City budget vote delayed; Plan C becoming harsh reality

A state House of Representatives vote that Mayor Nutter was counting on for budget relief has been delayed, making the prospect of the draconian Plan C budget increasingly more likely.

The planned Tuesday vote on House Bill 1828 was pushed back amid union protests over pension-reform amendments added to the bill by the state Senate. The state House yesterday vowed to change the legislation, which will slow the process further.

The earliest date for a vote is now Thursday. In the meantime, Nutter says he must move forward with Plan C, which would lay off 3,000 city workers - including police officers and fire fighters - and decimate city services.

"This is exactly what we were fearing," Nutter said yesterday. "The one thing that is not unclear: We have a timetable, we must manage our resources. The announcement today, unfortunately, puts us two days closer to full implementation of Plan C."

If the city sees no action in the House on Thursday, then notices will go out to vendors and community groups, notifiying them of cuts and canceled contracts, Nutter said.

"We don't have any choice," Nutter said. Layoff notices would go out Sept. 18 if there is still no state relief.

HB 1828, would allow the city to raise the sales tax temporarily and to defer some pension payments, moves that are worth $700 million over five years.

But city and state unions have mounted a campaign against amendments added to the bill by the state Senate. Under the amendments, the state would take over some severely underfunded pension plans and Philadelphia would be required to create a new lower-cost plan for new municipal hires.

Local union leaders held a news conference to criticize the amendments at the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters yesterday, where they were joined by three state representatives - Bill Keller, Mike O'Brian and John Sabatina Jr.

"I believe we have to make every effort to revert back to the prior [version of the House bill]," said Keller, arguing that the Senate amendments should be stripped from the bill.

Union leaders have been unfazed by Nutter's threat of layoffs.

Bill Gault, president of the Philadephia firefighters union, said that Nutter will be to blame "if he's going to destroy a city."

In recent days, the union opposition has found support in the state House and it became increasingly unclear that there would be enough votes to pass HB 1828 with the amendments, as Nutter requested.

"As much as we want to try to help Philadelphia, the bill is now a bill that affects communities across Pennsylvania," said Johnna A. Pro, a spokeswoman for state Rep. Dwight Evans. "From that perspective we've got to develop some language that is not so anti-union."

If the state House changes the bill, it will then have to go back to the state Senate again for approval. Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Republican state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, said they had not been consulted on what alterations might be made.

"Any change to that compromise will require careful analysis by the Senate, and may result in substantial delays, additional amendments, or even nonpassage of the bill," Arneson said via e-mail.

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority is set to vote Friday on whether to approve the city's Plan C budget.