By State Sen. Patty Kim

The famous proverb “when elephants fight, the grass suffers” means the weak get hurt in conflict between the powerful. It is an apt way to assess the ongoing state budget impasse and the partisan gridlock that has affected our political system.

Finger pointing and blame is not a constructive way to resolve the issue, and there are far too many everyday Pennsylvanians that will suffer as a result.

As lawmakers, we have one constitutionally mandated task to perform every year: pass a balanced budget by June 30. Regrettably, missing that deadline by weeks or months in Harrisburg has become standard practice. The normalization of this behavior amounts to legislative malpractice, and ignores the sad reality that budgetary delays lead to serious and often life-changing

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