In the Bruce Springsteen song, “Darlington County,” the tune’s protagonist says in the third verse that “ain’t seen my buddy in seven days. County man tells me the same thing, he don’t work and he don’t get paid.”

Well, Darlington County isn’t the home of the Pennsylvania General Assembly (yes, it’s Dauphin County), but if Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia) has his way, the home of the Keystone State lawmaking body will be held to the same rules.

Williams is looking for co-sponsors to his proposed legislation that says that members of the General Assembly shall not receive their salary until the state’s budget impasse is resolved.

“The General Assembly is responsible for promoting and preserving the health and general welfare of all citizens in this Commonwealth,” he wrote. “Passage of the state budget is essential to that moral imperative. Because the General Assembly has not fulfilled its constitutional obligation to pass the budget on time, no Member salaries should be paid until the impasse is resolved.”

The Commonwealth’s budget impasse hits 113 days on Tuesday with Gov. Josh Shapiro unable to bring House Democrats and Senate Republicans to a resolution at the bargaining table.

“Pennsylvanians are now living in unprecedented times,” Williams continued. “The state budget impasse has dragged on for months and people are struggling to make ends meet. The problem is compounded by the current state of the economy and the increasing cost of living. People need help and they deserve to have a government that works.

Williams, who was first elected to the post in 2006, wrote that the idea of no pay without a budget in not a new one.

“This is not a novel idea. I served in the General Assembly under the exact framework this legislation will reestablish. At that time, my colleagues and I understood that we needed to have skin in the game. When we were under the same financial pressures as so many people and industries in Pennsylvania, we were able to put aside politics and focus on the substance of policy. This encouraged earnest negotiations and timely passage of the state budget.”

Budget impasses used to be a common feature of Pennsylvania’s regularly divided government, which is legally obligated to pass a balanced budget by June 30 each year. In the past 20 years, the state has passed 13 late budgets, including four impasses that went over 100 days.

The Commonwealth’s Supreme Court ruled in a 6-1 decision in 2009 that state workers must be paid during a budget impasse. The court, in a majority opinion written by Chief Justice Ronald Castille, held provisions in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act requiring timely payment for work performed supersede language in the state constitution that bars payment of most state funds without an appropriation by the General Assembly.

That ruling overturned a Commonwealth Court decision and championed the cause of state workers, who felt for years that then-Gov. Ed Rendell had unfairly leveraged them in budget wars with the Republican-controlled state Senate. Rendell signed only one on-time budget and that occurred in his final year in the office, when Democrats controlled the State House.

Rep. Jill Cooper (R-Westmoreland) introduced a similar package in the House, as the first-term representative wanted to put Pennsylvania “on a similar footing with some others who depend upon the annual appropriation process, i.e., we do not receive our pay until the budget is enacted.” HB 1682 was referred to the House Appropriations Committee on June 30 – the day the state budget was to be completed.

In September, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that just 10 out of 203 members of the Pennsylvania House “decided to pause their paychecks when the chamber’s chief clerk’s office gave them the option. All senators have received their pay per usual.”