If there is no budget settlement by Monday, July 9, Gov. Rendell has promised to close down state government by furloughing 25,000 “non-essential” state employees. But, what does that really mean to the average taxpayer?

All this week state agencies issued press releases telling the public what services they would or would not offer if employees were furloughed. Here’s a sampling—

· 2,000 of 2,300 employees in the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will be furloughed closing all 117 State Parks and state forest land. Campers and cabin occupants will be required to leave by midnight July 9;

· 1,349 of 2,849 employees of the Department of Environmental Protection will be out of work and the department's review of applications for new land development, waste, mining, oil and gas, water and air permits and licenses will cease as well as effectively shutting down other funding for conservation districts, municipal recycling, mine reclamation projects, oil and gas well plugging, and environmental education activities. The state’s black fly spraying program was already shutdown;

· 273 of the Department of Agriculture’s employees will be furloughed, meaning those offices which oversee plant-related diseases and pests as well as conservation issues, pesticide certification and regulation of all feed products in the state and all marketing and farmland preservation efforts will be suspended;

· 10,928 PennDOT employees will be furloughed. All PennDOT Driver License and Photo License Centers will be closed and there will be no mail processing of any driver or motor vehicle applications and no on-road driver’s license testing until the budget impasse is resolved, although PennDOT’s online services will still be available;

· Only 1,900 of the Department of Public Welfare’s 19,000 employees will be furloughed and services to low-income citizens will continue through the budget impasse;

· 87 percent of employees in the Department of Community and Economic Development are to be furloughed, meaning DCED will not be able to process applications, execute contracts or disperse funds through any of the programs administered by the department. Funding and assistance provided through business assistance, international business development, technology investment, tourism, community development and local government services departments will cease;

· 55 of the Department of Aging’s 102 employees will be furloughed, although key services including homemaker assistance, personal care help, home-delivered meals, family caregiver support and ombudsman assistance will continue;

· 139 of the Banking Department’s 161 employees would not have to report to work, bank and financial service provider examinations would be suspended, license renewals will not be processed and mergers, acquisitions and various transactional matters, some of which are keyed to Securities and Exchange Commission filings or have specific designated dates, will not be reviewed or approved; and

· Only 202 of the Department of Revenue’s 1,682 employees will be reporting to work, shutting down oversight of casino operations and Revenue’s taxpayer service call center and district offices.

NewsClip: Campers Hold Their Breath

7/6/2007