CHICAGO – Despite setting aside a major sticking point, Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders failed to agree Saturday on the outlines of a deal that might begin to solve Illinois' massive pension crisis, the worst of any state in the country.

Coming out of the meeting, which lasted less than two hours, leaders from both parties said they better understood one another's positions but that there were still many obstacles to producing a proposal to take to lawmakers before the end of the current General Assembly on Wednesday.

"I'm just anxious to pass a bill," said Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who has agreed to drop for now his proposal to shift pension costs for public school teachers from the state to local districts, an idea that has been a major point of disagreement in negotiations.