Pennsylvania is just one of three states with late budgets as a new fiscal year starts.

Pennsylvania is joined by Massachusetts and South Carolina without a budget for Fiscal Year 2026-27, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Pennsylvania has no budget or stopgap budget in place. Massachusetts operates under an interim budget and South Carolina passed a continuing resolution while budget negotiations continue, the NCSL said.

A biennial budget state, North Carolina missed enacting a budget in 2025 and operates under a provision that automatically continues spending at the previous year’s levels.

It’s been one week since the start of FY2026-27.

And there’s no budget deal in sight between Gov. Josh Shapiro and a politically divided General Assembly.

The Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate are in recess.

The next official House session date is Sept. 28. The Senate doesn’t have a return date.

This is during an election year when the governor, all 203 House members and 25 senators with even-numbered districts are on the ballot.

The current budget wasn’t adopted until mid-November after a prolonged stalemate lasting almost five months.

The issues in this year’s budget debate revolve around spending levels, education choice tax credits and legalizing skill games.

State government still operating

Meanwhile, state government based in Harrisburg continues to operate.

State employees draw paychecks. State parks and driver’s license centers are open. Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency held a press conference Monday about disaster response to damaging weekend storms in the Harrisburg area.

There’s been no declaration of a budget impasse by the budget office which puts the public on notice.

A 2009 state court ruling that state employees must be paid during budget impasses eliminated much of the pressure to get a budget done on time.

In recent years budget negotiations have occurred out of public sight.

Legislative leaders have made vague statements about discussions going smoothly this year. The two chambers engaged in maneuvering last week over a tax code bill.

House Majority Leader Mathew Bradford, D-Montgomery, broke the silence Monday when he criticized the Senate for being missing and unwilling to work to pass a budget. That statement was released by the House Democratic Campaign Committee.