Pennsylvania recently achieved a national distinction, but it was one that doesn't make us look very good.

Of the 46 states whose new fiscal year began July 1, Pennsylvania was one of four — Massachusetts, North Carolina and Oregon were the others — not to have a budget in place. But that wasn't quite enough, so we set ourselves apart.

Of those four, only Pennsylvania doesn't have a provision in the law to allow funding to continue without a final budget. If that seems like a small point, it can have a big impact. While some court decisions mean that a number of programs can get their funding without a finalized budget, that isn't true across the board.

Many smaller community organizations rely on state grants to keep their doors open. In the July 29 edition of the Eagle, we learned that Community Partnership of Butler County relies almost entirely on state funding, and that the delayed budget was starting to cause concerns.

There is good news. The budget is finally signed, with state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, calling the Senate back on Thursday to hand off the budget for Gov. Josh Shapiro's signature. There is a catch, however — before some programs can get funding, enabling legislation needs to be passed. In all, more than $1 billion of the $45.4 billion budget will need additional legislation.

And even when another step isn't needed, the programs that were affected aren't going to get a deposit in their bank account tomorrow.

Sandra Curry, executive director of the Community Partnership, said it could take weeks before funding arrives.

“The faucet doesn’t just turn back on immediately. It would still be a while before payments come through,” she said.

This isn't about who is to blame for the budget impasse. This is about the fact that political disagreements can disrupt the funding for essential programs such as food banks. There is no excuse to hold food hostage for people who are hungry because of politics.

And it doesn't have to be this way, as we can see from how the three other states also dealing with budget impasses handle the process.

Elected officials should have enough sense not to use funding for essential programs as part of their political wrangling, but as that clearly isn't always the case. It's time for change.

It's time that Pennsylvania joins other states that allow funding to continue, even if a full budget isn't finalized. The details of how that gets done are less important than the larger point: Our communities rely on the services that funding supports, and our elected officials owe the public a solution that recognizes how important that funding is.

— JK