Ongoing budget battles in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are hurting the state's residents in more ways than one.

Though Pennsylvania's fiscal year ended June 30, the state budget for the coming year has yet to be decided upon. And while representatives are haggling over price, residents of the poorest regions go without transportation.

The WorkLink Community Van is the only form of public transportation in the Pittsburgh region that serves remote, isolated areas like the Prospect Terrace public housing community in East Pittsburgh.

Supported by a federal grant as part of a job access initiative, the van service has been running since 2001 and provides more than a million rides each year to residents in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Indiana and Washington counties.

In order to keep the program in place, the state must commit $3.5 million to match the $4 million federal contribution by June 30 each year.

But as that deadline passed Saturday without a finalized state budget, the federal funding was withdrawn -- and the residents of Prospect Terrace, built on a hill at the end of a winding road, once again have to walk 205 stairs to get to and from work.

"Federal funding is already in place -- it's just sitting in Washington, waiting for us to obtain a match," said Bob Grom, executive director of the Heritage Health Foundation Inc., which contracts for the WorkLink vans. "But it's tied up in the bigger budget battles and political games."

As they wait for news of whether legislators have approved the transit funding, residents remain stranded on their hilltop.

Shiree Johnson, of Prospect Terrace, who takes the van to a bus stop to get to work every day, is devastated by the discontinued service.

"This is terrible," she said. "I have severe asthma, my children have severe asthma, and we can't walk those steps at all."

The Rev. J.D. Middlebrook is another Prospect Terrace resident who depends on the van to get to work.

"That van was our livelihood," he said.

"We are hearing all kinds of stories about whether or not it's going to happen," said Mr. Grom. "The best-case scenario is that it'll happen this week; the worst-case scenario is that it won't happen until September. We just don't know."

Rep. David Levdansky, D-Forward, has supported the transit funding throughout the process.

"We are all hopeful that there will be a budget by this weekend, and it is my understanding that funding will be available," said a staff person from Mr. Levdansky's office who did not wish to be named. "But as long as there is no budget in place, no federal money can be expended."

"While those squabbles are going on, our riders are not able to get to work, health care or training," said Mr. Grom.