Pennsylvania counties prepare for missed payments amid budget standoff
Misty Severi
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Pennsylvania counties are preparing to miss their quarterly payments from the state for social services as the state heads into its fourth week of stalled negotiations over the state budget.
County officials have claimed that a few weeks without payment will not affect the counties too much because they have reserves stocked away. But if a deal is not reached before the state legislature returns after Labor Day, there will be some impact.
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“No county can go very long without having some serious impact, from a financial standpoint,” Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach told Fox News.
If the stalemate does continue in the coming days, tens of millions of dollars will be withheld for county services including substance abuse, child welfare, mental health, and disabilities. If it goes even longer than that, large payouts for schools will not go out.
The impasse comes as Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) ignore a cry for more funding for mental health resources. There is currently a shortage of beds and staffing to help the state with mental health patients. Hospitals and jails are seeing a backlog as patients and inmates wait to be admitted to mental health facilities.
A similar budget crisis occurred in the state in 2015. It saw a standoff between the state legislature and the governor that lasted into 2016. County officials have said that as a result of that impasse, they learned to have extra money on hand. As such, counties will largely survive the summer, but some could face a real struggle beginning in September.
Two counties, Allegheny and Snyder counties, can fare better and will be able to last several months without assistance from the state.
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“We will find a way to make it work like we always do,” Joe Kantz, a Snyder County commissioner, said. “But obviously there’s a breaking point. … We’re going to be able to weather a few months, but beyond that it becomes very difficult.”
Berks County said it has a contract clause that says they do not have to pay vendors until the state budget is finished.