Now that we seem to be heading for another state budget showdown between Gov. Ed Rendell and the Senate Republicans, I thought it might be fun to take a trip down Memory Lane.
Here's a story I wrote back in 2007, when a standoff between Rendell and legislative Republicans led to a missed deadline for the budget, and state parks closed down for the day.
As you'll read, I headed out to Gifford Pinchot State Park to talk to campers who were being kicked out. There, I had a conversation that still strikes me as funny in a rather sad kind of way.
I encountered four very nice people from Australia. One couple had been living in Canada for several years. The other couple was visiting them.
They had planned the trip that took them through Pennsylvania for some time. They got word over the Internet that a budget impasse might close the park, but decided not to alter their agenda.
America's a civilized country, they reasoned. Members of the Pennsylvania government wouldn't really let the state's parks close solely in the interests of political posturing, would they? Surely, they would make a reasonable compromise based on the public good before that became necessary.
Heh heh heh! You're a loooong way from Oz, mates!
Anyway, here's the story ...
Jul 10, 2007 -- Karen and Rod Holmes, and Ivan and Jo Baxter, toting four children between the ages of 4 and 10, arrived at Gifford Pinchot State Park about 8 p.m. Sunday after 14 hours of driving from Toronto. When they registered at the entrance, they received a notice signed by John Norbeck, director of Pennsylvania's Bureau of State Parks, informing them that they might have to vacate the park Monday morning.
Sure enough, a park employee with a bullhorn confirmed it for the campers Monday. The park was closing, and everyone had to be packed up and out by noon.
The Holmeses, natives of Australia, have lived in Canada for three years. The Baxters were visiting them from Australia. Karen Holmes was particularly disappointed, as she had planned the trip carefully, arranging for campsites alongside Pinchot Lake.
The families planned to stay in Pennsylvania for a week before moving on to Massachusetts. On Saturday, Karen Holmes received an e-mail from Pennsylvania, informing her that a budget impasse might lead to the park's closing. But they went ahead with the trip anyway, since the idea just seemed so far-fetched.
"We thought it would never happen," she said. "We thought surely common sense would prevail."
By 11:30 a.m. Monday, they were pretty much packed and ready to move on to another state, taking with them some less-than-fond memories of Pennsylvania.
After legislators and Gov. Ed Rendell failed to reach an agreement on the new state budget at midnight Sunday, about 25,000 state workers went on "furlough" because no official funding mechanism is in place to provide their salaries. The furloughed workers are those officially classified as "nonessential."
State-run operations shut down across Pennsylvania, including driver's license centers, historic sites and state parks such as Pinchot.
Jesse Taylor, assistant manager of the park, said that leaves him and three others - the park manager, the sewage treatment plant operator and the park ranger - still on the job. The other eight full-time employees and 45 seasonal workers are furloughed until the governor and lawmakers reach an agreement.
Taylor said that the park draws a mix of locals on weekend excursions and long-term vacationers. It tends to empty out a bit when weekends are over, and he estimates that 50 to 75 of the 339 camping sites were occupied Monday morning when campers were told they had to leave.
The people were good about it, Taylor said, and appeared to understand that the park staffers had no say in the matter.
That was the consensus at a nearby campsite where Judy Long, Long's daughter, Lisa Grim, and Grim's two daughters, 12-year-old Jessica and 8-year-old Casey, all from Reading, were packing a trailer.
They said they had no problem with the park employees, who were very nice about everything. They were considerably less pleased with Rendell and members of the state legislature.
Lisa Grim already had picked out a private campground where they would stay. The cost of $30 a night would be considerably more than the $90 a week they would have paid at Pinchot, but the only alternative appeared to be scrapping their entire vacation.
They said they felt sorry for a family from Alabama that had moved out of an adjacent campsite earlier. Those people said they would pay for a private campground too, but the extra cost meant they would have to sacrifice other plans for their vacation, such as a trip to Hersheypark.
"They were shell shocked," Long said. "They said 'We'll never come to Pennsylvania again if this is how they run things.'"
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BUDGET STALEMATE Q&A Q: So, what happened to the money for parks and other services? Is it gone?
A: No, the money's still there. But for those people and programs to receive the money, the state government must officially allocate it by passing a state budget.
Q: Democrats blame Republicans for the situation and vice versa. Who's right?
A: Hard to say. It comes down to the system of checks and balances in state government. The governor can't create legislation. Members of the state House of Representatives and the state Senate can create legislation, but it won't pass into law without the governor's approval. Rendell is a Democrat. Republicans have a majority in the Senate and are just a hair short of a majority in the House.
Q: How did they resolve it in past years?
A: Since Rendell first took office in 2003, there's always been a budget showdown about this time of year. Rendell and the Republicans in the state legislature would pursue different agendas and drag out the process until the very end of the fiscal year on June 30. In the past, they would usually conclude with an all-night marathon session.
Q: What's different this year?
A: In 2005, members of the General Assembly voted themselves a substantial pay raise in the early morning hours. That action drew widespread protest, with many accusing the lawmakers of intentionally passing the pay raise at that time in order to sneak it past the public. Lawmakers are now reluctant to have overnight sessions.
Rendell was re-elected in November. He's proposed a particularly ambitious budget, perhaps on the assumption that his position is secure. Significant portions of the Republican caucuses in both the House and the Senate consist of first-term lawmakers who campaigned on promises not to compromise, which could make them less willing to relent.
Q: Why are state liquor stores and the lottery still running?
A: Liquor stores and the lottery fund themselves and do not require money from the budget to operate.
Q: Has anything like this happened before?
A: In 1991, members of the legislature passed the budget 35 days past deadline, leaving county governments, nursing homes, hospitals and more than 10,000 state workers without funding from Harrisburg.
In 2003, a newly elected Rendell got into a standoff with Republicans over the education portion of the state budget. Public schools didn't receive funding for six months. No worker furloughs or school closings were necessary, but school districts lost million of dollars in interest payments.
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STALEMATE'S LOCAL EFFECT Local maintenance crews with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation would have paved roads and performed other work Monday, but the state shutdown brought those plans to a halt.
Only 22 of the 156 employees at the York County maintenance office reported to work Monday. The rest were furloughed, said Jim Zander, acting maintenance manager in the county.
Crews were supposed to pave Ducktown Road in Hellam Township, chip Frosty Hill Road in Lower Chanceford Township and continue redoing a bridge deck on Kraft Mill Road in North Codorus Township.
But with only two emergency crews available - with five people on each crew - they couldn't be in the middle of a road project and also handle an emergency call, Zander said.
So they picked up litter instead, he said.
Paving operations are canceled for today as well, Zander said. Projects could end up being pushed back a week depending on if vendors will be available to supply materials on short notice.
Road projects involving private contractors will continue, said Greg Penny, a PennDOT spokesman.
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The driver's license center in York isn't open on Mondays, and it will be closed today if a budget isn't passed.
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The restrooms at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center in Shrewsbury Township will remain open, but there will not be any staff at the counter to help travelers with questions, said Rich Kirkpatrick, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The restrooms are tended by contract vendors.
The restrooms at the interstate rest areas are being taken care of by staff that the state deemed as critical for the health and safety of the public, he said.
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A sign on the door of the York District Office of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue stated: "Our office is currently closed. Please try back on the next normal business day. We suggest you call us at (717) 845-6661 to see if we are open first."
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INSPECTORS STILL ON THE JOB The state's army of health inspectors remained on the job Monday despite Gov. Ed Rendell's decision to shut down various sections of the Pennsylvania government because of a budget stalemate.
"Our inspectors are essential to the health, safety and welfare of the people in the state," said Chris L. Ryder, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
Also, the state's laboratory services continued to operate in the processing and testing of food and dairy products, he said.
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