Lawmakers tell city: No, no and no State to city: No, no and no

Pennsylvania lawmakers from both parties insist that there was no grand conspiracy behind the legislature's moves last week to override Philadelphia's prerogatives on three major issues.

But there was nothing subtle about the legislators' message, either:

We rule.

In a show of muscle not seen since it eviscerated Philadelphia's local handgun-control law in 1995, the Republican majority in Harrisburg authorized a state takeover of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, repealed the city's residency requirement for teachers, and quashed a recently passed city law designed to prevent so-called predatory lending.

"I told the mayor, 'Boy, they're really sticking it to you tonight,' " Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (D., Phila.) said last week.

And it wasn't just Philadelphia. Harrisburg lawmakers also made things tough for Pittsburgh by repealing that city's teacher residency requirement and by nearly passing a bill to redistrict the Democrat-run Allegheny County Council.

What's going on?

Party politics, of course. Republicans in Harrisburg, more firmly in control than at any other time since they took all three branches of government in 1995, have shown little hesitation about tweaking the state's Democrat-dominated major cities.And, because municipalities are creatures of the state, they can.

But in Philadelphia's case, politics-watchers say, there are also some unique factors at work:

Mayor Street's poor relationship with the legislature. Lawmakers from both parties have long complained that the mayor rarely calls them, and they say he puts too much faith in Gov. Ridge, who failed him when it counted by blessing the secret plan to grab the parking authority.

John Perzel's fury. House Majority Leader Perzel of Philadelphia, always fiercely partisan, has had even less patience for city Democrats since he nearly lost his House seat in the fall, those close to him say. He sees nothing to lose in striking out at them, and he played a key role in making sure all three bills passed.

The absence of F. Joseph Loeper. Delaware County's Loeper, the former Senate majority leader who is serving a federal prison sentence for corruption, had a way of calming the waters and protecting Philadelphia, in part because of a power-sharing arrangement he maintained with Fumo.