PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) — Pennsylvania House Democrats are introducing a bill to recognize March 18 as Public Defender Day and bring attention to the difficulties of the job.

Lawmakers state that public defenders often deal with limited resources, a heavy workload as well as low pay. Pennsylvania also does not provide any state dollars to public defender officers.

“Public defenders are an integral piece to the constitutional puzzle. So when we support funding for indigent defense and public defender offices, it’s not to say that we’re pro-crime, it’s not to say that we’re against district attorneys, it’s not to say that we’re being harsh on victims, none of that. We want a system that works but works across the board,” Representative Dan Miller (D-Allegheny) said.

In his budget, Governor Shapiro asked lawmakers to invest $10 million to give public defenders more resources.