It's sayings like the one above that go to the heart of how the sausage is made under the statehouse dome here in Sacramento.

So let me decipher. The "book" is officially the Conference Committee Agenda, the unreasonably thick document that's a micro examination of state government spending, agency by agency.

To "work the book" is the tedious process whereby the joint budget conference committee examines -- and ideally votes-- on items unreconciled between the Assembly's budget committee process and that of the Senate.

With three days of hearings now under their belt, the conferees have only gotten warmed up. The hearing room was filled today with the rustling of pages in "the book" and thumbs clicking away on BlackBerrys.

What remains elusive is any serious progress to closing the state's $15 billion budget gap.

Today's gathering ended just minutes ago, following the kickoff gala last Thursday and a second huddling over the weekend. The six lawmakers -- three from each chamber, and Democrats outnumbering Republicans 2-1 -- queried Governor Schwarzenegger's budget team, experts from the Legislative Analyst's Office, and each other about particular spending categories.

Republicans continued to give voice to their preference for cutting spending. "To say the budget is in stress is a huge understatement," said Assemblymember Roger Niello (R-Sacramento).

Democrats lamented the task of cuttting programs many consider a priority. "We have too many priorities," said Sen. Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego), chair of the conference committtee.

In tough years like this one, the conference committee will "work the book" several times over, saving most of the thorny issues for the very end.

But the sausage making is unlikely to resolve the two fundamental questions this summer, one for each party. For Democrats, what are the specific revenues, between $6 billion and $11 billion, to be raised to solve the shortfall? And for Republicans, what programs will be cut down so dramatically... cuts that would need to total at least $9 billion? That's assuming there are actual votes for the governor's budget, an overly optimistic assumption according to most folks around the Capitol.

Those issues may only get resolved behind closed doors, where legislative leaders and ultimately the governor often make the final deal.