The blame train

The Patriot News reports on the state workers' growing chorus; get us paid.

Republican lawmakers argue that the state has the money and authority to pay all state workers but that Rendell chooses not to pay them to gain leverage for his position in the budget negotiations. Lt. Gov. and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, called Rendell's action "shameless." Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin County, called Rendell a "despicable person in the way he's used state employees."

On Tuesday, eight midstate House Republicans urged House Democratic leaders and Democrat Rendell to at least move forward legislation that would give spending authorization to eight state agencies funded with revenue streams outside the state's general-fund budget, so they can pay their 2,117 workers. However, those lawmakers also maintain that the 77,600 state workers should be paid in full.

Last Friday, 33,300 workers received partial paychecks, while 1,000 court employees received no paychecks.

"The governor may not know how much is in his paycheck, but these state workers do know how much they get paid, and they depend on that pay," said Rep. Ronald Marsico, R-Lower Paxton Twp. "Some of them may be living paycheck to paycheck, and every penny of their salary is crucial for them to keep from spiraling into a dark abyss of unpaid bills, penalty fees, foreclosure, repossession or bankruptcy."

I'm not sure how many times I've already said this, but, it's getting awfully annoying hearing one side blaming the other for the budget fiasco.  This isn't the Democrats' responsibility.  This isn't the Republicans' responsibility.  It's every single PA lawmakers' responsibility.  This year's budget was supposed to be done by June 30th, but not once did either side sit down and negotiate with the other before the deadline.  Instead, the two sides kept pushing their own agendas. 

When will our lawmakers get the message; sit down and find a compromise. 

So frustrating...

Comments

[Factually Accurate]

May I point out that state employees have not even missed a full paycheck yet, and most are eligible for no-interest loans. There are those with bad credit who won't qualify, but otherwise the Governor has made every effort to make sure people are taken care of. You'd think people would be glad to have a job in this economy. If the Republicans get their way, thousands of those state workers won't see another paycheck at all.