Gov. Rendell is notifying nearly 80,000 state workers today by email that they will stop being paid in the event of a budget impasse -- but should continue showing up to work.
The budget must be passed by July 1 or the state loses its power to spend money. Most state workers would stop receiving paychecks on July 17th (for hours worked after midnight June 30th) -- although they would receive the pay once a budget is struck, Rendell wrote.
"I know that delayed pay would present a significant financial challenge for many of you," the governor wrote in his letter. "I wanted to provide you with as much advance notice as possible so that you might begin planning for this potential disruption."
Added Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo: "We certainly are hopeful that this eventuality will not come to pass but feel obliged to give the workforce as much notice as possible to give them an opportunity to prepare for a worst case scenario."
No budget has been passed on time since Rendell became governor in 2003. This year, the administration and Republicans who control the state Senate appear to be heading towards another showdown, with GOP senators taking the position that the governor's proposed budget plan needs to be sharply cut back.
Republicans have proposed an alternative budget that is nearly 6 percent less than the governor's plan, but the administration and Democrats who control the House have have been sharply critical of it because it would reduce state funding for public schools, welfare and economic development programs.
Click here for Philly.com's politics page.
Comment removed.
Republicans are about as relevant to the country and the state as are the Whigs. The party of "No"-no leadership, no ideas, no sense.— Rowland- Why am I not surprised?? As a former commonwealth employee (retired), I fully expected this. It's happened every year since he's been Governor; his way of getting things passed (translate payback to cronies) that he wants!!— Toot44
- Governor Rendell has turned Philadelphia into Killadelphia...the Largest Open Air Prison in America and now, the First in the Nation in "COP KILLINGS". For years Rendell has been betraying sacred public trust by releasing thousands of stone thugs to save Million$ in State Budget Funds for his "No Bid" contracts, etc. Remember Cain? Giddings? Burgess? Shaw? Wilson? and most recently, the 4 out of the 5 Murderers currently on trial for gunning down "Piggy", the mother of 4 children? All are State Parolees. Look at it...State Parolees are responsible for our Murder and Crime Rates. Rendell has been repeatedly helped/allowed to do this by Mayor Nutter, The City Council, State Legislature, and Tom Corbett (Attorney General who's running for Governor and too busy to worry about innocent lives, duty, etc.). They've all been told, in writting, with evidence for well over a year now. Murder victim after murder victim...destroyed family after destroyed family. State Parole Agent caseloads are unmanageable by design. Where are all our "Award Winning" Investigative Reporters? Probably on leashes and muzzeled, cause their bosses want a bailout ($$$) from Rendell! Everybody knows what's going on...that we've been unjustly and routinely paying hundreds of Millions and Bleeding to death for the previledge...that another "Newsworthy Parolee Murder Victim" is very certain and VERY SOON, but nobody wants to say who's responsible for "The Rendell Murders". We need to sue the State to get our money back...encourage all the victims to sue the State... call the FBI and DOJ and demand that they investigate Rendell, Parole Board Chairman McVey (Who's been refusing to send Parole Violators back to prison for over 4 years now) for Corruption and Civil Rights Violations! Where are the FEDs when we need'em? Let's all stop reading and start calling the FEDs! Big Brother Where Are You?!— John Law
