“If we don’t perform our jobs we get disciplined. The legislators are going to take a holiday.”
Fillman
“If we don’t perform our jobs we get disciplined. The legislators are going to take a holiday.”
PENNSYLVANIA. Who thinks about work — even if it's crafting a state budget — when there's barbecues and fireworks to get to? Not state legislators apparently.
With state workers' paychecks and livelihoods on the line, lawmakers plan to leave Harrisburg for their districts and three days off after some budget negotiations Thursday.
"I hope it's a busy day [Thursday], but I fear people are going to start putting it in low gear and we're going to have a little vacation this weekend," state Sen. Michael Stack said candidly Wednesday afternoon. "Sadly, we're off Friday through Sunday."
After seven straight years without a new budget July 1, as required by law, lawmakers' annual breaks for July 4 continue to frustrate state workers, the leader of the state's largest union said.
"It does make my members very angry that if we don’t perform our job we get disciplined. The legislators are going to take a holiday," Council 13 executive director David Fillman said. His union represents roughly half the state's 80,000 employees. "This is supposed to be a time to relax and take a vacation. But that's impossible for workers."
One political expert, Saint Joseph's University Professor Randall Miller, said politicians wouldn't miss the opportunity of shaking hands and eating hot dogs with their constituents to stay in Harrisburg.
"They have to do the patriotic stuff," he said.