It's bad enough they go through life as "non-essential" workers, but 25,000 Pennsylvania state employees are on notice they could be furloughed by the end of the month if the governor and Legislature can't hammer out a budget deal.

E-mail notices were sent Friday by the Rendell administration to the state workers stating that furloughs would begin at midnight on June 30, the constitutional deadline to have a state budget signed.

Essential workers (state troopers, prison guards, liquor store clerks and casino regulators) would continue to draw a paycheck from the state even if there’s no budget agreement.

You may want to peruse that list again. State troopers and prison guards I understand. But liquor store clerks? Casino workers? We've come a long way in Pennsylvania. The state is so heavily into the liquor and gambling businesses that those workers are now essential to the operation of state government.

And forget about visiting a state park or getting a driver's license. Those facilities would also close if the budget is not approved.

The state furloughed 25,000 workers last year because of the budget impasse, but that was just a one-day stoppage and it didn’t happen until July 9. This year, the state is facing potential fines of millions of dollars by the federal government if it does not follow the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act to the letter.

Rendell is optimistic that his $28.3 billion budget will be passed by June 30, but history is not on the governor’s side.

His first five budgets were all approved late by the Legislature.