HARRISBURG -- The state agency that assesses data on the cost and quality of health care was in limbo yesterday because of a partisan squabble among state lawmakers and the Rendell administration.

A "CLOSED" sign was posted at the offices of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council in Harrisburg, though a skeleton staff was on duty and answered telephones.

Thirty-eight council employees were informed Monday afternoon by the state Office of Administration that they were being terminated, council spokesman Joe Martin said.

The five employees still working yesterday were expected to be on duty until the close of business tomorrow, Mr. Martin said.

While the Rendell administration attributed the closing to a failure to enact reauthorizing legislation, a spokesman for the Senate Republican leader called it "absolutely a political stunt" on the part of the administration.

"There is no legal requirement to take this action," said Erik Arneson, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware.

He said the cost containment council was last extended in July 2003 for a five-year term. The re-authorization wasn't signed until July 17 of that year. And yet, he said, "there were no layoffs then. The council kept operating.''

Mr. Arneson said the same thing could have happened this year -- keeping the workers on the job until the council was re-authorized.

Since it was created by the General Assembly in 1986, the council has been reauthorized in 1993 for 10 years and in 2003 for five years. The latest reauthorization ran out this week.

"The General Assembly has yet to enact legislation for the reauthorization," read a letter dated Monday that was sent to terminated council employees.

Without that legislation, the council "has no statutory basis to perform work," the letter read. "Therefore, your services are no longer authorized."

The letter noted that workers would be paid through Monday and that their state-subsidized health care coverage would end the same day.

Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell, said the governor supports reauthorization of the agency, but without stipulations supported by Senate Republicans.

While other leading Democrats and Republicans also favor reauthorization, Senate Republicans have linked the issue to reapproval of the MCare abatement program. That program, which helps doctors pay their malpractice insurance costs, expired April 1.

Reauthorization of the abatements and the cost containment council should be considered together because "both are equally important and have proven value to Pennsylvania," Mr. Pileggi said. "A majority of the Senate believes both should be renewed."

Mr. Rendell and House Democrats also support restoring the MCare abatements, but they have linked their endorsement to significant progress in extending health coverage to the state's uninsured.

They support a health care proposal that would extend affordable health insurance to small businesses and the uninsured, with subsidized coverage for people with low incomes. The plan likely would require a tobacco tax increase.

Senate Republicans favor their own plan, which would not require higher taxes. It would enhance care available at community health centers; promote a program for hospitals and specialists to donate their services to help the uninsured; and create a high-risk insurance pool for those who cannot find coverage elsewhere.

Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne, expressed concerns that the legislative standoff has threatened the livelihood of cost containment council workers.

"I don't think that's the image Pennsylvania wants to send," he said.

The council has gained recognition for its innovative work in the public reporting of health care information, including heart bypass surgery outcomes, hospital-acquired infections and overall hospital performance.