Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. I would ask the Chief Clerk to please read the title of Bill No. 090405.
An ordinance authorizing the Bond Committee to sell bonds at public or private negotiated sale, to provide funds toward various capital municipal purposes. 9/17/09 - STATED - 2ND READING
This bill having been read on two different days, the question now is shall the bill pass finally. The Chief Clerk will please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. That completes our Calendar for today. Are there any speeches on the part of the minority? (No response.)
Are there speeches on the part of the majority? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. I would like to remind my colleagues that we have our Partnership for Prescription Assistance table outside, and during these days when money is so tight, I hope you'll take and tell your constituents that they can get information or have the van come out to your community so that people can get free prescriptions. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Madam President. A quick review of how we arrived at the current budget situation would be useful, particularly in light of some of the revisionist history in circulation. First, let's recall the budget originally proposed by the Administration. It included a three-year one percent sales tax increase, various reforms to the pension system, both of which measures required state approval, and a 19 percent property tax increase. Council was justifiably tax increase would compound the inequity, non-uniformity and inaccuracy of the existing property valuations. Councilman DiCicco introduced a resolution to look at this very issue today. The Administration and Council were able to find common ground on the sales tax, the one revenue side option the Administration and Council could agree on, but also one that made us more dependent upon state action. In my view, with the benefit of hindsight, we on Council should have adopted our own Plan B, a mix of spending and revenue measures to become effective should the requested state authorizations not be granted by a date certain and that still avoided what many of us view as untenable increases to the property tax. Councilwoman Sanchez had such a proposal that the Administration would not consider as part of our budget compromise. But the important takeaway from is that Council identified a serious problem; namely, that the proposed budget depended upon a revenue source that lacked legitimacy and would inflict real pain on Philadelphians, and worked collaboratively both within Council and the Administration to address it. We must build on this proactive problem-solving approach. If Harrisburg does not provide the requested authorizations, the budgetary stakes at issue will increase by orders of magnitude. City Council can and must play an active role in budgetary deliberations and preparation. The problems we face collectively are of such enormity that we cannot afford pettiness, isolationism or political posturing. Without change, without action, the future viability of the City we know and love is in jeopardy. All talent must be engaged. In forging the path ahead, we of the past budget cycles, including necessity of early and frequent communication and collaboration with the Administration. We should heed President Obama's words to Congress last week: Although the politically safe move would be to kick the can down the road, to defer reform for one more year, one more election, one more term, that's not what the moment calls for. That's not what we came here to do. We did not come here to fear the future. We came here to shape it. Council stands ready to work with Mayor Nutter to deliver for our citizens. We're also ready to move forward on our own if collaboration is not forthcoming. But just imagine how much more we can accomplish in partnership. The time for hand wringing is past. We must act. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you, Madam President. I wanted to ask my colleagues to join me in wishing our colleague, Councilman Clarke, a happy birthday.
He didn't want everybody to know he's 39. (Laughter.)
Thank you, Madam President. This summer we lost one of this nation's greatest heroes, the late Senator Edward Kennedy, aptly named the "Lion of the Senate." I was deeply saddened at the loss of Senator Ted Kennedy, who, in my view, was blessed and determined to be a voice that was purpose-driven in living a well-fulfilled my seat watching hours and hours and hours of TV coverage all times of day and night of this amazing statesman, his life, his accomplishments, I reflected greatly on what we do here in this Chamber and what issues really matter to the citizens we serve. Since he took office in 1964, the Senator built alliances on both sides of the aisle to pass milestone legislation that opened doors and gave a voice for women, children, minorities of all stripes and those Americans who have been denied a basic human right guaranteed by the Constitution. Thanks to Senator Kennedy, we have Title IX requiring schools to provide our daughters the same opportunities in sports that we provide our sons. Thanks to Ted Kennedy, we have the Family and Medical Leave Act granting families who no longer have to fear losing their jobs due to illness. Thanks to Senator Kennedy, we have early head start, expanding early childhood development. Thanks to Senator Kennedy, we have the Higher Education Act opening the doors of higher education learning to all Americans. And the list goes on and on. Funding for HIV/AIDS, funding for after school funding, funding for menu product labeling, funding for equal pay for equal work and, most importantly of all, affordable and universal healthcare for all Americans, his number one priority focus. His legislative life work is indeed an instruction lesson for me. Unfortunately in Philadelphia, this type of legislative focus far too often has been referred to as soft or lightweight. I can say this with much authority, for I have been criticized for important and relevant issues related to women, children, education and families. Parenthetically, I want to thank Majority Leader Councilwoman Tasco and Councilman Brian O'Neill, who nudged and pushed me for years to become active with the National League of Cities specifically in the area of children, youth and families. My belief in the value of these issues were reaffirmed and best captured by President Obama who said, quote, "Senator Kennedy's ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives, for seniors who now know dignity, for children who know education's promise and for all who seek the American dream." My hope is that the lasting legacies of Senator Ted Kennedy is maybe that these issues will no longer be viewed as soft. My optimism and perseverance on these issues has been reignited, Madam President. I now go about focusing on these issues around women, children and families. And as much as I am excited about sustainability and the environment, when we reflect on the number of bills that were introduced by my colleagues today, it is exceedingly clear that there's still much work to be done. I remain grateful for a chance to be a part of this work process. I remain unapologetically committed to continue to be a voice for women, children and families. As Senator Kennedy said so passionately and famously, Madam President, "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." Thank you, Madam President.
It wasn't that long ago today that Councilman Green was talking about the budget. I'm going to follow up on that, maybe with a little different perspective. I believe that the real story about the budget is the real estate tax that didn't happen. It was 19 percent, then it was going to be 14 percent. And I think people understood those numbers. I think what very few people understood was that there was a trigger in that legislation that would have increased the 19 percent to 25 percent, the 14 percent to 25 percent and made it permanent. So if the three-year sales tax did not pass the Senate by budget time -- well, pass the Senate and the House and signed by the Governor -- that sales tax legislation was three years in the initial budget. That sales tax legislation at five years -- and it would have been no different at three years -would not have passed by June 30th. This a 25 percent permanent increase in the real estate tax. I think that's the story that people have to understand. You can't disagree on these facts. Council prevented this from happening. The alternative of the sales tax, I think the Mayor's first three-year proposal and Council's counterproposal of five years instead of the real estate tax should be looked at in as positive a way as you can look at an increase in a sales tax, because back in 1991 when PICA was created and the very large bond issue was enacted to restructure the City's finances, this Council and at that time Mayor Rendell I think made a great error that wasn't repeated this time. That sales tax from six to seven percent was permanent even though our borrowing was only for ten years. That was 20 years ago almost. This sales tax is for five years. It sunsets. And the general tax ever really ends. Well, this one has a much greater chance of ending than any other one would, because we're only going to have three years to spend it. The last two years are going to pay off the deferred pension payments. So we won't have that money in the last -- year four and year five of the five years. And I don't believe the state will give us a sixth year or a seventh year or an eighth year anyway. In terms of the alternatives, the alternatives were cutting starting back in January instead of waiting until the budget. That's the Mayor's prerogative. He exercised his prerogative not to do that back then when a billion point four million was recognized as a future deficit. Instead, rolled it into the budget, waiting for the 2010 budget, which we completed but still has a little piece that hopefully will be filled in next week. I believe the Mayor has had a commitment, as solid a commitment as you can have from the Legislature, to pass the sales tax. I believe that that commitment involved passing the sales tax, but not on any particular timetable other than preventing Plan C. Plan C still has two weeks because of the two-week layoff notice. My understanding is -- and I think it's fair just reading the news -that the state is going to pass a budget tomorrow or over the weekend. They're not going to pass our sales tax until after that. But I still think, given the circumstances, that if you didn't start cutting in January what you had to do with this budget, that the five-year sales tax, borrowing the first two years from the pension fund by not making required payments, was a much better way to go than what would have been a 25 percent permanent increase in the real estate tax. This is the first Council in my memory and talking to other people that where City Council has done anything in the way of opposing a real estate tax proposed by a Mayor. Remember, Mayor Street and Mayor Rendell never proposed one, but going back, there were some pretty large ones and some smaller ones.
They were all approved and by overwhelming majorities. So I think Council should congratulate itself on preventing what would have been catastrophic for the taxpayers of Philadelphia: A 25 percent permanent increase in the real estate tax. I think Mayor Nutter did the right thing. I disagree with my colleague and any other colleague that thinks that we should raise the wage tax any more than it is already. It is the highest in the country. It makes us totally uncompetitive. We already raised it by not lowering it last year when we came up with our first billion-dollar problem. the highest in the country. We don't know how many more jobs we'd have in Center City if we didn't have such an uncompetitive situation, both with our wage tax and our business tax. I applaud the Mayor taking a position, both in his campaign and now during the budget, and saying no more in those areas. I don't think there was ever going to be nine votes or 12. In the situation where the Mayor is totally opposed to it, you need 12 for those things. The sales tax idea is the worst -- or the best of all the other worse ideas. It isn't perfect, but compared to a 25 percent increase in the real estate tax, boy, it sure looks like a pretty good idea. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam President. On that note, following Councilman O'Neill, I'd like to thank the Councilmembers for being always available during our recess to deal with the issues of our legislation in Harrisburg. We met several times during the summer to discuss strategy, strategy that was asked by our leadership in Harrisburg to follow, to speak with one voice from the City with the Mayor and City Council, which we tried to do to show that we were unified here on what we were asking for, and contrary to what you were lead to believe, Councilmembers, there was no time that we asked for a meeting of Councilmembers that they were not available. They were all available and they were working. So we followed our leadership in Harrisburg, led by Dwight Evans, and we hope that Bill 1828 will be passed so that we will not have to implement these Draconian cuts and layoffs that will have the City of Philadelphia. And so I want to say thank you, colleagues, for your time, your commitment and your input and loyalty to the strategy that we chose to take. I also want to thank Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown for her comments. We've tried to get women in elected office for many, many years and worked the past 30 years to encourage women to run, and it was always stated that women only deal with soft issues, but soft issues are people's issues, and having women in elected office has really made a difference in bringing those issues to the forefront, and that's because we've had so many changes, championed by Senator Kennedy and others in the Senate and in the House, as well as by my colleague, Blondell Reynolds Brown. What she did not tell you was that she has been invited by the National League of Cities to present on a panel Families and Children, and that is her involvement because of her limitations to participate fully. But the National League of Cities is our organization in Washington that is lobbying on the Hill to protect the interest of cities and, through their efforts during the campaign dealing with both the democrats and republicans, led the charge to say to the candidates that you cannot forget the cities. The cities' agendas are important, and for so long cities were overlooked. So they were successful in getting that message through. We do have a close collaboration with the President's Office of Urban Affairs and are able to be influential in legislation coming out of Congress. Whether people think that's important or not, but it's important because that legislation affects not only those of us who represent a district but and particularly in this city. So I just want to say thank you, Councilwoman Brown, for your leadership on what you do. And I have an announcement to make. Drum roll. I want to welcome my great grandchild, Lester, who was born on August 14th. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam President. I may be out of hand here, but I would like to refer to the resolution that I introduced, since I was busy speaking with my colleague here.
Absolutely. But since we were speaking about the budget, in 1986, the City did a we were owed $83 million. We collected 25 million from taxpayers when we waived the interest and penalty. According to Controller Alan Butkovitz, if we have a tax amnesty program now, we can easily collect $100 million. That's a lot of money. As of today, the City is owed 1.2 billion in back taxes. We need cash flow to continue services and jobs. A hundred million in taxes would be a lifeline we need. So I'm calling on the Administration to consider this amnesty program, and if not, possibly next week I'll be introducing a bill. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Are there any other speeches on the part of the majority? (No response.)
none, the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke for a motion to adjourn.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council stand adjourned until September 24th, 2009, 10:00 a.m. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Council stand adjourned until Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. (Stated Meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m.) CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on September 17, 2009, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)