Area nursing homes could soon feel pinch of Pennsylvania budget impasse

July 29--Publicly owned nursing homes like Cedarbrook and Gracedale may start to feel the pinch if the budget showdown between Gov. Tom Wolf and Republicans in the state Legislature lingers a few more weeks.

Wolf acknowledged last week that counties may have to borrow to bankroll their human services departments. Such programs often rely on Medicare or Medicaid passed along by the state. Minus a budget deal, counties could find themselves covering the costs until the gridlock ends.

Democrat Wolf has said he is working to minimize disruption and fiscal pain. But a few local Republican lawmakers Tuesday accused him of creating a crisis by vetoing an entire GOP budget alternative, instead of allowing non-controversial spending to continue as larger issues are debated.

"Our seniors in Lehigh County are being held hostage for Gov. Wolf's tax increases," said Rep. Gary Day, who represents portions of Lehigh and Berks counties.

GOP colleagues Justin Simmons and Doyle Heffley joined Day in meeting reporters on the front lawn of Cedarbrook.

Lehigh County Executive Tom Muller said the county is positioned to weather state cash shortages for several weeks by fronting the money and getting reimbursed.

"It will start getting dicey for us in September," Muller said.

Northampton County Director of Administration Luis Campos said Friday officials are keeping an eye on the budget crisis in Harrisburg, but Gracedale isn't facing any immediate budget concerns.

Nursing homes generally receive 70 percent of their funding directly or indirectly from the state, according to Gracedale Administrator Millard D. Freeman. But he said county facilities have survived worse.

"Most of the time, it's just a month or so," he said. "I don't think that kind of hiccup is going to set us back too bad."

The state House of Representatives is not scheduled to reconvene until Aug. 25. The Senate will hold its next session Sept. 21, according to the state website. Leaders in the administration and legislature have been meeting periodically in recent weeks.

It's been six years since a state budget impasse has lasted this long. Gov. Ed Rendell signed the 2009-10 budget into law early in October.

Tuesday's GOP news conference also took aim at much of Wolf's spending proposal. The governor's $33.8 billion spending plan would increase education funding and reduce local property taxes by raising a host of state taxes by a cumulative 16 percent, among them income and sales taxes.

Rep. Bryan Cutler, a Lancaster Republican in House leadership, said negotiations have moved slowly since Wolf vetoed the budget on the June 30 deadline. Pension reform has been a divisive issue, he said, since Wolf vetoed a bill that would have phased new state employees into a 401(k) plan instead of a pension.

"We must stop digging the hole before we can ever get out of it. I would encourage the governor to put down the shovel. Let's reform the current system and let's talk about how we get to where we can fund that deficit," Cutler said.

Simmons, who represents Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton counties, said he was unwilling to raise the sales tax or income tax, saying it would be too harmful to Pennsylvanian families. He did believe the two sides could reach a compromise over a severance tax natural gas drillers would pick up.

"I think there could be some room there," he said.

Republican officials held similar news conferences across the state Tuesday, and the Wolf administration sent out a pre-emptive email defending its position: The Republican budget Wolf vetoed did little to restore the millions Republican former Gov. Tom Corbett cut, forcing school districts to hike property taxes at the local level.

"This type of irresponsible budgeting has led to struggling schools, soaring property taxes, multiple credit downgrades and a multi-billion dollar deficit," Jeffrey Sheridan, Wolf's press secretary, said in a statement.

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