County workers face furlough notices as Pennsylvania’s budget stalemate drags on

With no end in sight to the ongoing budget stalemate, county workers and contractors who rely on state funding have begun receiving furlough notices. 

As Pennsylvania enters its third month without a budget, county and contract workers in county offices around the commonwealth are starting to feel the squeeze of the ongoing budget stalemate in Harrisburg. 

“ Everyone here right now knows we’re still in the midst of a federal shutdown, and we’ve had hundreds of thousands of federal employees, also our neighbors, right now, losing their jobs and in some cases, in need of public services to survive in Pennsylvania, one of the two states that still does not have a budget,” Steve Catanese, President of Service Employees International Union Local 668, said at a press conference in Harrisburg on Tuesday. 

He added: “Right now, tens of thousands of Pennsylvania state workers are going to work every single day under the threat of a furlough notice.”

Legislative leaders in the Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania House and the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate were unable to reach a budget deal by the June 30th deadline. 

House Democrats passed a bipartisan budget on July 14th, but Senate Republicans refused to negotiate and passed their version of a budget that refused to increase vital services, even though the commonwealth is sitting on a $7 billion surplus in its rainy day fund. 

Vickie Rafferty, a SEIU Local 668 member working in the Westmoreland County Aging office, is worried about receiving her furlough notice in the coming days. 

“ Our department is one of five Department of Human Services offices that have furloughs coming up beginning on Monday,” Rafferty said. “Those other departments that are being cut are vital services that reach out directly to consumers in the veteran services, drug and alcohol, behavioral health, aging and child and youth workers.”

She added: “ The impasse that’s going on right now, it’s about our coworkers, the single mom who’s also getting furloughed starting next week, worked there for over 15 years is now not sure how she’s gonna make it. It’s about people that vote, people that make a difference, people that are educated. We cannot serve those who need served more than anyone. We cannot sustain our communities without the funding for our programs.”

As the budget impasse drags on and its impacts threaten to become more dire, Democrats are making clear that Republicans are the ones holding up a deal.

“ We have done everything that we’ve needed to do. We have compromised in every way,” State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia) said at the press conference. “We are dealing with a group of people who don’t care about the services that are provided by these hardworking men and women who take care of Pennsylvania citizens all across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. They’re being held up because of politics.”

State and county workers aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch of the ongoing stalemate. 

Schools districts across the commonwealth have lost out on over $3.7 billion in state funding, forcing school districts to take out loans in order to keep their doors open. 

The School District of Lancaster recently approved a $35 million loan, while other districts have taken out smaller loans. These loans will force Pennsylvanians to pay more down the road because of the interest rates attached to them. 

“The more public schools that have to take out loans, the more taxpayers pay,” Aaron Chapin, President of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said in a statement. “The Lancaster loan, for instance, will cost an extra $200,000 in taxpayer funds for just fees and interest — money that could have gone toward more teachers, paraprofessionals, and services for students with special needs.”