SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Comptroller Dan Hynes on Monday urged top state leaders to avoid a government shutdown by passing a new budget by Aug. 8, a week after the current spending plan ends.

Legislative leaders, meeting again without the governor, said they are making progress but didn’t commit to completing a new budget by any particular date.

And during brief sessions Monday, the House and Senate ignored Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s proposal for a one-month budget extension, preferring instead to focus on getting an agreement for the full year.

Lawmakers have been deadlocked for months on a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. They kept state government going with a one-month budget for July, but that expires Wednesday.

Without a new budget in place, Hynes said, the state would begin facing severe money problems in a week, when 4,900 state employees are scheduled to be paid and schools are in line to receive a $170 million state aid check.

Hynes said he will ask the state’s constitutional officers and legislative leaders to sign a promise that they’ll keep government operations running and will pass a budget – either for another month or the full year – by Aug. 8.

“We cannot have this air of uncertainty, this air of panic out there,” Hynes said at a news conference.

As comptroller, Hynes’ office pays the state’s bills. But he can’t write checks without a budget authorizing them. The Chicago Democrat called the budget impasse “perplexing” and “embarrassing” for his party.

Blagojevich wants lawmakers to pass a one-month budget extension so talks can continue on a full budget. But lawmakers took no action on his proposal, and legislative leaders continued their series of budget talks that exclude the Democratic governor.

Blagojevich said he doesn’t object to being left out. “Let the legislative leaders see if they can work out some of their differences and then let’s see where they are,” he said.

House Speaker Michael Madigan has scheduled a special meeting of the entire House to discuss education issues Aug. 8, raising questions of how quickly he expects a budget agreement.

Madigan would not talk to reporters after his meeting with other leaders.