As we learned in the Thursday, June 19, edition of the Butler Eagle, Pennsylvania’s lawmakers will likely miss the June 30 deadline to have a new budget in place.

That means for the second time in three years, school districts, municipalities and counties will have to wait and see what funding the state will provide.

Leaders place the blame on uncertainties about federal funding, with President Donald Trump’s policy bill still being debated in Congress. That is a fair concern, but Pennsylvania isn’t the only state waiting, and other states are finalizing their budgets.

The officials are paid to do this job. Pennsylvania pays lawmakers a minimum of $106,000 per year, far higher than the state’s median household income, $73,824.

Only two states, California and New York, pay their lawmakers more.

Elected officials have an obligation to meet deadlines, just like anyone else. And not having a budget at the start of a new fiscal year means local entities — from counties to municipalities to school districts — will have to find ways to cover their obligations while they wait for lawmakers to finish doing their jobs.

It’s shameful. Pennsylvanians deserve better from their Legislature.

— JK