One of the biggest issues is over state correctional institutes. Correction officers won't get a paycheck until the budget is signed, but the inmates will get paid. The news outraged some state lawmakers and now they are trying to prevent that from happening. They said inmates should not be getting an allowance for the work they do around the prison, if the guards themselves aren't getting paid.

Monday, WJAC spoke with an Altoona woman who's husband works for the State Department of Corrections. With the current recession, the family has some serious concerns about how they will make it and they are furious that inmates will still get paid.

Rep. Dave Reed from Indiana County is co-sponsoring a bill to stop that from happening if the budget impasse continues. He wants prisoners to lose their compensation as well. However, prisoners are not paid with state money for the work they do, such as serving food or sweeping cell blocks. They only get up to 42 cents an hour which is just enough to cover their snacks and cigarettes.

"The message being sent is that the governor has no problem if prison guards can't afford to buy food for their families, but he doesn't want to deprive criminals of their nicotine fix," said Reed.

Reed also said that the government needs to care for people who enforce the laws just as much as those who break them.

If the budget is not signed by Tuesday night, state workers will stop receiving paychecks as soon as July 17.