In yet another development concerning a $700 million relief bill for Philadelphia, House Democratic leaders now vow to change the legislation sent to them last week by the Senate.

Besides providing money that could resolve Philadelphia long-outstanding budget crisis, the legislation as amended by the Senate sought to change municipal pension systems statewide. It's the pension changes that the House may now strip from the bill, possibly returning the measure to its original form, including solely a sales tax increase for Philadelphia as well as allowing the city to defer payments into its pension fund.

Here's the press release from the Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus:

HARRISBURG, Sept. 4 - House Democratic leaders will change proposed legislation meant to stabilize underfunded municipal pension plans in an effort to allay concerns by police and firefighters, the city of Pittsburgh, the attorney general and communities around the state.

»  More PA House leaders: Pension legislation will be changed

In an ominous development for Mayor Nutter's budget, state House leaders have delayed a critical vote on Philadelphia budget relief and pension legislation amid growing signs there are not enough votes to pass the bill as drafted.

The delay brings Philadelphia that much closer to enacting the so-called "Plan C" budget, which could yield up to 3,000 layoffs, including deep cuts in personnel and services in core city departments like Police, Fire and sanitation.

If the Democratic House amends the bill, which seems increasingly likely, the bill would be sent back to the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate leaders have indicated they will not accept a bill that differs fundamentally from the one they sent to the House last week.

The city's budget relief requests -which include a two year deferral of pension payments and a one penny per dollar increase in the sales tax - are not the sticking point in the legislation.

»  More Philadelphia budget at risk as House delays critical vote

It seems Mayor Nutter is worried that there are too few votes in the Pennsylvania House to pass his much-sought after legislation to resolve Philadelphia's budget crisis.

The mayor has asked to meet with reporters this afternoon to explain what his staff believes are "myths" and "misinformation" being promoted about the bill.

Other evidence suggesting the legislation - House Bill 1828 - may be in trouble: It has yet to be scheduled for a vote Tuesday. "I’ve been in Harrisburg for a lot of years," said state Rep. Robert Donatucci, "and if they had the votes, we’d be notified already to come in on Tuesday and we haven’t got the call yet."

However, a spokeswoman for House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans said in a press release today that "we expect a vote on Tuesday."

»  More Philly budget relief bill headed for trouble in the House

Labor opposition continues to grow day by day to state legislation that could free up $700 million for Philadelphia.

For days now, city municipal leaders have said they don't oppose a city sales tax hike and a two-year plan to defer pension payments - measures rigorously sought by Mayor Nutter. But they do oppose other provisions in the same bill - to be considered next Tuesday by the House - that they believe limit their right to pursue pension benefits changes through a collective bargaining an arbitration process.

Philadelphia's AFL-CIO president, Pat Eiding, spoke strongly against the bill in today's Inquirer story, saying: "[Lawmakers] want our money to help them and they want our feet to walk the streets to help them get elected. It's not a threat to anybody, but we want them to respect what little labor laws we have in this country."

Soon, Senate and House legislators will find their mailboxes stuffed with yet another angry letter.

»  More Survivors of slain police officers speak out against House pension bill

The findings are a bit dated, but City Controller Alan Butkovitz has uncovered some intruiging payroll irregularities in the City Commissioner's office. See his press release below:

PHILADELPHIA – City Controller Alan Butkovitz today released an FY07-06 audit of the City Commissioners Office that found some election workers were paid twice through the City’s election payroll.

One election worker received two payments for performing the same function at the same time for two voting divisions located in the same facility, and other workers were paid for two different positions simultaneously for the same location.

“Election workers should not be paid twice for performing two different jobs at the same location at the same time,” said Butkovitz. “This hinders the independence and focus required of each job position that is needed at polling places.”

»  More Payroll irregularities in City Commissioner's Office

PETA is calling on Mayor Nutter and City Council to ban the city's horse-drawn carriages, which are popular tourist attractions in Old City. The release follows below.

Incident Highlights the Risk to the Safety of Animals and the Public

Philadelphia — PETA has sent an urgent letter to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and the City Council calling on them to implement a ban on horse-drawn carriages. PETA's letter comes on the heels of an August 29 incident in which a horse who was pulling a carriage suffered a leg injury after becoming spooked and crashing the carriage into a pole at the intersection of Third and Walnut streets.

PETA points out that similar incidents have occurred in nearly every city in which horse-drawn carriages are still permitted to operate. These accidents often cause serious injuries and fatalities to horses, motorists, onlookers, carriage operators, and riders. A growing number of municipalities have realized that these dangerous operations have no place in today's busy cities. Bans have been implemented in Biloxi, Miss.; Reno, Nev.; Palm Beach, Panama City, Key West, Deerfield Beach, and Pompano Beach, Fla.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Camden, N.J., as well as London, Paris, Beijing, and Toronto.

»  More PETA to Nutter & Council: ban horse-drawn carriages

The state Fraternal Order of Police came out this morning against the House bill that ties desperately-needed Philadelphia budget issues to sweeping changes in the state's pension system.

FOP Pennsylvania State Lodge President Les Neri said House Bill 1828, which calls for a state-takeover of severely distressed pension funds and removes significant pension benefits from collective bargaining, threatens thousands of police officers and firefighters' retirements and "ends 40 years of collective bargaining."

Neri chided the Senate for ramming major changes in the matter of a few weeks, tied to Philadelphia's request for a 1-cent per dollar increase in its sales tax, and changes to its own pension system.

Both the FOP and state Professional Firefighters Association have come out against the bill, which is drawing heat from organized labor across the board. 

»  More Police unions bash pension bill

City Council held its first hearing of the summer recess today, as a joint committee on the Environment and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs heard testimony about the possibilities of irrigating city ball fields using captured rainwater.

Councilman Jim Kenney sponsored legislation in April to investigate the feasibility of using technology that would cut down on expensive sprinkler systems and help the city manage storm water that drains from paved streets and into the city's sewer system. Kenney provided aerial photos of 14 fields that are a mess by mid-summer.

“Our residents, especially our youth, deserve to have properly maintained fields for recreational purposes,” Kenney said in a press release before the hearing. “Unfortunately, the reality is that many of our fields turn into dust bowls mid-way through the season. By effectively using storm water, we have the opportunity to improve field conditions and begin looking at creative, cost-saving ways to make significant improvements.”

One technology would collect rainwater underground and make it available to grass roots without the need for sprinklers.

»  More Council panel holds rare recess hearing

Mayor Nutter just announced that the city expects to secure a $275 million loan that will enable it to repay millions of dollars owed to thousands of vendors as soon as next week. Many of the vendors have not been paid since July.

The short-term loan is intended to help resolve the city's cash-flow problems. It is being financed by J.P. Morgan, which will in return seek a 3 percent interest rate through Nov. 30, and an 8 percent interest rate after that.

But Nutter said he expects to refinance the loan quickly through a separate bond transaction that the city would be able to pursue after the state legislature approves pending legislation to free up $700 million in future revenue.

At today's news conference, the mayor also reiterated his hope that the state House would approve the legislation - which includes a sales tax hike for the city - on Sept. 8, as House leaders have indicated. The municipal unions are opposed to the legislation, and are actively lobbying lawmakers to strip out provisions they say would limit collective bargaining on pension issues.

»  More City vendors, owed millions, to be repaid soon