Workers Paying For Budget Stalemate

PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania lawmakers can't seem to agree on a budget, and until they do tens of thousands of state workers will pay for it.

Most state workers won't get paid Friday because of the ongoing budget drama in Harrisburg, Fox 29's Steve Keeley reported.

Employees said some mortgage companies are telling state workers they understand if payments are late this month, while others are being told they have to come up with the cash.

One worker – who is almost 50 with three teenage children, one of them in college – told Fox 29 News he's had to go to family members for cash allowances to make ends meet until he gets a paycheck.

The pain is really being felt throughout nearly 80,000 state workers' families, but they're not the only ones.

It's trickling down to Philadelphia, which is going to have to put through a really dire disaster plan if a budget isn't approved or some other measure isn't taken in the next few weeks.

Until the state budget gets done, every other piece of legislation is on hold. And the city was asking for special permission to raise its penny-per-dollar sales tax and restructure its pension just to pay its bills in this fiscal year.

Watch: Mayor Nutter Talks About 'Plan C' On 'Good Day'

Nutter is holding a public rally Thursday at 2 p.m. to make clear to everyone just what that dire plan would entail, including layoffs for police officers, firefighters, closing recreation centers and city pools in the middle of summer. Service cuts may also be necessary.

Gov. Ed Rendell held a news conference Thursday to say he'd be willing to pass a skeleton, interim, emergency budget to get some money flowing again.

Rendell also took the opportunity to slam Republican members of the General Assembly.

"They've got to get real and got to understand that this isn't a pain-free process for them," the governor said. "They can't stay in an ivory tower and say, 'Whoa, we're for this spending level and that's it, and we're for no broad-based revenues, and that's it. And forget broad-based revenues: we don't like this smaller revenue because it would do this, and we don't like that smaller revenue because it would do that.' They have to absolutely have a reality check."

State worker Lee Horne said, "It's frustrating, and I try my best not to get angry, but it's very frustrating. I'm just luck that my mortgage company is willing to work with me."

"Thank God for family and friends to help," said another state worker, Rick DeGarulio.

Asked if it's embarrassing to ask them for money, DeGarulio said, "Yeah, my pride gets in the way of that. I live week-to-week, as most people do – as most of my co-workers do – and it's tough."

Nutter hopes anyone with connections to the cuts he's announcing he could have to make in as few as two weeks will show up and show state lawmakers how panicked people here are getting over the complete stall and backup of all legislation in Harrisburg, Keeley reported.

If the state passes an emergency budget, the concern is that will only elongate the budget battle and further stall funding.