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HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers on Tuesday approved a measure designed to pay the tens of thousands of state employees whose wages have been in limbo since the new fiscal year began five weeks ago without a government budget in place.
The House voted 195-3 to approve a budget bill that Gov. Ed Rendell plans to cut sharply by using his line-item veto authority. Checks for 77,000 workers could go out within a week, while Rendell also indicated that he will authorize some money for public health and safety.
House Majority Leader Todd A. Eachus, D-Butler Township, said passing this bill, we found the quickest and most responsible way to finally pay our state workers, who have not received a paycheck for work they’ve done since July 1.
“These workers have needlessly been caught in the middle of this budget crisis. They deserve to be paid for all the hard work they do, and this bill does that,” Eachus said.
The legislation is an austerity budget that passed the Republican-controlled state Senate three months ago without any support from Democrats and, by all accounts, does not meet the state constitution’s requirement for a balanced budget.
Several lawmakers said Tuesday they were holding their noses in voting for it.
“Every single person in this chamber knows today that this is not a balanced budget,” said Rep. Dan Moul, R-Adams. “I have to challenge the constitutionality, although I won’t make a motion because I do believe that the state workers do need to be paid.”
Rendell said he would “blue-line,” or eliminate, enough from the bill so that it achieves the required balance. He said he will sign into law “considerably less than 50 percent of the overall budget” on Wednesday, but that could still mean more than $10 billion.
The Democratic governor said programs required for public health and safety would not be cut, and gave as an example kidney dialysis.
“We’re reviewing it,” Rendell told reporters at a news conference where he signed a seven-week extension of jobless benefits. “We’re going to make a last run through tonight. And very few lines other than the lines that are necessary to pay the employees or keep services going will be signed.”
The House vote did nothing to resolve the taxes-vs.-cuts ideological battle that has gripped Harrisburg for months.
The House’s vote came a day after House Democratic leaders announced their decision to remove a proposal to increase the personal income tax from the budget dialogue. Eachus pointed to it as an example of how Democrats have tried to compromise with Senate Republicans.