Pennsylvania's highest court ruled that the state constitution does not prohibit the governor from continuing to employ and pay state employees during a budget impasse.

The state Supreme Court on Monday sided with state workers' unions and against the position that Gov. Ed Rendell had taken in the months leading up to the July 2008 budget deal.

The unions had argued that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act trumped a section of the state constitution that requires an appropriation to be passed, in most cases, before money can be paid from the state treasury.

The justices agreed, ruling that the language "does not prohibit the commonwealth from continuing to employ and pay all (Fair Labor Standards Act) nonexempt commonwealth employees in the event that the Pennsylvania Legislature fails to pass a budget."

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