At the September 22 County Commissioners Work Session, James Laughman, Executive Director of the Mental Health/Mental Retardation/Early Intervention Program, provided a brief update on his most recent knowledge regarding the estimated arrival of funding from the State budget. According to Laughman, many County agencies will likely have to wait until the beginning of November—“if we are lucky”—to receive dollars from the unofficially secured 2009-2010 budget.
Laughman’s comments were based on personal conversations with Harrisburg insiders, and Commissioner Craig Lehman, a former Harrisburg budget analyst, expressed a similar evaluation. Even in the midst of these observations, however, the County officials maintained that nothing is yet certain.
The September 22 Intelligencer New Era reported on this uncertainty—wrought by the “handshake” agreement that Governor Ed Rendell announced last Friday. The article roughly placed the arrival of State subsidies at some point in October, and quoted the executive director of a local service organization that her operation would not “make it” to November without State funds.
According to Laughman, even if Harrisburg were to formally pass the budget next week, funds would not arrive until as late as November. This is because, according to Lehman, the proposed budget will require additional legislation: “The budget is actually the easiest technical piece….The more complicated piece will be the accompanying legislative bills that go along with it—things like sales tax and the table games piece. Those are the things that are going to lag.”
Lehman also indicated that, to avoid some of these delays, the State may work to quickly pass those elements of the budget not requiring special legislation.
At the September 22 County Commissioners Work Session, James Laughman, Executive Director of the Mental Health/Mental Retardation/Early Intervention Program, provided a brief update on his most recent knowledge regarding the estimated arrival of funding from the State budget. According to Laughman, many County agencies will likely have to wait until the beginning of November—“if we are lucky”—to receive dollars from the unofficially secured 2009-2010 budget.
