Legislative Updates: A Weekly Roundup of Federal, State, and Local Actions – March 12

Your Chamber advocacy team is working to share legislative updates and continue to advocate for your business in Washington, D.C., Harrisburg, and Philadelphia. We’ve created a round-up of recent activity including Key Takeaways for Your Business and a Detailed Legislative Update. This represents our best knowledge of the situation as of 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 12, 2021.

Chamber members are invited to join weekly legislative update calls hosted by our Advocacy team to hear the latest on COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts at the federal, state, and local level as well as other legislative matters concerning our community.

To learn more about how our region is preparing for recovery, visit our Recharge & Recover PHL Information Hub:

• Keep up the outreach to City Council: Thanks to the hard work of Chamber members, progress is being made in City Council to improve a bill that would expand the city’s Paid Sick Leave to protect both workers and businesses impacted by COVID-19.
• The work is not done. The Chamber is seeking more insight and feedback from the business community to further amend the bill to protect struggling businesses even more. Read the full report to see how you can help.
• In addition to the amended Paid Time Off bill, among the introductions to Council this week include a resolution calling for a hearing to examine the race gap in housing appraisals, a bill to support for the neighborhood preservation program, a bill that would allow the City to provide urgent repairs on blighted property, and a bill calling on the PA General Assembly to legalize recreational marijuana.
• The Committee on Commerce and Economic Development will meet to discuss the authorization of the Committee to hold hearings regarding comprehensive qualitative and quantitative efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the City.
• Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia have exceeded 116,200 with 3,170 deaths.
• The Department of Public Health notified COVID-19 vaccine providers yesterday that a change to the Philadelphia Phase 1b eligibility criteria will expand to include those aged 65 years and older, effective immediately.
• The City and PIDC announced details of how the PA COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP) will operate in Philadelphia. The $145 million statewide program was created to alleviate revenue losses and pay eligible operating expenses for certain businesses who have been severely impacted by the pandemic. Applications are still being accepted now through April 5.
• The Chamber will host a virtual event with Philadelphia School District Superintendent, Dr. William Hite (Apr. 14). Read the full weekly update to learn more and register.

• The state Senate Appropriations Committee began its hearings for the FY21-22 budget this week. Senators expressed concern about the Governor’s proposals to raise the personal income tax, increase the minimum wage, and impose a severance tax on natural gas.
• The Senate introduced a bill that would require an analysis be conducted of any transportation infrastructure project prior to consideration by the P3 board; this is in response to the Senate Transportation Committee’s concern that PennDOT proposed to toll up to nine state bridges.
• SEPTA released preliminary findings on its Moving the Region FORWARD Together Employer Survey. Key findings show that 80% of the regional workforce is expected to return to their regular work location in September 2021. The most commonly cited concern by employers for a return to transit commutes is the ability to social distance.

• Yesterday, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law. The move delivers the President’s first major legislative victory since he took office and comes just ahead of the expiration of several pandemic-related programs.
• Not a single Republican voted to support the bill. To keep support of every Democrat in the Senate and comply with Budget Reconciliation rules, the White House and leaders were forced to make amendments, including reducing unemployment benefits and removing the $15 minimum wage increase, among others.
• The ARPA provides $350 billion in flexible and direct aid to state and local governments, with an additional $10 billion towards the Critical Infrastructure Projects program. Philadelphia is estimated to receive a total of $1.419 billion. Read the full report for regional estimates and additional distribution details for schools, transit, and small business assistance.
• The House is advancing its process to consider congressional requests for Community Funding, formerly known as earmarks, in appropriations bills for FY22 spending. Although many House and Senate Republicans have voiced opposition to the practice of earmarks, party sentiment is said to be growing towards embracing earmarks.

Progress is Being Made, But Our Work is Not Done

We want to thank you — due to the hard work of Chamber members working in coordination with leadership and staff, we are making progress with members of City Council to improve a bill that would expand the city’s Paid Sick Leave so that it can protects workers and the businesses that have been hard hit by COVID.  There remains much more to do — the bill has been amended, but the revisions don’t do enough to protect struggling businesses — but we believe we are on a better path, so we need to keep up our advocacy.

Before we get into the specifics of this week’s Council session, we’d appreciate it you could answer a pair of questions:

• Does your organization offer 80 hours or more of paid time off (this can include general paid time off, paid sick leave or other leave options)?
• If so how many hours do you offer?

Any feedback you can share will help us craft a bill that doesn’t cause an undue burden on businesses.

This week, after the Chamber  and members of the business community engaged in discussions with members of Philadelphia City Council, Council amended the recently introduced bill regarding Emergency Paid Sick Leave. As we have detailed previously, the bill is problematic — as introduced, it mandated that employers with over 50 employees or more must offer an additional 80 hours of paid sick time once an Emergency Health declaration has been declared by the government. Further, the  leave must be designated as paid “sick leave” and cannot be granted through PTO or any other allocated leave.

Clearly, imposing new costs on already struggling businesses, especially when there is a federal aid package that was just signed into law, is a bad idea.

That’s why we have been working to gain support for an amendment that would exempt companies that offer generous time off benefits and exempt those eligible for the Federal stimulus’ cost reimbursement for providing the benefit.

The amendment Council adopted yesterday , although progress, doesn’t meet all businesses needs.  As amended the bill now exempts companies offering over 160 hours of Paid Time Off (PTO) and now allows leave time to be granted for vaccination (which we support — the Chamber has, almost from the beginning of the pandemic, been saying the most important issue is making sure that people are safe, so we can re-open our economy).  But mandating two extra weeks of paid sick leave if companies offer anything less than four weeks of paid time off  doesn’t adequately consider the plight of all businesses during this emergency.

But we know that Council is listening — and the willingness of Council to listen to businesses needs is a direct result of the contact Chamber members, representing workers at every size business, have been making with their friends on Council.  We can’t thank you enough for all that has been done — and we need you to keep it up.

Become a Council Connector

Council Connectors help advance our inclusive growth agenda through informal engagement with members of City Council. Such interaction would include meetings, phone calls or emails to members of Council to discuss our share priorities. These direct relationships with members of Council and other decision makers are critical to making progress on Philadelphia’s biggest challenges. To sign up to become a Council Connector please email Darrell Davis at ddavis@chamberphl.com.

Updates from City Council

Bills and Resolutions Introduced 

• Councilmember Cherelle Parker introduced a resolution calling on Council to hold a hearing to examine the race gap in housing appraisals and housing valuations in Philadelphia.
• Councilmember Cherelle Parker on behalf of Council President introduced a bill to add additional supports for the neighborhood preservation program.
• Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. introduced a bill to create a program that would allow the city to provide urgent repairs on blighted property, and provide authorization for the City to bill property owners for the repair.
• Councilmember Derek Green introduced a bill authorizing a charter change, calling on the Pennsylvania General Assembly to legalize recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21. Upon passage of this bill, Philadelphia voters will be able to cast ballots for this measure.
• Councilmember Kendra Brooks offered a floor amendment for Bill 210122. As amended the bill now exempts companies offering over 160 hours of Paid Time Off (PTO) and now allows leave time to be granted for vaccination. Members of the business community have been strongly advocating for an amendment that would allow companies offering 120 hours of PTO to be exempted from the bill. The business community also advocated for a provision that would tie leave granted in the bill to tax credits granted through the American Rescue Plan.

Bill Reported from Committee

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Bill 210160 – An Ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021 from the General Fund, the Council to the General Fund.

Upcoming City Council Hearings

• Committee on Commerce and Economic Development
  Monday, March 17, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.
  • Resolution 200109 – Resolution authorizing City Council’s Committee on Commerce & Economic Development to hold hearings regarding comprehensive qualitative and quantitative efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the City of Philadelphia

View the status of pending bills and resolutions »

View upcoming confirmed City Council meeting dates and agendas »

COVID-19 Case Data

Yesterday, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health reported the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Philadelphia has reached 116,258. The number of residents who have succumbed to the virus in Philadelphia has reached 3,170. Of the total deaths, 1,163 (37%) were long-term care facility residents.

Philadelphia Expands Vaccine Eligibility to Those 65 and Older

The Department of Public Health today notified COVID-19 vaccine providers that the Philadelphia Vaccine Advisory Committee has recommended a change to the Philadelphia Phase 1b eligibility criteria to include those aged 65 years and older. Previously, eligibility by age criteria for Philadelphia Phase 1b was only those who were 75 years or older. This change is possible because of the increased number of vaccine doses coming into the city and was considered by the Vaccine Advisory Committee in order to bring the city’s vaccine distribution program into line with the surrounding counties and states. This change is effective immediately.

The change to eligibility by age criteria for Phase 1b expands the pool of individuals who can be invited for an appointment after registering through the City’s Vaccine Interest Form.

City of Philadelphia and PIDC Announce COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP)

The City of Philadelphia and PIDC today announced details of how the Pennsylvania COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP) will operate in Philadelphia. CHIRP is a new $145 million statewide program created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to alleviate revenue losses and pay eligible operating expenses for certain businesses in the hospitality industry, which has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the Commonwealth’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DCED), Philadelphia County is receiving over $17 million in funding to provide grants to eligible businesses through this program.

Applications will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 5. The application will be available at PIDCphila.com/CHIRP.

Upcoming Local Advocacy Programs

• April 14 – [Virtual] City Hall Connectors: Dr. William Hite » Sponsored by: Citizens

Questions? Contact William Carter (wcarter@chamberphl.com) for more information about local legislative affairs.

PA Senate Begins 2021-22 Budget Hearings

The state Senate Appropriations Committee began its hearings for the 2021-22 budget this week. The House completed their hearings last week. Senators expressed concern about the Governor’s proposals to raise the personal income tax, increase the minimum wage, and impose a severance tax on natural gas, among other contentious issues.

All hearings are being held in the state Senate chamber and live streamed. See the full schedule of hearings »

Judicial Redistricting Update

In January, the state House Judiciary Committee passed a constitutional amendment to have voters decide whether or not to amend the state’s constitution to allow for the election of state appellate court judges by regional districts instead of statewide. The measure would divide statewide court elections into nine Commonwealth Court districts, 15 Superior Court districts, and seven Supreme Court districts. The Chamber sent a letter to the Southeast delegation in the Pennsylvania House and Senate in opposition to the proposal.

To date, the bill has not come up for a vote on the House floor. That means it cannot be on the May 18th primary election ballot because the legislature must pass constitutional amendments at least 90 days before an election.

During a Jan. 27 press conference in the Capitol, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said there were already too many constitutional amendments on the May 18 primary ballot. However, it’s possible that both chambers could still pass the bill in the fall, with Sept. 2 being the deadline for the measure to appear on the ballot for the Nov. 2 general election.

PA Senate Bill Proposes to Change Transportation P3 Program

This week, the Chair of the state Senate Transportation Committee Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, introduced Senate Bill 382 to require that an analysis be conducted of any transportation infrastructure project prior to consideration by the P3 board.  The analysis would be made available on PennDOT’s website as well as to state lawmakers, followed by a public comment period of at least 30 days to be held regarding the proposal. The current statute does not explicitly provide for such a process.

The measure is in response to Sen. Langerholc’s concern that PennDOT proposed to toll up to nine state bridges and “to essentially tax and appropriate funds without additional oversight from the General Assembly.”

According to PennDOT, the tolling plan could generate $1.8 billion that could be used directly for the bridges.

Septa Presents Preliminary Report on Moving the Region FORWARD Survey

Recently, Septa released preliminary findings on its Moving the Region FORWARD Together Employer Survey. To date, 33 regional employers participated representing 46,760 employees.

Some of the report’s key findings include:

• Based on employer estimates, 80% of the regional workforce is expected to return to their regular work location for a majority of their work time in September of 2021*
• Currently, three-quarters of the regional workforce is telecommuting either full- or part-time:
  • 62% of employees in the region are working from home full-time
  • 13% are working from home part-time
  • 24% of employees are not telecommuting
• The most commonly cited concern cited by employers when asked about barriers their employees face returning to transit was related to their ability to social distance.
• Survey responses are still being collected for the SEPTA Moving the Region FORWARD >> Together Employer Survey.
•  Learn more about what SEPTA is doing to meet your return-to-office plans »

*As with anything COVID-19 planning related, responses represent plans being made based on current expectations. These are subject to change as conditions change. 

Questions? Contact Liz Ferry (lferry@chamberphl.com) for more information about state legislative affairs.

President Biden signs the American Rescue Plan Act

President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into law on Thursday after it was amended in the Senate and sent back to the House for reconsideration and final passage. The move delivers the President his first major legislative victory since he took office and comes just ahead of the expiration of several pandemic-related programs in mid- and late-March.

Not a single Republican voted to support the bill, which left Democrats little margin for error.  To especially keep the support of every Democrat in the 50-50 Senate and to comply with Budget Reconciliation rules, the White House and party leaders were forced to make amendments to the bill in the Senate, including:

• Reducing enhanced unemployment benefits from $400 to $300 through September 6, 2021.
• Accelerating the phase-out of direct payments to individuals making more than $75,000 and joint filers making more than $150,000. The Senate version phases out payments at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for joint filers.
• Removing the $15 minimum wage increase after the provision was ruled out of order with budget reconciliation rules.
• Removing two transportation funding provisions unrelated to the budget: a transit subway extension through San Jose, CA and bridge operations at a connection between upstate New York to Canada.

The ARPA provides $350 billion in flexible and direct aid to state and local governments with an additional $10 billion towards the Critical Infrastructure Projects program to help state governments carry out critical capital projects “directly enabling work, education, and health monitoring” in response to COVID-19.  The Senate-passed bill adds a requirement that funds must be spent by December 31, 2024. The Senate-passed bill adds a requirement that the funding for localities be distributed in two tranches, 12 months apart.

• Pennsylvania is estimated to receive $7.293 billion in state aid with the additional $279 million for the Critical Infrastructure Projects program;
• Philadelphia is estimated to receive a total of $1.419 billion;
• New Jersey will receive $6.434 billion; and
• Delaware will receive $913 million.

The bill provides over $125 billion for public K-12 schools to safely reopen; $39.6 billion to colleges and universities and their students; $39 billion for child care, including nearly $24 billion for Child Care Stabilization grants and nearly $15 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program; $1 billion for Head Start funding; $30.4 billion of additional relief funding to transit agencies; $1.5 billion to Amtrak; and $8 billion to airports. According to Congressman Brendan Boyle, Pennsylvania can expect to receive an estimated:

• $5,266,517,000 in K-12 funding;
• $1,321,467,000 in Higher education funding;
• $1,118,000,000 in Child Care and Development Block Grants;
• $34,669,000 in Head Start funding;
• $914 million in transit funding to the Philadelphia area; and
• $115 million to the Philadelphia International Airport.

The bill also provides additional small business assistance and support, including:

• $7.25 billion in additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Funding and expands eligibility to 501(c) nonprofits of all sizes and types, except for 501(c)4 lobbying organizations;
• $28.66 billion towards the creation of a new program at the SBA to offer assistance to restaurants and bars hard hit by the pandemic, with a$5 billion set aside specifically for smaller establishments with less than $500,000 in 2019 annual revenue;
• $10 billion to support up to $100 billion in small business financing through state government programs. Of this amount, $2.5 billion is dedicated for support to business enterprises owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, including minority owned businesses;
• Extends the expired Employee Retention Credit, created under the CARES Act, through December 31, 2021; and
• Extends Payroll Tax Credits for Paid Sick Leave and Paid Family and Medical Leave from March 31, 2021 to September 30, 2021.  The credit was created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to help employers defray the costs of the paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave.

Community Program Funding

The House is advancing its process to consider congressional requests for Community Project Funding, formerly known as earmarks, in appropriations bills for FY2022 spending. The House Appropriations Committee has been releasing additional information regarding which accounts and programs will be eligible for Community Project Funding requests, the criteria necessary for consideration in those areas, and relevant deadlines for congressional submission to House Appropriations Subcommittee ranging between April 14-16.

Members may submit no more than 10 requests on projects that demonstrate community support. Eligible recipients are state and local governments and non-profit organizations.  Community Project Funding will be limited to no more than 1 percent of discretionary spending. Although, many House and Senate Republicans have voiced opposition to the practice of earmarks, party sentiment is said to be growing towards embracing earmarks.

Questions? Contact Anselm Sauter (asauter@chamberphl.com) for more information about federal legislative affairs.

The constantly changing nature of this public health crisis requires continued engagement with public policy developments. We invite you to reach out to our advocacy team directly with your questions: 

• Anselm Sauter, Federal Affairs – asauter@chamberphl.com 
• Liz Ferry, State Affairs – lferry@chamberphl.com 
• William Carter, Local Affairs – wcarter@chamberphl.com 

Chamber members are invited to join weekly legislative update calls hosted by our Advocacy team to hear the latest on COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts at the federal, state, and local level as well as other legislative matters concerning our community.

To learn more about how our region is preparing for recovery, visit our Recharge & Recover PHL Information Hub: