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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Nutter: City Residents "Pissed Off" About Budget Legislation Delays

A clearly frustrated Mayor Nutter is still here in the state Capitol in Harrisburg, waiting for the state House Rules Committee to vote tonight on legislation needed for Philadelphia to balance its five-year financial plan. Nutter said notices posted today in city buildings, like library branches, warning that they would be shutting down soon without the approval of that legislation, upset many city residents.

"I think the people of Philadelphia are increasingly getting pissed off about this entire situation," said Nutter, who again noted that he has been visiting the Capital since April 27 to push for approval on two "relatively simple" measures in the legislation. One would allow the city to raise the sales tax by 1 cent on the dollar for five years while the other would allow pension plan payments to be deferred. Both are worth a combined $700 to the city.

"We've done every possible thing that we could do to prevent this, yet we are caught up in a political maelstrom where action gets taken but there is seemingly never a resolution," Nutter said.

The House passed the city's legislation on Aug. 5 and sent it to the state Senate, where it was loaded down with other issues involving municipal pension plans across the state. Unions reacted angrily to that amended legislation, which was sent back to the House for reconsideration. Tonight's Rules Committee hearing, scheduled for 8 p.m., is the next step in that process. The House has apparently stripped out many of the Senate ideas that offended unions. So the legislation, if passed by the Committee tonight and the full House tomorrow, bounces back to the Senate one more time, where it faces an uncertain future.

Philadelphia will send out layoff notices for 3,000 employees on Sept. 18, effective for Oct. 2, if the legislation is not approved by both the House and Senate and then signed into law by the governor.

Posted by Chris Brennan @ 6:19 PM Permalink | 3 comments

Comments

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:32 PM, 09/10/2009

Nutter is trying to pass the buck to Harrisburg, but the last time I checked, he is the mayor of a strong-mayor city. He might want to check with Rendell about that, since Rendell made his name shepherding the city out of bankruptcy.

— CleanupPhilly

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:39 PM, 09/10/2009

The House has virtually assured that the bill starts all over again. Residents are not really P.O.'d with the House, even with the Senate. They're exasperated with the Mayor and City Council, who had all year to act on this in a variety of ways and chose to pass the buck up. Now the buck is back, and it's much later in the game. What is in the actual Plan C budget, the one without the fatal flaws? Isn't the press curious?

— CleanupPhilly

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:45 PM, 09/10/2009

If the city wants Harrisburg to run the city, then the city should let Harrisburg run the city. If not, they have to figure out how to run it themselves.

— CleanupPhilly

3 comments

About The Philly Clout Team

Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.

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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com

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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.

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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.

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