HARRISBURG (AP) .- Counties in PA are preparing to get by without a quarterly state payment for some of the social services they carry out as a budget stalemate between Gov. Josh Shapiro and lawmakers drags into a fourth week. Tens of millions of dollars for county-level services for child welfare, mental health, and more could be held up in the coming days, minus some sort of breakthrough. After that, big payments for schools could be stalled. Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach says an impasse lasting a few weeks won’t have much effect. But if there’s no budget agreement before fall, Leinbach says “that’s going to create some problems.” Counties have experienced struggling through stalemates, including an impasse in 2015 that did not thaw until 2016. The Shapiro Administration has yet to say exactly what money it will withhold from counties and other social services.
