State House Approves City Budget Relief...Will the State Senate?

The revised state House Bill 1828 – which provides budget help for the city and some statewide municipal pension changes – was just approved by the state House of Representatives. The house voted 117 to 76 to approve the bill, which would allow Philadelphia to temporarily raise the sales tax and defer some pension payments.

Without the help -- worth $700 million over five years -- Mayor Nutter says the city will have to cut costs and lay off 3,000 city workers.

The House stripped several Senate amendments from the legislation. Those amendments, pitched as statewide reform for financially troubled municipal pension plans, had invoked the ire of union leaders across the state, who claimed that the amendments would have hindered their ability to bargain collectively.

The bill now heads back to the state Senate. If they don't move on it soon, layoff notices go out in Philadelphia on Sept. 18.