Paychecks for more than 100,000 government employees in Pennsylvania are on the line as Congress approaches the midnight Tuesday deadline to pass a federal spending plan.
The full breadth of the federal government shutdown's impact on Pennsylvania remains to be seen, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday during a stop in Middletown. He noted many of the details hang on the Office of Management and Budget's guidance to states.
"My hope is that our federal partners are going to talk, they're going to work this out, and then there won't be a shutdown," Shapiro said. "But if there is, we'll be prepared to manage it here in Pennsylvania."
The commonwealth is home to more than 100,000 federal employees, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Shapiro said about 7,800 state employees have salaries funded by federal dollars.
During past federal budget impasses, Shapiro said, the federal government has later reimbursed the state for salaries that went unpaid during shutdowns.
Shapiro did not address President Donald Trump's warning that "a lot" of federal workers may be fired from their roles if a shutdown happens.
Luke Bernstein, the chief executive of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, warned that a shutdown would "have serious consequences" on federal permitting and contracting, stalling improvements to infrastructure, transportation and public safety projects.
He commended U.S. Sens. John Fetterman, a Democrat, and Dave McCormick, a Republican, for advocating for a temporary spending plan at last year's funding levels.
Fetterman has faced pushback from some Democrats for not supporting his party's efforts to use the threat of a government shutdown as a bargaining chip in their fight to preserve expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies and repeal cuts to health care programs adopted under the GOP's spending and tax cut legislation signed in July.
House Republicans narrowly passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21, but it lacked the necessary Democratic support in the Senate to overcome a filibuster.
Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have said Trump and his Republican allies in Congress need to include more of the party's input if they hope to pass a budget.
Dual freezes
Shapiro said the state government is still "open for business" and that citizens can still get help at agencies like the Department of Education and the Department of Human Services.
But Pennsylvania, too, lacks a spending plan, as the General Assembly and Shapiro have failed to reach a budget deal in the three months since the June 30 deadline. That delay has forced many county governments, schools and nonprofits offering human services to halt programs or seek loans to cover their operating expenses.
It's unclear whether Pennsylvania has ever faced a federal government shutdown at the same time state lawmakers have failed to pass a budget.
When state budgets have been late in the past, state services have largely remained intact, thanks to previous court cases that ruled state employees must continue to be paid during a state budget impasse.
Pennsylvania's House and Senate are both in Harrisburg next week for voting sessions, though Shapiro made no promises Tuesday that a deal may finally be struck.
Read more from our partners at WITF.