Legislative Updates: A Weekly Roundup of Federal, State, and Local Actions – October 1

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, October 1, 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:

• Councilmember Helen Gym introduced a resolution calling for hearings on the search and hiring process for the next School District Superintendent.
• Councilman Domb introduced a bill that would establish a process for expanding permanent outdoor dining (sidewalk cafes or “streeteries”) options citywide.
• Councilman Jones announced that applications are now available to become a member of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission. The deadline to apply is November 5, 2021.
• Councilmember Sanchez introduced a resolution to hold hearings on the feasibility of providing emergency housing vouchers to people experiencing homelessness.
• Bill 210474-AA was approved by City Council (16-1; O’Neill against); this bill makes certain types of developments ineligible for height and density bonuses; places limits on the in-lieu payments to the Housing Trust Fund in order to take advantage of height and density bonuses; and increases in-lieu payment fees when developers seek height and density bonuses.
• On Monday, October 4, 2021, at 10:00 A.M., the Joint Committees on Law and Government and Commerce and Economic Development, pursuant to Councilmember Parker’s resolution (Resolution 210693), will hold hearings on the relationship between public safety and the economic vitality of commercial corridors.
• At Council’s first session of the fall, Councilmember Green, on behalf of Council President Clarke, introduced the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI) ordinance, which establishes a budget for the expenditure of $400 million on housing preservation, the production of affordable housing, and other neighborhood preservation programs.
• Philadelphia School Superintendent Bill Hite announced that he will be leaving the School District in August 2022, at the end of the current school year. The Philadelphia Board of Education (BOE) will host 18 community listening sessions to hear from community members on what they’d like to see in the next school leader.

• On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Senate and House unanimously voted to extend hundreds of regulatory waivers another six months. Governor Wolf had initially implemented the waivers under its pandemic-related disaster emergency authority.
• On Tuesday, the state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee approved legislation (Senate Bill 525) to replenish a Growing Greener III program with $500 million in unspent federal American Rescue Plan funding. $5 billion of Pennsylvania’s $7.2 billion share of money from the federal ARP funding has yet to be spent. ARP money must be spent by 2024.
• On Monday, Acting Secretary Meg Snead said the state Department of Human Services is distributing $655 million in funding to the child care industry throughout the Commonwealth.
• Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate to lower the barriers for small businesses to compete for government contracts.

• At the time of this writing, the House is slated to vote Thursday on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, bipartisan legislation that would provide $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending and five-year surface transportation reauthorization.  The vote would also come before an agreement on the Build Back Better Act which could be struck between moderate and progressive Democrats in both the House and Senate.
• Congress also averted a government shutdown on Thursday, extending current levels of FY2021 spending until December 3.  The nine-week extension also provides supplemental funding in the amount of $6.3 billion to help resettle Afghan refugees and nearly $29 billion in disaster recovery aid.

Partnership for Inclusive Growth

This week, there was a fair amount of news that will impact Philadelphia’s future.

Dr. William Hite, the longest serving and widely respected Superintendent of the city’s schools, announced he would not renew his contract in 2022 — a decision which prompted some to opine that the question that needs answering isn’t who should replace Dr. Hite, but what the school district should even look like going forward.

The School Board hopes to winnow the field of candidates this winter, and identify a new Superintendent by the end of this school year. Ensuring every child has access to a high quality education is critical to the future of the city.

So too is ensuring that every neighborhood is safe.  Unfortunately, this weekend the city marched past the grim milestone of 400 murders on Saturday — and then promptly added to that total.

Last year, the city saw 499 homicides and seems on track to set a new record this year. Amazingly, the number of murders could be far higher, as the number of people who’ve been shot was almost 1,700. Disturbingly, many elected officials responded to the extraordinary amount of killing by pointing fingers at others and trying to win arguments in the media while people are losing their lives.

The Chamber’s Civic Affairs, Led by VP of Civic affairs Ken Anderson and James Campbell held a great Roadmap Event that focused on the effect Gun Violence has on inclusive growth. The program moderated by WURD’s Sarah Lomax Reese shed light on how real and perceived safety issues hit numerous businesses’ bottom lines.

A remarkable statistic is that neighborhood corridors lose a significant amount of possible revenue by having to close early due to safety reasons. Amounting to as much as $5,000 a week in some areas.

Finally, while not as headline grabbing as the coming change to city schools’ leadership or climbing violence, there was one important positive thing that happened for the city’s future: the Tax Reform Working Group had its first meeting.

The first session focused on process and goals and began the important debate about how best to increase the number of jobs and workers in Philadelphia and what policies are needed to foster inclusive growth in every neighborhood.

Chamber Board Chair Sue Jacobson is a member of the Working Group, and staffed by VP of Local Government Affairs, William Carter, and tax expert Drew VandenBrul of Grant Thornton. We will be heavily focused on its work in the coming weeks and months.

City Council Stated Meeting

City Update – September 30, 2021

• Councilmember Helen Gym introduced a resolution calling for hearings on the search and hiring process for the next School District Superintendent. (The resolution was held and will be on the calendar for a vote next week.)
• Councilman Domb introduced a bill that would establish a process for expanding permanent outdoor dining (sidewalk cafes or “streeteries”) options citywide. Current legislation temporarily authorizing expanded outdoor dining (approved to help businesses endure COVID-19 closures and restrictions) are set to expire at the end of the year.
• Councilman Johnson gave an impassioned speech about the ongoing surge of gun violence in the City. According to Johnson, City Council will be reconvening the Special Committee on Gun Violence to make sure the city is doing everything it can to curb the tide of violence.
• Councilman Jones announced that applications are now available to become a member of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission. The deadline to apply is November 5, 2021.
• Councilmember Sanchez introduced a resolution to hold hearings on the feasibility of providing emergency housing vouchers to people experiencing homelessness.
• Bill 210474-AA was approved by City Council (16-1; O’Neill against); this bill makes certain types of developments ineligible for height and density bonuses; places limits on the in-lieu payments to the Housing Trust Fund in order to take advantage of height and density bonuses; and increases in-lieu payment fees when developers seek height and density bonuses.

Public Safety and Commercial Corridors

On Monday, October 4, 2021, at 10:00 A.M., the Joint Committees on Law and Government and Commerce and Economic Development, pursuant to Councilmember Parker’s resolution (Resolution 210693), will hold hearings on the relationship between public safety and the economic vitality of commercial corridors.

Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI)

At Council’s first session of the fall, Councilmember Green, on behalf of Council President Clarke, introduced the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI) ordinance, which establishes a budget for the expenditure of $400 million on housing preservation, the production of affordable housing, and other neighborhood preservation programs. The city will finance this $400 million expenditure through a bond issuance that will be paid down using the anticipated revenue from the 1% tax on residential construction and the reduction of the residential tax abatement.

The NPI bill will have a hearing before the Committee on Finance on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, at 9:00 A.M.

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

PA General Assembly Approves Coronavirus Regulatory Waivers

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Senate and House unanimously voted to extend hundreds of regulatory waivers another six months. Governor Wolf had initially implemented the waivers under its pandemic-related disaster emergency authority.

The Wolf Administration said it will sign the extension, which will go to March 31, 2022. The vast majority of the waivers are intended to assist hospitals and healthcare providers to better respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PA Senate Committee Approves Growing Greener III Measure

On Tuesday, the state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee approved legislation (Senate Bill 525) to replenish a Growing Greener III program with $500 million in unspent federal American Rescue Plan funding. $5 billion of Pennsylvania’s $7.2 billion share of money from the federal ARP funding has yet to be spent. ARP money must be spent by 2024.

Sponsored by Senate Majority Caucus Whip John Gordner, R-Columbia, and Senator Bob Mensch, R-Montgomery, would allocate funding for the state’s Farmland Preservation Program, Chesapeake Bay Cleanup, state parks, and grants for the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System program. Specifically, $225 million for programs run by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, $200 million for the Department of Environmental Protection, and $75 million from the Agriculture Department.

PA DHS Distributes Millions to Child Care Industry

On Monday, Acting Secretary Meg Snead said the state Department of Human Services is distributing $655 million in funding to the child care industry throughout the Commonwealth.

This is the fifth round of funding given out to child care providers since March 2020. Nearly $400 million in stimulus grants have been given to child care facilities hit by the pandemic.

Small Business Legislation Introduced

Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate to lower the barriers for small businesses to compete for government contracts.

Representative Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny County, and Representative Carrie Lewis DelRosso, R-Allegheny County, are the sponsors of House Bill 1887. An identical bill, Senate Bill 900, has been introduced by Senator Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington County, and Senator Vince Hughes, D-Philadelphia.

According to the bills co-sponsors, the measures offer more flexibility in how a small business is defined to an industry-specific size requirement rather than the current classification of a 100-employee limit for all businesses. It also rebrands the term “disadvantaged business” to “small diverse business.”

Pennsylvania General Services Secretary Curt Topper said the commonwealth has spent more than $2.7 billion on contracts with small diverse and veteran-owned businesses since 2015.

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

At the time of this writing, the House is slated to vote Thursday on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, bipartisan legislation that would provide $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending and five-year surface transportation reauthorization.  The timing of the vote would honor a pledge made by House leadership to bring the bill for a floor vote before the end of the month and just before the current authorization of surface transportation program spending expires.  The vote would also come before an agreement on the Build Back Better Act which could be struck between moderate and progressive Democrats in both the House and Senate.  Moderates have insisted the bills run in sequence while progressives have demanded the bills be voted on simultaneously.  Since the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would be called for a vote on Thursday independent of an agreement on the Build Back Better Act, House progressives have threatened to vote against the bill and block passage.  It is likely the vote will be pulled from the floor by House leadership and postponed to the ire of moderates.

Even if the vote is called on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and fails, it does not necessarily end the bill’s chances. It could be brought up for a subsequent vote at a time when odds are more favorable.  However, existing funding for surface transportation programs and state departments of transportation would lapse until a stopgap measure could be passed.  At the time of this writing, a stopgap measure had not been released as a contingency plan to the infrastructure bill, but it is widely expected that Congress would consider an extension on transportation spending rather than not. The Senate is reported to be working together in bipartisan fashion to provide a fallback option that would extend surface transportation programs in the event that the House fails to pass the bipartisan infrastructure framework.  There are no details on how long the extension would last.

Congress also averted a government shutdown on Thursday, extending current levels of FY2021 spending until December 3.  The nine-week extension also provides supplemental funding in the amount of $6.3 billion to help resettle Afghan refugees and nearly $29 billion in disaster recovery aid.  Congress passed a “clean” CR which did not include an increase in the federal borrowing cap, a lightening rod that Democrats and Republicans have not agreed to terms on.  In a letter this week, the Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the Treasury will exhaust its extraordinary measures if Congress does not act to raise or suspend the debt limit by October 18.

Beyond the crises and their associated deadlines that Congress faces, Congressional Democrats seem no closer to an agreement on their Build Back Better Act.  The blistering pace through September to pass a $3.5 trillion bill has come to a virtual standstill since the House will not vote on the bill until there is demonstrated agreement and support from Democrat colleagues in the Senate.  The two largest obstacles to passage for Democrats remain Senators Joe Machin and Kyrsten Sinema. Senator Sinema has repeatedly said that she will not support or negotiate on the $3.5 trillion plan until the bipartisan infrastructure package passes in the House.

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: