Well, it’s happened again. For the fifth year in a row, Pennsylvania lawmakers missed the deadline for passing a state budget.

Republicans who control the state Senate sent their members home last week ensuring the General Assembly would miss the June 30 deadline for budget passage.

The Republicans say an agreement is possible following the July 4th holiday and the Senate will return to session once final language is ready. The Democrats who lead the state House are not as sure, claiming Senate Republicans aren’t interested in reaching a compromise.

At issue is the Democrats’ proposal to dip into the state’s $8 billion emergency reserve fund to make up for budget deficits and the Republicans’ charge it is irresponsible to use the money to paper over the budget’s red ink. The state has already drained its cash reserves to reconcile past budget deficits.

Setting aside the fact Pennsylvania is sitting on $8 billion in unused money while continually crying poverty and calling for increased taxes and fees, the continual budget impasse causes real pain to the Commonwealth’s citizens.

First, state payment to vendors for expenditures incurred for the new fiscal year will be delayed until a budget is enacted. In other words, anyone selling a product or service to the state is being told the check is in the mail.

What this means is the stalemate is freezing billions of dollars in state grants and reimbursements. This will force school districts, county governments and nonprofits to operate on reserve funds, delay capital projects and take out high-interest loans to keep functioning.

This is getting to be business as usual for the General Assembly. In the past 20 years, there have been 13 late budgets including four stalemates that lasted over 100 days. Perhaps the urgency to get a state budget passed on time has decreased since 2009, when the state Supreme Court mandated that state employees and lawmakers would continue to be paid during the impasse.

That’s good for them, but bad for anyone else looking to a state government payment to keep their business or school district in the black.

It’s time for the state’s lawmakers get back to Harrisburg and do their jobs and pass a budget without further delays.

— EF