Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled state Legislature have predicted that a deal will be made by the July 1 deadline, although haggling continues about various initiatives in the 2019-2020 fiscal year budget.

One such initiative is the governor’s Restore Pennsylvania, a $4.5 billion infrastructure plan he announced in January that allocates money for everything from broadband Internet service expansion to brownfields cleanup.

But most notably, Wolf’s plan includes funding for stormwater management and response to natural disasters, such as flooding.

This could help people like Cindy Allday of Center Township, whose back yard has been plagued by sewage overflow for nearly 20 years whenever the region is pounded by rainstorms.

Foul-smelling sewage from a manhole flows through her back yard when it rains, and she and her husband are frustrated that the Butler Area Sewer Authority is unable to prevent it.

BASA officials recently developed a plan with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection that would collect flow data from sewage lines through 2020, analyze the data in 2022 and spend 2023-2024 engineering the project. But Duane McKee, BASA’s executive director, said the project’s biggest roadblock is a lack of funding.

“Right now, we don’t have the money to do it,” he said. “Grants right now are just nonexistent for infrastructure improvements.”

Last year, the Alldays paid $8,000 to replace a pipe under their back yard to alleviate the situation, but sewage overflow caused it to sink. They are not the only Butler residents dealing with such calamities.

In 2018, Pennsylvania endured record rainfall. In recent weeks, Butler County has absorbed one flash flood warning after another. We’re saturated. At supervisors meetings — from Middlesex to Buffalo townships — residents have complained about dire flooding conditions. Farmers have said this year’s planting season is a literal wash thanks to the constant downpours.

In 2018, Marion Township got a loan from the county’s infrastructure bank to address a sewer problem. However, it was expected that the township would struggle to find a grant to cover the remaining 75 percent of the project.

In other words, the heavy rain of recent years has been a gigantic headache for our communities. Counties across the state have suffered through similar scenarios.

After Wolf announced Restore Pennsylvania early this year, Republicans and Democrats agreed that communities needed assistance with stormwater management and flood control. But they disagreed on how to fund these projects.

The Legislature took issue with the plan due to its reliance on a statewide severance tax on natural gas drillers.

In April, Wolf announced the investment of $69 million for wastewater and stormwater projects in 14 Pennsylvania counties. Butler County — a ranking producer of the Marcellus Shale gas that would fund the governor’s proposed severance tax — was not one of them.

We understand that legislators from both parties disagree on how to fund initiatives to combat the onslaught of rain and subsequent flooding and sewage overflow. But there’s no doubt that it needs to be addressed.

Whether it’s through Restore Pennsylvania or another initiative, lawmakers need to make such funding a priority this budget season.

— NCD