Here's pop quiz. Who should get paid first when a state is on the verge of financial ruin - cops or folks that work for the lottery? Common sense said that public safety should probably take precedence over gambling. But here's the thing- the lottery generates massive revenues that law enforcement simply does not. In Pennsylvania, the very real possibility that state troopers will not be paid while state lottery workers will be doesn't make any sense at all to John Srsic, a retired state Department of Labor and Industry manager.

But that's just what will happen if state lawmakers can't agree on a budget quickly. "To select a group who are not law enforcement to pay, I can't understand. We can live without those in the lottery. What's more important to the public?" Srsic, 72,told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Governor Ed Rendell is pushing a 16 percent state income tax increase.

Senate Republicans are advocating severe spending cuts and say they will fight any increase in taxes tooth and nail. Penssylvania is currently facing a $3.25 billion deficit. The majority of the state's 77,000 employees stopped getting paychecks last July. Inmates in state correctional facilities however will continue to get paid for working at state prisons.

"Obviously, there is a mixed bag, some of which I don't like and which doesn't make much sense," state Auditor General Jack Wagner admitted. Elected officials, including the governor aren't getting paychecks during the budget impasse. However, legislative staffers will continue to collect paychecks because the Legislature is dipping into its $200 million "surplus" fund in order to cut the checks.

Experts say there is no single reason why some state workers are getting paid while others are not. It's a complicated combination of factors including court rulings, state law, administrative decisions and public safety concerns.

What's really shocking to many in Pennsylvania is the fact that welfare recipients are still getting checks because of state court decisions upholding federal law. But until a budget is passed, state welfare workers can't be paid for work done since July 1 because Pennsylvania has no authority to spend money.

"You're paying people that aren't working, and people that are working aren't getting paid," said Carla Powell, 49, of Lawrenceville, a security guard at Gateway Center told the Tribune. "That's ridiculous. That's really asinine."

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