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Pennsylvania has the dubious distinction of being an outlier among the 50 states in not having an enacted state budget.
Pennsylvania has been there many times before during the past 50 years.
It's been four weeks since the formal June 30 deadline for enacting a budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26.
And there's no deal in sight.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has attributed late budgets during his tenure to a divided government -- a Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House, albeit by one seat.
Shapiro's comments about divided government resonate in a state known for being partisan.
Pennsylvania has seen a divided government during 30 of the past 50 years.
Late budgets due to many factors
But things are more nuanced when looking at why late budgets happened during the past five decades.
First of all, Pennsylvania is an economically and culturally diverse state with two large metro areas, many mid-sized cities and rural areas with a large spread-out population. Finding agreement can be difficult.
Tough choices with spending cuts and tax hikes to balance a budget during economic downturns are a big factor. In 1977, 1983, 1991 and 2009, budgets were late due to state revenue drops as a result of economic recessions.
Even then, there was political debate over whether fiscal problems were being brushed over in 1982 and 1990 when incumbent governors were seeking reelection until a non-election year.
Concern about meeting the June 30 deadline or something close to it is more noticeable when voters are ready to deliver a verdict on governors and lawmakers in a general election.
Sometimes budgets are late while votes are rounded up for a side issue -- like the controversial legislative pay raise in 2005 and a transportation funding package in 2007.
Each late budget situation is somewhat unique depending on whether a stopgap General Fund budget is in place, whether a governor has vetoed items like school aid as leverage and whether the various code bills that spell out how money is spent are enacted.
This year there is no full or partial budget in place. The state government is operating fully, employees are drawing paychecks and state parks and driver's license centers are open.
A 2009 state court ruling that state employees must be paid during budget impasses really changed the dynamic as far as public pressure on getting a budget done on time.
During a lengthy impasse in 2015-16, the first pressure came from nonprofits not receiving state aid and school districts getting nervous as students returned to classrooms in late August.
The prolonged budget fight of 1977 occurred with Democrats in control of the executive branch and General Assembly. Western Democrats held out against a tax hike sought by Gov. Milton Shapp. The last budget item completed was state aid for state-related universities enacted in the late fall.
Republicans ruled the roost in 2014. Gov. Tom Corbett was adamant about passing budgets on time. Still the 2014 budget wasn't signed until July 10 even though Corbett was seeking reelection. Delaying things were disagreements over public pension changes. Corbett vetoed some legislative spending from the budget bill.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 resulted in a two-part budget adopted in June and November to help absorb the impact.
Late budget scenarios evolve
The optics of late budgets have changed over the decades.
The tension resulting from payless paydays and state payments not being made led to a fistfight on the House floor, dubbed the "Friday Night Fights," on one occasion. That resulted when lawmakers were presented with a test vote over a tax hike bill.
A wife of a state employee drove with her three kids in her station wagon from Grove City to the Governor's Residence in July 1991 to seek help with credit card bills.
House-Senate conference committees were once the vehicle to resolve opposing budget bills. That is until a sunshine law made private meetings among conferees difficult.
Where once reporters staked out Capitol meeting rooms where negotiations took place for a bit of news, now they are served with vague statements delivered at a media event outside the Capitol or short video on social media.