The envelope of a letter to the editor that arrived at the Butler Eagle on Monday had a stamp depicting a black-and-white television showing Lassie, the star of the long-running television series from the 1950s.

For those old enough to remember that series, which ran for 20 years, Lassie was trustworthy, dependable and could be counted on to do the right thing when there was trouble.

While Lassie earned a conspicuous place in the annals of television, it's appropriate to observe that his wonderful qualities haven't "come home" to the Pennsylvania General Assembly — at least not in regard to the state's 2009-10 budget drama.

The General Assembly wasn't trustworthy and dependable in the months leading up to the June 30 deadline for budget passage. Lawmakers failed to meet the constitutionally mandated deadline for having a budget in place by that date and have been woeful failures since.

And now, with a fiscal crisis still ongoing involving many entities and services that depend on state money, lawmakers and Gov. Ed Rendell have continued to prolong the unconscionable situation by dragging their feet over loose ends surrounding their purported settlement.

About the only thing that settlement has achieved so far is to distract the public's attention from the fact that there still is no final spending package in place, at a point nearly three months past the budget deadline.

The so-called settlement has had the effect of removing the urgency for quick resolution of the unfinished fiscal business — unfinished business revolving around the writing of more than a dozen bills that reflect the budget compromise.

Meanwhile, even with a budget deal having been fashioned, many people across the state aren't liking what they are hearing about the settlement. And, it's anyone's guess how public opposition and anger could impact the needed measures that are being assembled.

One example is the outrage triggered by a proposed tax — possibly as high as 20 percent — on proceeds from small games of chance, such as those conducted by volunteer fire departments, veterans organizations and other nonprofit agencies.

Mark Lauer, president of the Butler County Fire Chiefs Association and chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department, reacted in the following way:

"We risk our lives and we literally save the commonwealth billions of dollars a year, and then they come around to the backside and do this?"

Lauer added, "This tax would be very hard on fire companies. That's why we're hoping our elected officials will reconsider doing this."

Likewise, the details still were being worked out on new business and tobacco levies and, since much of the budget business is being done by leading lawmakers behind closed doors, it's impossible for the average state resident to know what else might be in the nearly $28 billion budget plan.

More than a few lawmakers admitted to being out of the loop as to exactly what was going on in the days after the General Assembly and Rendell reached their compromise. Some still might be.

Rep. Brian Ellis, R-11th, told the Butler Eagle in regard to the tax on small games of chance that "they haven't told us definitively what they're taxing, or how it would work."

That situation is more evidence of how much the budget compromise wasn't really the work of the General Assembly but, instead, the work of a handful of legislative leaders who really weren't overly concerned about what grass-roots lawmakers might think or have to face regarding their constituents.

While Lassie always could be counted on to get help when help was needed and do the right thing, the public has no such confidence in this state's elected officials. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone in state government worthy of being called a statesman.

This year's budget exercise remains a debacle as state residents continue to wonder and harbor concerns about the final outcome.

Three months late and counting, the Keystone State's budget situation is still an embarrassment — and something for voters to remember at election time next November.