving taxes, gambling, education spending and health care. But the aides also questioned lawmakers’ work plans and wouldn’t discuss the governor’s angry confrontation last week with a state senator.

There was no sign that the proposal would thaw the Democratic governor’s icy relations with lawmakers.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, didn’t commit to attending the governor’s proposed meetings. His spokesman, Steve Brown, said last week’s confrontation between Blagojevich and Sen. Mike Jacobs would make it more difficult to resolve the budget impasse.

“The conduct of the administration has kind of a chilling effect on people sitting down for talks, obviously,” Brown said.

Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, had no comment on the governor’s proposed meetings, a spokeswoman said.

Lawmakers had hoped to pass a state budget by last week, but Blagojevich and the Legislature’s Democratic leaders failed to agree on a spending plan. Missing the May 31 deadline means it will now take Republican votes to approve the budget, giving the GOP a voice in negotiations.

Blagojevich wants a major new health care program, but it has found only limited support in the General Assembly. The new tax he proposed to pay for it was rejected soundly. Now he and Jones back a major gambling expansion to provide money for health care and education.

But Republicans want a much leaner budget that depends on natural revenue growth and a small expansion of existing casinos. House Democrats have approved a similar budget proposal.

Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, said Republicans should have been included in budget negotiations all along. Now that they’ll have a seat at the table, “we will go to the meetings and do everything we can to resolve the issue,” said spokeswoman Patty Schuh.

The new budget year begins July 1, and Nix said the governor wants to meet regularly to avoid a repeat of May’s failed, last-minute meetings.

“We don’t want to end up in the same situation at the end of June, although this time facing a government shutdown,” she said.

She questioned the House’s plan to be in session three days a week in June. “The General Assembly needs to take action, not just engage in a three-day workweek without progress,” Nix said.

Many lawmakers complain that Blagojevich, who lives in Chicago, doesn’t spend enough time in Springfield focusing on the budget and other legislative matters. Through much of the spring session, he visited the Statehouse only once a week.

Nix ended the news conference when asked about the impact of last week’s clash with Jacobs, D-East Moline.

Jacobs accused Blagojevich of shouting obscenities at him, vowing to ruin his career and threatening to take money away from Western Illinois University if Jacobs didn’t vote for the governor’s health care plan.

Nix simply said Blagojevich was disappointed that Jacobs wouldn’t support the plan, and then she left the lectern. Later, Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch threatened to walk away if reporters asked more questions about Jacobs.

Rausch said she didn’t know whether Blagojevich plans to be at the Capitol every day, as Nix suggested lawmakers should be doing.