PA National Guardsmen Not Paid Because of PA Budget Impasse

[Gratiot]

Over 500 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard -- many of whom have served in Iraq and Afghanistan -- are also state employees out a gratuity stipend due to the budget impasse, a spokesman with the state department of Military and Veterans Affairs confirmed Friday.

The stipends, due to members of the National Guard on active duty, are payments of $520 a month on top of the federal salary paid to active military members, said Kevin Cramsey, a spokesman with the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Just 77 of the 568 state employees active duty were not given their June payments. Those 77 are employed by state agencies on a payroll calendar that would have paid them Friday, a payless payday for all state employees due to the ongoing budget impasse.

However, all 568 of them may be looking at working July and August without their stipends, barring Gov. Ed Rendell's passage of a bridge budget.

"If things stay the way they are right now, they may not see their August payment," Cleaver said.

PennLive.Com

[docstew]

Remind me again: What party is in control of PA?

[thundley4]

It should be a law in every state that if someone is not paid because of budgets not being enacted, it is the state legislature that are the first to be not paid. 

[NHSparky]

This is Spendell's tactic to jam a tax increase up the asses of PA residents: "See?  We can't even pay our Guardsmen!  Boo-freakin-hoo!  Woes is us!"

[Airwolf]

This is about as callous a thing to do to a soldier or any military member as it can get.