You get what you pay for.

The notion weighs heavily the day after Pennsylvania State Police Troop D rededicated its 70-year-old headquarters in Butler Township. The Troop D barracks sits atop the immaculately groomed slope north of New Castle Street, across from Butler Senior High School.

The ceremony caps an extensive renovation and 5,500-square-foot addition to the barracks. The project has been in the works for a decade; construction of the new part took 2½ years to complete.

State Police Commissioner Col. Tyree C. Blocker said the renovations transform the barracks into a “state-of-the-art building,” the likes of which “form the cornerstone of our ability to provide quality police services to the citizens of Pennsylvania.”

The larger, upgraded quarters enhance communications, training, coordination and cooperation between state police patrol and investigative units.

All told, the project’s price tag was $4 million, according to Troop D commanding officer Capt. Steve Ignatz. In our view, that’s a bargain, not only for sustaining the honor and privilege of hosting a state police unit in Butler County, but for providing state-of-the-art quarters for that troop in its original location, where its officers will go on protecting and serving us for many years to come.

This is why Tuesday’s ceremony was especially significant. It affirms Pennsylvania’s commitment to the security and safety of keystone state residents and to the process of justice under the law. Blocker’s words were an assurance of that commitment — and a pledge to uphold it.

But an unintended implication is the reminder that security might be a bargain, but it’s not free. We must pay for it, along with other essential government services.

Only a few hours after the dedication ceremony in Butler, Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives in Harrisburg adjourned without voting as expected vote on a plan to fund its seven-week-old and as-yet still unfunded $32 billion budget.

Without funding, the budget is essentially meaningless. And fiscal managers say the state’s primary checking account will run out of funds as soon as Friday.

It would be an extreme short-term circumstance to shut down a state police barracks for lack of funding. More subtle long-term pressures might include more rural municipalities relying on state police protection because of cutbacks in state tax dollars returned to municipalities for police protection; or, continued talk about a per capita fee for municipalities that rely solely on state police.

The House is supposed to return to session today, but with a budget stalemate now it its third month, it’s not clear what’ll happen next.

The only thing that should happen next is for the legislature to get focused — and stay focused — on finalizing a spending plan. There is no acceptable excuse not to get this done.