PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council had a busy Thursday. It passed the city budget and more than 70 other bills and resolutions before recessing for the summer.
Several council members expressed misgivings about the budget. Councilmember Allan Domb warned the failure to cut business taxes would mean fewer jobs. Four other members voted against reducing the wage tax, saying that revenue could be used for city services.
All of them voted for the budget in the end, with several members saying they were swayed by the inclusion of $155 million for violence prevention, though Councilmember Jaime Gauthier said that’s just the first step.
“Whether we look back on this moment as a turning point in our fight against gun violence depends on the way we put these investments into action,” she said.
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To that end, City Council and the mayor announced the formation of a violence prevention and opportunity monitoring group to oversee how the money is spent.
Council also approved bills to improve access to rental housing by requiring landlords to state their screening criteria and prohibiting them from using prior evictions or non-payment of utilities during COVID-19 to screen tenants out.
Among other measures passed at the session were youth curfew reform, higher litter fines in the hopes of preventing illegal dumping, and historic preservation protections, like a historic block of Christian Street, with a temporary demolition moratorium.
There were bills to buy more Tasers for police, to encourage affordable housing with zoning variances, and to set a minimum wage at the airport.
Some people were already looking ahead and introducing bills to take up in the fall. Notably, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas introduced a bill that he said should stop the phenomenon of “driving while Black.”
He calls it the Driving Equality Agenda, which would basically prohibit police from stopping a car for what he has identified as “secondary” violations — things like broken taillights that have no imminent safety risk. He said he’s received buy-in from the police department.
When City Council does resume, President Darrell Clarke expects they will meet in person again. Council has been meeting online since March 2020, and members said they would be happy to get back to their City Hall chambers in September.