It looks like Mayor Nutter won't get his way on a pension measure he hoped would help him in contract negotiations with city unions.
Tomorrow is the deadline for the city to enter a state recovery program that would require the administration to set up a lower cost pension plan for new hires.
But to enter the program, City Council must pass a resolution pledging to create a lower cost pension plan for new city hires. Council has balked at the request from the mayor to do so and no member would even introduce a resolution.
Some members felt the administration tried to strong-arm them into passing the bill with misleading information. Last week, the administration sent around a memo which said the city could face legal action from the state Public Employee Retirement Commission if the resolution wasn't passed.
But the administration later retreated on that position. City Solicitor Shelley Smith sent testimony to Council this week, which said that the original analysis of the situation was "overly aggressive." A new version of the memo said that legal action was unlikely if Council didn't act.
Nutter has said that he needs to reign in benefit costs for city workers, citing the woefully underfunded pension plan as a key liability for the city.