Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on October 19, 2015
Pennsylvania has been operating without a budget since July 1. As of Monday, it’s been 111 days and still counting. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican controlled legislature have not been able to reach an agreement on the elements of a budget acceptable to both sides.
Without a budget, our children are adversely affected due to a lack of state subsidies for educational programs, including pre-kindergarten. Schools and school districts that have the ability to borrow interim funds from financial institutions face the cost of interest on those borrowed funds until a budget is approved.
Subsidies from the state budget also support many health and welfare organizations that provide services to people in need. As the budget impasse continues, an increasing number of these organizations will be unable to provide those services. Many businesses are hurt by the budget impasse, because they will not be paid for products or services purchased by the state until a budget is passed.
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