Editorial: Two government crises face Pennsylvanians

Pennsylvania is feeling a pinch other states aren’t.

Oh sure, everyone is embroiled in the now month-old federal government shutdown. As of Saturday, what started out bad, with federal employees either sent home or working without pay, got worse as important programs were set to shut down.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was due to press pause, not releasing November benefits. Two judges ruled at least partial benefits must be made available with alternative funds, but the logistics of that are up in the air.

Then there is Head Start, the preschool program that serves thousands of children from low-income families nationwide. Many of those centers also will hit a financial wall.

Not to say things are worse in Pennsylvania than they are in West Virginia or Ohio or New York, but they are different.

The Keystone State faces an added layer of restriction, something no other state has to handle. This is because Pennsylvania hasn’t passed its budget.

While we are one month into a government shutdown, we are entering the fifth month without a state budget. And that just rolls downhill, with counties, municipalities, school districts, intermediate units and other government agencies dealing with the fallout.

The problem isn’t a lack of money. It’s a lack of will to get the job done. It’s the same problem seen at the national level. Pennsylvania just has the added burden of being pinched between two versions at the same time.

This is not about policy, as much as the players at the state and federal levels would like to pretend it is. It is all about politics — and despite the spelling, those words could not be further apart.

The Republicans blame the Democrats for not voting to get things started. The Democrats do the same. What no one is doing is negotiating in good faith.

Pennsylvanians have been suffering and will continue to suffer as they pay taxes that should go toward necessary services for their communities but instead will go to pay interest on loans needed to keep the lights on.

Likewise, they will be asked to support food banks and other services that will help their neighbors. But the federal government still is collecting taxes out of paychecks.

The shutdown and the budget impasse are different sides of the same obstinate, win-at-all-costs coin. No matter which side lands up, Pennsylvanians are losing.

The lights will come back on eventually. Public trust is a different story.