Hartford - A new fiscal year began Wednesday for the State of Connecticut, but leaders of the state's cities and towns are on edge because there's no state budget in place. Municipal leaders who belong to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities urged the budget negotiators to make a deal quickly so they can get grant payments that they need from the state.

Gov. Jodi Rell signed an executive order that allows those in charge of the bank accounts to pay the state's bills. Closed door meetings at the governor's mansion went until late last night. It's day three of negotiations.

Without a state budget in place many leaders from cities and towns around Connecticut are growing weary. Many of them, if not all, count on state dollars to pull their community through the year.

"The folks up here at the state level and the governor, they're not going to hear about it, they're going to hear about it in the abstract. But the phone calls are going to come to us," Mayor Scott Slifka, (D) West Hartford, said. "If a program goes away that affects your child, it's going to us. When there is increased crime because we had to layoff police officers, we're going to get that phone call."

Cities and towns depend on 20 percent of their budget dollars to come from state funds. The money is used to pay for everything from education to road repairs.

Budget negotiations are expected to resume at 11:00 a.m.. Gov. Rell said she is hopeful a deal on a final budget can be reached in the near future.

Connecticut lawmakers not the only ones in the race against the budget clock. Lawmakers in at least 8 other states including California, Arizona, Ohio and Pennsylvania are also trying to get a budget passed.