The Erie County Courthouse (photo Capital-Star by Hannah McDonald)
If the paralysis of the state budget in Harrisburg lasts much longer, the Pennsylvania with real problems will be the first who felt pain, the supporters of poviat rule and human services say.
67 poviats in Pennsylvania serve in part as cables for providing services to people paid by state and federal governments. And without the approved budget and the accompanying regulations, the Community of nations has no legal rights to distribute these funds.
This means that almost 530 million dollars of payment would be delayed at programs, including rape crisis centers, enforcement of the right to children, behavioral health care, county and health departments in the field of health, mother and children, responding to opioids and field agencies regarding aging, according to the letter to health care and social care from the highest clerk of Shapiro budget administration.
It is possible that the counties of the Film, from Erie to Philadelphia, who are trying to find ways to continue paying service providers in the absence of a budget agreement.
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“This is a problem in the entire management board in which the poviat budgets depend on state dollars for services”, Kyle Kopko, executive director of the Association of Commissioners of Pennsylvania.
Kopko said that the most likely STOPGAP measures include ephemeral reduction of services and the realocation of funds from other parts of poviat budgets, adding that such low -term corrections can have a cascade impact on poviat services.
“We only have so much money.
The Commissioner of the County of Northampton, Lori Vargo Heffner, said that she creates gaps in the ability to provide the termination of services that support and protect people who are fighting to maintain stability in life and their families. When services are restricted, people receiving mental health support may lose visits, are not able to get medicines and become more exposed.
“My great worry is that I understand that part of the policy is sometimes like a card game … but it is really dangerous when you play people’s lives,” said Vargo Heffner. “Is this a child who is used? Is it an elder who will be neglected?”
When net security programs fail, he puts additional emphasis on other poviat faculties, including justice systems in criminal and corrective matters, Richard Edley, director of the Rehabilitation and Social Suppliers Association, which is in favor of support for the disabled and behavioral service providers.
“The state still pays, only in a costly and improper way,” he said.
The state expenditure plan is to be submitted by June 30 each year converging at the beginning of the recent financial year. The budget process begins in February, when the governor presents its proposals regarding hundreds of programs and services as well as revenue forecasts to pay them.
Both chambers of state legislator must agree on the version of this plan and adopt the provisions regarding the authorization of the administration to spend money. Most often in the last few years, The legislator does not reach its dateSometimes in months.
House controlled by a democratic adopted a budget version worth $ 50.6 billion On July 14, placing the ball to the Senate Court led by Republicans. Since then, none of the parties said much about where the negotiations are.
Governor Josh Shapiro said on Tuesday that he cooperates with the leader of the majority of the house Matt Bradford (D-Montgomery) and the leader of most Senate Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) to narrow the gap between the sides.
“This is slow, but we are making progress,” he told reporters at a press conference. “I think that we all understand two things. One, we must compromise. And secondly, I think that we all regret that it did before, but I think we understand the need to provide good people from Pennsylvania.”
“We understand what problems are and we are working on finding a common plane and compromise,” added Shapiro.
Delay also causes problems for other parts of the government, which depend on state payments to pay employees and accounts.
500 school districts of the community of nations are obliged to transfer budgets at the same time as the state. But they often don’t know how much money you will provide until.
Amy Arcurio, curator of the Greater Johnstown school district, said that the slow budget could force districts to take out loans for remuneration.
“Certainly we do not want to do this because we have to pay interest and it is money that we did not plan,” she said. And this is the money that the district cannot recover.
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Among the poorest school districts in Arcurio, he said that Johnstown was restricted in its ability to collect money through local property taxes. This is one of 370 districts that receive additional financing to make sure that the expenses for the student are appropriate as part of the fair financing formula implemented in the last state budget.
It was a response to a court decision in 2023 that the universality of the community on real estate taxes to pay for education puts students in the poorest communities in an adverse situation. And in a community such as Johnstown, which has one of the highest poverty rates in the state, many families are also based on health and social services that can be threatened, said Arcurio.
“At the end of the day, all these organizations are associated with school districts … It is to satisfy mental health support for our students and drug and alcohol treatment for families,” she said.
Edley said that concern for human services at the Federal Government Medicaid cuts meet at the level of the Federal Government. He noted, however, that the services managed through Medicaid will still be continuous in the absence of the state budget.
“What really influences is only financed by the state and the Foreman,” he said. These programs include mental health, abuse of substances and services for the homeless. Edley said that even ephemeral interference in financing can burden the entire system.
“Usually suppliers found every possible way to maintain it,” he said, adding that suppliers are developing services and turn to credit lines. “Looking at these security network suppliers, they will do everything before they say that the program is.”
The downside of their resistance, added Edley, is that he leads the legislators to convince that there is no consequences for the slow budget.
“When it happens year after year, it becomes more and more difficult for the system to absorb it,” he said.
