HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s highest court ruled yesterday that the state constitution does not prohibit the governor from continuing to employ and pay state employees during a budget impasse.

The state Supreme Court sided with state workers’ unions and against the position that Gov. Rendell took in the months leading up to the July 2008 budget deal.

The unions had argued that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act trumped a section of the state constitution that requires an appropriation to be passed, in most cases, before money can be paid from the state treasury.

The justices agreed, ruling that the language “does not prohibit the Commonwealth from continuing to employ and pay all [Fair Labor Standards Act] nonexempt commonwealth employees in the event that the Pennsylvania legislature fails to pass a budget.”

Kathy Jellison, president of Service Employees International Union Local 668 and a party to the lawsuit, said the decision undercut Rendell’s argument that the furloughs he threatened were legally mandated. Rendell’s position has been a major issue during contentious budget negotiations in recent years.

Read the full Inquirer article here

Tags: Ed Rendell

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