'Harrisburg, Please Do Your Job'

PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania state workers could start getting paychecks soon.

The state House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a budget bill that would pay tens of thousands of state workers.

If it passes, Gov. Ed Rendell has said he will strike out funding for most programs.

But he would leave just enough money so that workers are paid, including back pay.

Fox 29 News gave people a chance to vent about the budget problems in Harrisburg Tuesday morning on "Good Day Philadelphia." Everyone brought their signs and came on over our studios at 4th and Market streets.

They said they want Harrisburg to get a budget passed so they can get paid.

State workers got partial paychecks early on last month, didn't get any paychecks last Friday, and they won't get paid until a budget is passed.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was in Harrisburg again on Tuesday pushing for a vote on two budget measures: a one-cent increase in the city sales tax, and a two-year delay in payments to the city's pension fund.

Without the state's consent, the mayor says he would be forced to lay off hundreds of police officers and firefighters.

Nutter joined "Good Day" on the phone Tuesday from the state capital to talk about what was happening there.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers also joined "Good Day" Tuesday to talk about the dire budget cuts their departments would see and who could be laid off.