The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania is saying "never again" to the delay in state funding resulting from the budget impasse.

On Thursday, Carbon County Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein read a resolution passed by the board of directors for commissioners association. The group called it the "Never Again" campaign.The resolution states, "The commonwealth lost its authority to spend funds on July 1, 2015 when the legislature and governor were unable to reach agreement on a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, halting payments to counties and others for programs and services. The cessation of funding lasted through the governor's qualified signature of a general fund spending plan on Dec. 29, 2015."The impasse affected "critical social needs" programs like child welfare, mental health, substance abuse, senior citizen, transportation programs and other programs like the SHINE Afterschool Program. "Most counties rely on human services provider agencies to provide some or all of these services on behalf of their clients," the resolution states.The lack of the budget caused many of these agencies to seek loans, withhold pay from providers, work for free or shut down completely.In Carbon, the commissioners loaned out hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep mental health and drug and alcohol services and senior services operating."I want to thank those service providers that have gone above and beyond to sacrifice, jeopardize their homes and properties by working for free during the crisis," Nothstein said, adding that there are still issues even though part of the budget is passed."I think oftentimes the people who continue to run those programs and are not paid are the unsung heroes," Commissioner William O'Gurek said.The county has started receiving funds owed to them by the state.Carbon-Monroe-Pike Mental Health/Developmental Services received $6.7 million of their funds, which will go largely to pay the providers that were not paid up until now; and the Area Agency on Aging received approximately $600,000 to continue its services."We are very fortunate here in Carbon County to be financially stable," Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said. "We didn't miss a beat and supplied money to agencies, kept the senior centers open and we're very proud of that."Nothstein said one county was down to $50,000 in its general fund."They didn't even know where the money was coming from for the next payroll," he said. "The budget crisis has affected us all in some way."Some programs like SHINE are still waiting for funds to be released.State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, said that the program, which helps students with academic and/or social challenges, is still tied up even though Gov. Wolf signed some items of the budget."The hundreds of students who benefit from the great work of the SHINE Afterschool Program should not suffer during prolonged political battles in Harrisburg," Heffley said. "Under current law, the governor has the constitutional authority to release this vital funding and I call on him to do so."