The Legislature tried to set up what is essentially a Christmas club account for Pennsylvania workers to pay their annual $52 emergency municipal services tax. Instead of handing over $52 from one of their first paychecks in January, workers would be charged $1 a week, and employers would send the proceeds to muniscipalities quarterly.

This would have eased the tax burden on the working poor. In January when creditors are hounding them for money owed on Christmas presents, they must find $52 for the tax -- from a single paycheck. For someone earning $100,000 a year or even $50,000, that's no big deal; for them, $52 might be dinner out with the spouse.

For someone earning minimum wage, less than $12,000 a year, it is a big deal. For them, a sudden $52 loss may mean shortchanging the landlord.

State law allows low-income taxpayers to seek a rebate of $42 from the municipality at year's end. But before they get it, they'll have to turn over another year's $52 for the next year's tax payment.

For them, the Legislature passed the bill that would allow weekly payroll deductions to pay the tax, almost like a frugal parent's small contributions to Christmas club accounts, which enable them to have a lump of cash for holiday gifts at year's end. The bill exempted Pittsburgh until 2010, however, which means lawmakers felt the city's financial troubles trumped those of its struggling workers.

In the end, Gov. Ed Rendell vetoed the bill anyway, claiming there's not enough time now for businesses to adjust their payroll systems and not enough time for towns to adjust their budgets based on receiving the tax revenue more slowly.

The governor's excuses are not persuasive. Many businesses' payrolls are computerized, so the changes could be made easily. In addition, the vast majority of towns -- including Pittsburgh -- haven't adopted budgets yet, so they could make the adjustments.

In addition, it's not clear why the Legislature chose to exempt Pittsburgh and not the state's other financially distressed communities.

There's talk that Republicans, who control the House and Senate, may try to override the veto. They should -- and they should eliminate Pittsburgh's exemption, too.