Yesterday, House lawmakers approved legislation, 113 to 76, that would generate the extra $700 million Nutter has long sought through a temporary hike in the city sales tax and a two-year deferment of city pension payments.
But neither measure is guaranteed without Senate support, and that is unclear at best.
"This is certainly a positive step," the mayor said yesterday of the House vote. "It brings us one day closer to getting the legislative tools we need. On the other hand, because the action is not complete, it brings us one day closer" to implementing layoffs and service reductions.
Though last month the Senate approved a bill giving Philadelphia its budget relief, it added stipulations calling for the state takeover of certain municipal pension funds and limiting collective bargaining on pension issues. The House, siding with organized labor forces that vehemently opposed those provisions, removed them, even lacking the certainty of Senate support.
"Passing this bill will help meet Philadelphia's urgent and immediate crisis, and it gives us breathing space to take a hard, measured look at the larger issue of underfunded municipal pensions across the state," said House Speaker Keith McCall, (D., Carbon).
"We can always come back and take a second look at the broader issue of underfunded pension funds," said State Rep. Jewell Williams (D., Phila.), the bill's prime sponsor. "Right now, though, there is no second chance for Philadelphia."
Republican Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi said he and his colleagues would analyze the legislation and discuss it when the Senate reconvenes Monday.
Anticipating some compromise being brokered soon, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA), which monitors city spending, gave conditional approval yesterday to a new five-year spending plan for Philadelphia that assumes passage of the state legislation.
