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  • Philly lawmakers want to restrict cooperation with ICE and ban agents from wearing masks

    Philly lawmakers want to restrict cooperation with ICE and ban agents from wearing masks

    Philadelphia lawmakers are set to consider legislation that would make it harder for ICE to operate in the city, including limiting information sharing, restricting activity on city-owned property, and prohibiting agents from concealing their identities.

    Among the package of bills set to be introduced Thursday is an ordinance that effectively makes permanent Philadelphia’s status as a so-called “sanctuary city” by barring city officials from holding undocumented immigrants at ICE’s request without a court order. Another bans discrimination based on immigration status.

    Two City Council members are expected to introduce the legislation as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is facing mounting national scrutiny over its tactics in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens this month.

    Councilmembers Rue Landau, a Democrat, and Kendra Brooks, of the progressive Working Families Party, said in an interview that the violence in Minneapolis hardened their resolve to introduce legislation to protect a population that includes an estimated 76,000 undocumented immigrants in Philadelphia.

    “It’s been very disheartening and frightening to watch ICE act with such lawlessness,” Landau said. “When they rise to the level of killing innocent civilians, unprecedented murders … this is absolutely the time to stand up and act.”

    The package of a half-dozen bills is the most significant legislative effort that Council has undertaken to strengthen protections for immigrants since President Donald Trump took office last year on a promise to carry out a mass deportation campaign nationwide.

    Left: City Councilmember Rue Landau. Right: City Councilmember Kendra Brooks. Landau and Brooks are introducing legislation this week to make it harder for ICE to operate in Philadelphia, including by limiting city cooperation with the agency.

    ICE spokespeople did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

    Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, said it’s not the job nor the jurisdiction of the city to enforce federal law.

    The goal of the legislation, Rivera said, is ensuring that “not a single dime and single second of our local resources is being spent collaborating with agencies that are executing people.”

    Mayor Cherelle Parker won’t say how Philly is responding to President Donald Trump’s demands on ‘sanctuary’ policies

    Activists have for months urged Mayor Cherelle L. Parker to formally affirm her commitment to the city’s sanctuary status. Top city officials say an executive order signed by the former mayor to limit the city’s cooperation with ICE remains in place.

    But Parker, a centrist Democrat, has taken a quieter approach than her colleagues in Council, largely avoiding criticizing the Trump administration outwardly and saying often that she is focused on her own agenda.

    Now, the mayor could be forced to take a side. If City Council passes Landau and Brooks’ legislation this spring, Parker could either sign the bills into law, veto them, or take no action and allow them to lapse into law without her signature. She has never vetoed a bill.

    Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Parker, declined to comment on the legislation.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks at a news conference earlier this month. It is unclear how she will act on upcoming legislation related to ICE operations in Philadelphia.

    It’s unclear what fate the ICE legislation could meet in Council. The 17-member body has just one Republican, but Parker holds influence with many of the Democrats in the chamber.

    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, a Democrat who controls the flow of legislation, has not taken a position on the package proposed by Landau and Brooks.

    But he said in a statement that “Philadelphia has long positioned itself as a welcoming city that values the contributions of immigrants and strives to protect their rights and safety.”

    “I have deep concerns about federal ICE actions directed by President Donald Trump’s administration that sow fear and anxiety in immigrant communities,” Johnson said, “underscoring the belief that enforcement practices should be lawful, humane, and not undermine trust in public safety.”

    Making sanctuary status the law

    Border Patrol and ICE are both federal immigration agencies, which are legally allowed to operate in public places and subject to federal rules and regulations. Some cities and states — not including Pennsylvania and New Jersey — actively cooperate with ICE through written agreements.

    Since 2016, Philadelphia has operated under an executive order signed by former Mayor Jim Kenney, which prohibits city jails from honoring ICE “detainer requests,” in which federal agents ask the city to hold undocumented immigrants in jail for longer than they would have otherwise been in custody to facilitate their arrest by federal authorities.

    Undocumented immigrants are not shielded from federal immigration enforcement, nor from being arrested and charged by local police for local offenses.

    Some refer to the noncooperation arrangement as “sanctuary.” As the term “sanctuary cities” has become politically toxic, some local officials — including in Philadelphia — have backed away from it, instead declaring their jurisdictions to be “welcoming cities.”

    Philadelphia says it’s a ‘welcoming’ — not ‘sanctuary’ — city as the Trump administration threatens funding cuts

    Parker administration officials have said several times over the last year that Philadelphia remains a “welcoming city.”

    Protesters march up Eighth Street, toward the immigration offices, during the Philly stands with Minneapolis Ice Out For Good protest at Philadelphia’s City Hall on Jan. 23.

    But advocates for immigrants have said they want an ironclad city policy that can’t be rescinded by a mayor.

    Landau and Brooks’ legislation would be that, codifying the executive order into law and adding new prohibitions on information sharing. The package includes legislation to:

    • Strengthen restrictions on city workers, including banning local police from carrying out federal immigration enforcement and prohibiting city workers from assisting in enforcement operations.
    • Prohibiting law enforcement officers from concealing their identities, including by wearing masks or covering up badges with identifying information.
    • Banning ICE from staging raids on city-owned property and designated community spaces such as schools, parks, libraries, and homeless shelters. (It would not apply to the Criminal Justice Center, where ICE has had a presence. The courthouse is overseen by both city and state agencies.)
    • Prohibiting city agencies and contractors from providing ICE access to data sets to assist in immigration enforcement.
    • Restricting city employees from inquiring about individuals’ immigration status unless required by a court order, or state or federal law.

    Peter Pedemonti, co-director of New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, an advocacy organization that partnered with the Council members to craft the package of bills, compared ICE to an octopus that has multiple arms reaching into different facets of American life.

    The proposed legislation, he said, is a means to bind a few of those arms.

    “The whole world can see the violence and brutality,” Pedemonti said. “This is a moment where all of us need to stand up, and Philadelphia can stand up and speak out loud and clear that we don’t want ICE here to pull our families apart, the families that make Philadelphia Philadelphia.”

    An impending showdown that Parker hoped to avoid

    Homeland Security officials claim that sanctuary jurisdictions protect criminal, undocumented immigrants from facing consequences while putting U.S. citizens and law enforcement officers in peril.

    Last year, the Trump administration named Philadelphia as among the jurisdictions impeding federal immigration enforcement. The White House has said the federal government will cut off funding to sanctuary cities by Feb. 1.

    However, the president has made no explicit threat to ramp up ICE activities in Philadelphia.

    Some of Parker’s supporters say the mayor’s conflict-averse strategy has spared Philadelphia as other cities such as Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis have seen National Guard troops or waves of ICE agents arrive in force.

    Why hasn’t Trump sent troops to Philly, the city where ‘bad things happen’? Everyone has a theory.
    Residents near the scene of a shooting by a federal law enforcement agent in Minneapolis on Saturday.

    Critics, including the backers of the new legislation, have for months pressed Parker to take a stronger stand.

    Brooks said she “would love to have the support of the administration.”

    “This should be something that we should be working collaboratively on,” she said. “Philadelphia residents are demanding us do something as elected officials, and this is our time to lead.”

    But Parker has not been eager to speak about Philadelphia’s immigration policies.

    For example, the city is refusing to release a September letter it sent to the U.S. Department of Justice regarding its immigration-related policies, even after the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled its reasoning for keeping the document secret was invalid. The Inquirer has requested a copy of the letter under the state Right-to-Know Law.

    The new Council legislation and the increasing tension over Trump’s deportation push may force Parker to take a clearer position.

    Notably, the city sued the federal government last week over its removal of exhibits related to slavery from the President’s House at Independence National Historical Park, potentially signaling a new willingness by Parker to push back against the White House.

    But even then, Parker declined to take a jab at Trump.

    “In moments like this,” she said last week, “it requires that I be the leader that I need to be for our city, and I can’t allow my pride, ego, or emotions to dictate what my actions will be.”

  • Mayor Cherelle Parker’s housing plan is back on track after Council again reapproved $800 million in city bonds

    Mayor Cherelle Parker’s housing plan is back on track after Council again reapproved $800 million in city bonds

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s housing initiative is back on track.

    In its first meeting of the year, City Council on Thursday reapproved a bill to authorize the administration to issue $800 million in bonds to fund the Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative.

    Parker wasted no time, signing the bill into law at a news conference Thursday afternoon to fast-track the process for the city to sell the first $400 million tranche of bonds in late March or early April. The administration plans to sell the second $400 million in 2027.

    “We are signing into law the largest and most significant investment in housing in the city of Philadelphia’s history, a $2 billion plan that will create and preserve 30,000 units of housing here in the city of Philadelphia,” Parker said, citing a sum for H.O.M.E.’s budget that also includes other funding steams and the value of city-owned land the administration hopes to redevelop into housing through the plan.

    In March 2025, when Parker unveiled her housing plan — with the goal of helping the city build or preserve 30,000 units of housing in her first term — she wanted to issue the bonds that fall. Council initially approved the bond authorization and other legislation related to H.O.M.E. in June.

    But in the fall, lawmakers made significant changes to a related piece of legislation — which details the $277 million first-year budget for spending the bond proceeds — that triggered a redo of the bond bill.

    The most notable changes, championed by progressive Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier and Rue Landau, lowered the income thresholds for some of the programs funded by H.O.M.E. to prioritize lower-income Philadelphians.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker unveils her long-awaited plan to build or preserve 30,000 units of housing during a special session of City Council Monday, Mar. 24, 2025. Council President Kenyatta Johnson is at left.

    Parker opposed the amendment, and administration officials testified that H.O.M.E. was meant to serve residents at a variety of income levels, including middle-class households that are struggling but often make too much to qualify for government support programs.

    But Council members argued that even with the new infusion of funds, Philadelphia’s resources are too limited to help the city’s hundreds of thousands of impoverished residents — let alone aid middle-income residents as well.

    “City Council demonstrated through its actions — not just its words — that it’s serious about putting City Hall to work for communities that have too often been left behind,” Gauthier, Landau, and their allies said in a group statement Thursday.

    Philly Council votes against Mayor Parker’s vision for her signature housing plan, signaling a win for progressives

    The dispute proved to be the most significant public disagreement to date between Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who sided with Gauthier and Landau.

    The changes required Council to pass an updated bond authorization before moving forward because the previously adopted version no longer aligned with the language in the budget resolution. Lawmakers ran out of time to pass the new bond bill before adjourning for their winter break in December.

    They approved it unanimously on Thursday.

    A couple of hours later, Johnson and Parker profusely praised each other at the bill-signing ceremony, going out of their way to show that their strong working relationship remains intact now that the conflict was behind them.

    “My commitment is to make sure that our 100th, first woman, mayor is successful,” Johnson said.

    The moment of congeniality was a stark contrast to the dynamic between the two late last year.

    Parker at one point said Council’s delay “means homes are not being restored” and “homes are not being built or repaired.” Johnson fired back, “Council’s responsibility is not to rubber-stamp legislation.”

    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson speaking at the City Council’s first session of the year in Philadelphia, Pa., on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026.

    But on Thursday, there was enough feel-good energy between the mayor and Council that it extended beyond Johnson to members who have more frequently clashed with the administration.

    Gauthier and Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who questioned the mayor’s agenda last year over concerns that she was taking out too much debt for housing, also stood alongside the mayor at Thursday’s news conference.

    After the delays to her agenda at the end of last year, the mayor appears to be trying to regain control of the narrative this week. Thursday’s bill-signing ceremony marked Parker’s third major update related to H.O.M.E. in three days.

    On Tuesday, she announced that her administration was partnering with the city’s building trades unions and the Philadelphia Housing Authority to redevelop the Brith Sholom House, a notoriously dilapidated senior facility that closed in 2024, into affordable housing for seniors.

    And on Wednesday, she laid out a vision to build a modular housing manufacturing facility on the long-vacant Logan Triangle tract in North Philadelphia. The city issued a request for information from developers potentially interested in building such factories in the city, with a deadline in late March.

    Parker on Thursday only indirectly responded to a question about how many units could be built or repaired in the two years left in her term.

    But she said that her administration is working on a second package of zoning legislation to accelerate home construction in Philadelphia, and that she is working with Council to speed 1,000 properties through the land bank.

    She also expects Gov. Josh Shapiro, at his forthcoming budget address, to announce state-level housing reforms that would help “as it relates to streamlining state processes [to] run more efficiently.”

    Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.

  • The Philadelphia school district’s facilities plan did not go over well in City Council

    The Philadelphia school district’s facilities plan did not go over well in City Council

    City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said the Philadelphia School District showed “just a complete lack of thought and consideration for really important programs” when crafting its long-anticipated facilities plan, released Thursday.

    Council President Kenyatta Johnson said his members had “a lot of concerns.”

    And City Councilmember Jeffery “Jay” Young Jr. went so far as to propose amending the city Home Rule Charter to allow Council to remove the school board members who will consider the proposed closures.

    “If you are closing schools during a literacy crisis, then you should be held directly accountable to the people you serve,” Young said.

    To put it mildly, the district’s plan did not go over well in Council.

    Live updates: 20 schools slated for closure as school district unveils master plan

    In many ways, it’s unsurprising Council members would speak out against a plan that would close or consolidate schools in their districts. But the pushback from lawmakers Thursday was notably strong, and Young’s proposal to allow Council to remove school board members could dramatically reshape the politics of the district.

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    Currently, the mayor appoints the nine members of the school board, and Council votes to confirm them. Allowing lawmakers to remove board members would shift the balance of power toward the legislative branch and effectively leave the district’s leaders with 18 bosses — the mayor and the 17 Council members.

    Significantly, Johnson immediately endorsed Young’s plan, which would have to be approved by city voters in a ballot question.

    “It’s a good check-and-balance in terms of the process, and also allows us to have the ability and the opportunity to make sure that anything that the school board does is done with transparency,” Johnson told reporters. “I‘m always for, as members of City Council and this body in this institution, having the opportunity to provide accountability.”

    What’s happening to your Philly school under the proposed facilities master plan?

    Left unsaid was that the long-awaited facilities plan did not come from the school board — its members have yet to approve the proposal, which was presented to lawmakers this week by Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.

    Still, the pushback was notable in part because it came from lawmakers who are often on opposite sides of debates about education policy. Johnson is an advocate for charter schools, while Gauthier is a progressive ally of the teachers union who is often critical of the so-called school choice movement.

    Gauthier said the plan would limit opportunities in her West Philadelphia-based 3rd District. She pointed to changes including Robeson High School and Parkway West ceasing to exist as standalone schools (Robeson would merge into Sayre and Parkway West into SLA Beeber), and the Workshop School colocating with Overbrook High. (The Workshop, however, would remain a distinct school, just in a new location.)

    “What are people supposed to do for good high school options in West Philadelphia?” Gauthier said in an interview.

    Jamie Gauthier. First day of fall session, Philadelphia City Council, Thursday, September 11, 2025.

    Gauthier added that while Watlington has talked at length about the district avoiding the mistakes of its widely criticized 2012 school closure plan, it appears doomed to repeat that history.

    “That’s a great thing to hold up every time we have this conversation, but how are you solving for it?” Gauthier said. “You can’t state all of the things that went wrong and then present a plan that seems to lack care in the same way as the plan in 2012.”

    Johnson said the discussion over the plan was far from complete.

    “I’m sure it’s going to be a very, very robust process,” he said. “These are only recommendations. This isn’t the final product.”

    Watlington’s plan will touch every part of the city. It includes 20 school closures, six colocations, with two separate schools existing inside a single building, and more changes. It also includes modernizing more than 150 schools over 10 years, though officials have not yet revealed which buildings will get the upgrades.

    In total, the blueprint would cost $2.8 billion — though the district is proposing funding only $1 billion of that with capital borrowing. The rest of the money would come from the state and from philanthropic sources, and if those dollars don’t come through, fewer repairs could happen.

    Nearly all Council members on Thursday said they understood the need to consolidate schools, but each had concerns about how individual closures would affect the communities they serve.

    Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., whose district includes parts of West and Northwest Philadelphia, said some of the changes are encouraging, including an expansion of career and technical education planned for some schools, including Overbrook High.

    But, he said, others could combine students who come from different neighborhoods and backgrounds, and the district must consider the social impacts of merging those populations.

    “The places where the kids come from, that is always a dynamic that is under-considered,” Jones said. “If I live in this neighborhood and got to travel to that neighborhood, what are the historical dynamics?”

    And Councilmember Cindy Bass, who represents parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia, said two of the schools in her district slated for closure — Fitler Academics Plus School and Parkway Northwest High School — “are models of great public education.”

    “I don’t understand why they are targeted when they are very well-regarded and lots of kids want to go there,” Bass said. “If it’s not broken, why are we trying to fix this?”

    It’s unclear how much sway members will have over where the district ultimately lands. Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who chairs the Education Committee and represents the city at-large, warned of a “long and emotional” journey ahead.

    “There’s always an emotional attachment to schools,” he said. “They are a pillar in a lot of neighborhoods.”

    Staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed to this article.

  • ICE, housing, and ‘resign to run’: What’s on Philadelphia City Council’s 2026 agenda

    ICE, housing, and ‘resign to run’: What’s on Philadelphia City Council’s 2026 agenda

    Philadelphia City Council’s first meeting of 2026 on Thursday comes as tensions rise over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker continues to sidestep that conversation while focusing on advancing her signature housing initiative.

    During the first half of the year, city lawmakers are expected to have a hand both in shaping the city’s response to Trump and in advancing Parker’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative.

    They will also tackle the city’s waste-disposal practices, a long-standing law requiring Council members to resign before campaigning for higher office, and the city budget.

    Meanwhile, events largely outside Council’s control, including potential school closings and Philly’s role in the nation’s 250th birthday, are also expected to prompt responses from lawmakers.

    Here’s what you need to know about Council’s 2026 agenda.

    ‘Stop Trashing Our Air’ bill up for vote

    The first meeting of a new Council session rarely features high-profile votes, but this year could be different.

    Council on Thursday is expected to take up a bill by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier that would ban Philadelphia from incinerating its trash.

    Currently, the city government sends about a third of the trash it collects to the Reworld trash incinerator in Chester, with the rest going to landfills. Those waste-disposal contracts expire June 30, and Gauthier is hoping to take incineration off the table when new deals are reached.

    Philly sends a third of its trash to a Chester incinerator. Council members took a ‘Toxic Tour’ to get a closer look.
    The Reworld incinerator in Chester, Pa., on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025.

    “Burning Philadelphia’s trash is making Chester, Philadelphia, and other communities around our region sick,” Gauthier has said, pointing to elevated rates of asthma and other ailments and a legacy of “environmental racism” in Chester. The low-income and majority-Black city downriver from Philly has been home to numerous heavy industrial facilities.

    Reworld has said its waste-to-energy facility, which produces some electricity from burning trash, is a “more sustainable alternative to landfilling.”

    At a hearing last year, Parker administration officials said the city is including language in its request for proposals for the next contracts that will allow the city to consider environmental impacts. But they asked lawmakers not to vote for a blanket ban on incineration to allow the city to study the issue further.

    Parker waiting for Council to reapprove $800 million in bonds for her H.O.M.E. plan

    The biggest agenda item left hanging last month when lawmakers adjourned for the winter break was a bill to authorize the Parker administration to issue $800 million in city bonds to fund her H.O.M.E. initiative.

    Parker had hoped to sell the bonds last fall, and Council in June initially authorized the administration to take out new debt. But lawmakers made significant changes to the initiative’s first-year budget, especially by lowering income thresholds for some programs funded by the H.O.M.E. bonds to prioritize the lowest-income residents.

    Philly Council votes against Mayor Parker’s vision for her signature housing plan, signaling a win for progressives
    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks to the crowd at The Church of Christian Compassion in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. Parker visited 10 churches in Philadelphia on Sunday to share details about her H.O.M.E. housing plan.

    That move, which Parker opposed and which sparked Council’s most significant clash with her administration to date, required a redo of the bond authorization. Lawmakers ran out of time to approve a new version of the measure in December, but Council President Kenyatta Johnson said it could come up for a final vote Thursday.

    “Council members have always been supportive of the H.O.M.E. initiative,” Johnson said. “H.O.M.E. advances City Council’s goals to expand access to affordable homeownership for Philadelphians … and to ensure that city housing investments deliver long-term benefits for families and neighborhoods alike.”

    Council aims to limit ‘resign to run’ … again

    Council is also expected to vote this spring on legislation that would change Philadelphia’s 74-year-old “resign to run” law and allow city officeholders to keep their jobs while campaigning for other offices.

    Currently, Council members and other city employees are required to quit their jobs to run for higher office. Lawmakers have tried several times over the last 20 years to repeal the law, but they have been unsuccessful. Changing the rule requires amending the city’s Home Rule Charter, which a majority of voters would have to approve through a ballot question.

    Philly City Council is advancing legislation to let members keep their jobs while running for Congress
    Council President Kenyatta Johnson talks with Councilmember Isaiah Thomas at City Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 in Philadelphia.

    The latest attempt, spearheaded by Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, would not entirely repeal the resign-to-run law, but instead would narrow it to allow elected officials to keep their seats only if they are seeking state or federal office, such as in Congress or the state General Assembly. Council members who want to run for mayor would still have to resign.

    Thomas, a Democrat who represents the city at-large and is rumored to have ambitions of running for higher office, plans to make minor amendments to the legislation this spring, a spokesperson said, before calling it up for a final vote. The goal, Thomas has said, is to pass the legislation in time for a question to appear on the May primary election ballot.

    Incoming clash over immigration?

    Parker has spent the last year avoiding direct confrontation with the Trump administration, a strategy that supporters say has helped keep Philadelphia out of the president’s crosshairs.

    The mayor, however, cannot control what other local elected officials say about national politics, and Trump’s immigration crackdown appears to be stirring stronger local reaction heading into his second year in office.

    After an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis this month, Sheriff Rochelle Bilal went viral for saying federal agents “will not be able to hide” in Philly. (Bilal, however, does not control the Philadelphia Police Department, which is under Parker’s purview.)

    Meanwhile, progressive Councilmembers Rue Landau and Kendra Brooks this year are expected to introduce legislation aimed at constricting ICE operations in Philadelphia.

    Demonstrators from No ICE Philly gathered to protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, office at 8th and Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.

    It is not yet clear what the lawmakers will propose. But Brooks, who has called on Parker to take a firmer stand against Trump, recently criticized the Philadelphia courts for allowing agents to seize suspects leaving the Criminal Justice Center. She said officials who in her view have failed to stand up to ICE are engaged in “complicity disguised as strategic silence,” and she vowed to force those who “cooperate with ICE in any way” to testify in Council.

    “Cities across the country are stepping up and looking at every available option they have to get ICE out,” Brooks said at a news conference earlier this month. “In the coming days, you will hear about what my office is doing about city policy. These demands must be met or face the consequences in Council.”

    Landau added Philly cannot allow “some masked, unnamed hooligans from out of town [to] come in here and attack Philadelphians.”

    “We are saying, ‘ICE out of Philadelphia,’” she said.

    Parker has said her administration has made no changes to the city’s immigrant-friendly policies, but she continues to be tight-lipped about the issue.

    Mayor Cherelle Parker won’t say how Philly is responding to President Donald Trump’s demands on ‘sanctuary’ policies

    The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records last week ruled in favor of an Inquirer appeal seeking to force Parker’s administration to disclose a September letter it sent the U.S. Department of Justice regarding local policies related to immigration.

    The administration still has not released the document. It has three more weeks to respond or appeal the decision in court.

    South Philly arena proposal still in the works

    After the 76ers abandoned their plan to build a new arena in Center City a year ago, the team announced it would partner with Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Flyers, to build a new home for both teams in the South Philadelphia stadium complex.

    The teams announced last fall they have selected an architect for the new arena, which is scheduled to replace the Spectacor-owned Xfinity Mobile Arena, formerly the Wells Fargo Center, in 2031.

    If the teams are still planning to open the new arena on their previously announced timeline, legislation to green-light the project could surface as soon as this spring. But so far, there has been no sign of movement on that front.

    “There is currently no timeline for introducing legislation to build a new Sixers arena in South Philadelphia,” said Johnson, whose 2nd District includes the stadium complex. “At the appropriate time, my legislative team and I will actively collaborate with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration on drafting any legislation related to the Sixers arena before it is introduced in City Council.”

    School closings and 2026 celebrations also on the horizon

    In addition to its legislative agenda, Council this year will likely be drawn into discussions over school closings and the high-profile gatherings expected to bring international attention to Philly this summer.

    The Philadelphia School District is soon expected to release its much-anticipated facilities plan, including which school buildings are proposed for closure, consolidation, or disposition. The always-controversial process is sure to generate buzz in Council.

    “We will do our due diligence on the District’s Facilities Plan,” Johnson said in a statement.

    Additionally, the city is preparing for the nation’s Semiquincentennial, FIFA World Cup games, and the MLB All-Star Game. While the administration is largely responsible for managing those events, some Council members have said ensuring the city is prepared for them is a major priority.

    Johnson said his agenda includes “making sure Philadelphia has a very successful celebration of America’s 250th Birthday that results in short and long-term benefits for Philadelphia.”

    Staff writers Jake Blumgart, Jeff Gammage, and Kristen A. Graham contributed to this article.

  • After decade of delay, Philadelphia Housing Authority will bring affordable housing to Center City

    After decade of delay, Philadelphia Housing Authority will bring affordable housing to Center City

    Almost 20 years after the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) moved out of its Center City headquarters, a long-promised mixed-income tower will finally begin construction early next year.

    The 14-story building is being built by Philadelphia developer Alterra Property Group, which may also manage the site after it opens. PHA will hold a 99-year ground lease on the property at 2012 Chestnut St., which will be its only affordable building in Center City.

    “It’s a multifamily, mixed-use, mixed-income building in a high opportunity neighborhood,” said Kelvin Jeremiah, president and CEO of PHA.

    It “would afford residents a huge opportunity to live in an area that has access to transportation, employment opportunities, and a whole host of amenities literally right outside of their building entrance,” he said.

    The tower will have 121 apartments, 40% of which will be rented at market rate with the rest targeted at tenants below 80% of area median income (or almost $83,000 for a three-person household). It will have 28 studios, 63 one-bedroom, and 30 two-bedroom units.

    It also will have 2,000 square feet of commercial space, parking available off-site, and amenities that include a roof deck. The project was designed by JKRP Architects.

    “I’m looking to break ground in Q1 of next year,” said Mark Cartella, Alterra’s senior vice president of development and construction. “It’s been a long time coming, so we’re excited to finally be going vertical here.”

    What took so long?

    PHA moved out of its Chestnut Street headquarters in January 2008, leaving a four-story husk. The agency cycled through numerous plans for the property, including a new headquarters and selling the land to a private developer.

    The partnership with Alterra began in 2016. At that time, the project would have had 200 units, a majority of them market rate, and the developer would have held the 99-year ground lease on the property.

    But neighborhood pushback and the resulting negotiations delayed the proposal until 2020. Then the pandemic caused more chaos, followed by a spike in construction costs and elevated interest rates that killed the original financing plan.

    That led to a new strategy in which PHA issued bonds backed by the future rents of the market-rate units to help pay for the project, along with additional funds from federal housing programs, and a $2 million boost promised by Council President Kenyatta Johnson from funds available through Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy (H.O.M.E.) initiative.

    “By adding high-quality, affordable apartments alongside retail space in the area, this project helps ensure that our downtown remains vibrant, diverse, and accessible to working families and individuals,” Johnson said in a statement.

    “The PHA project will also help deliver a more inclusive Center City that reflects the full spectrum and diversity of Philadelphia’s residents,” he said.

    A rendering of the roof deck planned for the new mixed-income building proposed by PHA and Alterra.

    The 95-year-old headquarters was demolished in early 2024, but groundbreaking has been delayed in the current unpredictable national economic and political environment.

    “You can probably sum that all up with it’s just general uncertainty with the change of [presidential] administration, as well as just getting through the design development process with a lot of folks having input,” said Cartella of Alterra.

    “This is a little bit beyond the [usual] design development process with Alterra,” he said. “It’s more stringent than what we typically have to go through.”

    Jeremiah has repeatedly expressed concerns about how long the development process can take in Philadelphia, especially in combination with federal guidelines and requirements.

    But as this process nears its end — 18 years after the move, 10 years since bringing on Alterra, and two since demolition — he is feeling optimistic.

    “It is the first PHA built development in Center City,” said Jeremiah. “That’s going to be a signature project for me, for the city, for affordable housing.”

  • Two Philly men accused of ‘fraud tourism’ in a Minnesota scandal that has drawn criticism from President Donald Trump

    Two Philly men accused of ‘fraud tourism’ in a Minnesota scandal that has drawn criticism from President Donald Trump

    Two Philadelphia men are facing federal charges in Minnesota after authorities said the men had learned of the state’s lax controls around a government-funded housing program, then traveled there to learn how to exploit it — the latest development in a long-running fraud scandal that has enveloped Minnesota and drawn the ire of President Donald Trump.

    Anthony Waddell Jefferson, 37, and Lester Brown, 53, were accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $3.5 million in government proceeds — funds that should have gone to Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services Program, prosecutors said, but were instead diverted to two companies the men oversaw in Philadelphia.

    Jefferson and Brown “came [to Minnesota] not to enjoy our lakes, our beautiful summers, or our warm people,” Joseph H. Thompson, Minnesota’s first assistant U.S. attorney, said Thursday. “They came here because they knew and understood that Minnesota was a place where taxpayer money could be taken with little risk and few consequences.”

    Jefferson and Brown each face one count of wire fraud and were charged by information, prosecutors said, which typically means a defendant intends to plead guilty.

    Court records for their cases were not immediately available, and it was not clear if either man had retained an attorney.

    Thompson cast their case as a novel twist in a scandal that he said was “swamping Minnesota” and had likely bilked taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars intended for daycares, hunger programs, autism support, and other endeavors.

    The state had become such a magnet for fraudsters, Thompson said, that Jefferson and Brown had effectively performed “fraud tourism,” visiting the state purely to learn how to take advantage of its reputation for having programs that were ripe for abuse.

    The broader issues over the state’s lax disbursements have burst into national view in recent months as Trump and other Republicans have taken interest in the situation. Trump on social media called Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and, because many of those charged have ties to Minneapolis’ Somali community, said “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great state.”

    Republicans have also blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee — for allowing the situation to unfold on his watch. And right-wing groups have questioned whether some funds were being disbursed to terrorist groups in Somalia or elsewhere in Africa.

    Thompson said Thursday that he did not believe that was being done at a large scale, but that the exploitation of the programs was troubling and a phenomenon that had become uniquely common in Minnesota.

    Fraud scandals targeting government programs date back at least a decade in that state. But they received renewed attention in 2022, when the FBI raided the offices of Feeding Our Future, a food relief nonprofit that had rapidly expanded through pandemic relief efforts.

    Investigators later pointed to about $250 million in federal funding the group had received as part of the Department of Human Services’ Child Nutrition Program, some of which had allegedly been funneled into fraudulent claims for the Medicaid-backed meals program.

    Prosecutors did not have evidence to show exactly how much they said had been misspent, but said last month 78 people had been charged in connection with the scheme, which they called one of the largest pandemic-related frauds in the country.

    The Feeding Our Future investigation is just one of several schemes that have been fueling discourse over Minnesota’s government disbursements. The discussion has taken a dark turn in recent weeks, as Trump used the situation to insult Walz with a slur for people with intellectual disabilities, and to lash out at Somali immigrants, saying, “I don’t want them in our country.” During a speech in Pennsylvania this month, he called Somalia “about the worst country in the world.”

    As for the Philadelphia defendants, prosecutors said the men created two companies — Chozen Runner LLC and Retsel Real Estate LLC — in order to submit “fake and inflated bills” for housing services that were never provided. The program they ripped off was intended to create housing for people with disabilities or substance abuse issues, prosecutors said.

    Jefferson and Brown “repeatedly flew together from Philadelphia to Minneapolis,” purportedly to recruit beneficiaries for their LLCs from Section 8 housing or shelters, prosecutors said. But Jefferson and his employees created fake paperwork, sometimes listing bogus employees, to dupe insurance companies into reimbursing them.

    In all, prosecutors said, they submitted $3.5 million worth of claims for services they said they provided to 230 people.

    Thompson said the men and their companies had virtually no connections to Minnesota other than viewing the state housing funds as “easy money.”

    Jefferson, a Brewerytown resident according to voter registration data, describes himself in social media profiles and an online biography as a serial entrepreneur — selling a line of perfumes, working as a gospel musician, while also serving as the CEO of “The Housing Guys,” a group that says it provides housing stabilization services. In a photo posted to social media last summer, Jefferson was pictured being presented with an honorary citation from City Council President Kenyatta Johnson.

    Contacted Thursday by an Inquirer reporter, Jefferson hung up.

    He was pursued earlier this year in Philadelphia courts over a $103,000 federal tax lien.

    Brown formed Retsel — “Lester” spelled backward — in 2021, according to Pennsylvania corporate documents, using a mailing address in the West Oak Lane neighborhood.

    Attempts to reach Brown for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.

  • Josh Shapiro doesn’t need Pa. Society, the Parker-Johnson relationship, Kim Ward’s budget ballad, and more takeaways from Pa.’s weekend in NYC

    Josh Shapiro doesn’t need Pa. Society, the Parker-Johnson relationship, Kim Ward’s budget ballad, and more takeaways from Pa.’s weekend in NYC

    NEW YORK — Pennsylvania’s political class schmoozed their way across Midtown Manhattan this past weekend, bouncing from cocktail parties to swanky receptions organized to woo the elite ahead of a big midterm election year.

    Hundreds of Pennsylvania politicos made their way for the state’s annual weekend of civility, bipartisanship, fundraising, and more than a few hangovers.

    Pennsylvania’s political elite return to New York’s Waldorf Astoria for ritzy dinner in its 127th year

    Four Inquirer political writers were among those who traveled to the Pennsylvania Society gathering, chatting with lawmakers and interviewing candidates inside the moody bars and penthouse parties. Here are our takeaways.

    Maybe Shapiro doesn’t need Pa. Society anymore

    Gov. Josh Shapiro this year has hosted fundraisers in New Jersey and Massachusetts for his unannounced reelection campaign.

    But he didn’t need to make the rounds this weekend among Pennsylvania’s political elite as he emerges as a top contender for the 2028 Democratic nomination for president.

    Shapiro traveled to New York City only to deliver his annual speech to the Pennsylvania Society and honor former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David L. Cohen, who received the society’s top award.

    Josh Shapiro has a full-circle moment at Pennsylvania Society dinner in NYC, and David L. Cohen is honored

    Instead of handshaking and fundraising like most incumbent governors would, Shapiro has largely avoided Pennsylvania Society mingling during his time as governor. His reelection campaign did not appear to change that.

    Pennsylvania politicians (from left) Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, Gov. Josh Shapiro and State House of Representatives Speaker Joanna E. McClinton last January attending the swearing-in ceremony of Attorney General David W. Sunday, Jr. in Harrisburg.

    Instead, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis hosted a solo fundraiser for their joint reelection ticket.

    “There’s a lot of demands on the governor’s time,” Davis said following a speech at the annual luncheon hosted by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association.

    The Third Congressional District race was the talk of the town

    Three of the candidates vying to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans in the Third Congressional District had a busy weekend in New York. State Sen. Sharif Street, pediatric surgeon Ala Stanford, and State Rep. Morgan Cephas made the rounds.

    Sharif Street speaks from the pulpit of Mother Bethel A.M.E. church Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 as the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity holds a press conference with other community and political leaders to discuss the negative impacts of the ongoing government shutdown. Mother Bethel Pastor Rev. Carolyn Cavaness is at left.

    Stanford held a somewhat star-studded fundraiser Thursday evening, hosted, according to a posted listing for the private event, by Hamilton actor Leslie Odom Jr. (who did not attend but lent his name).

    Candidates for Dwight Evans’ congressional seat hunt for cash and support at the Pa. Society in New York

    Street, the former state party chair and a longtime attendee at Pennsylvania Society, held two fundraisers in Manhattan, fresh off his endorsement last week by former Gov. Ed Rendell.

    Not spotted: State Rep. Chris Rabb, who is running as an anti-establishment progressive.

    “That’s not really my thing,” he said in a text message.

    The Parker-Johnson relationship was a hot topic

    Philadelphia City Council wrapped up its final meeting of the year the day before the Pennsylvania Society began, and the lawmakers gave the chatterati plenty to talk about in Manhattan, with a dramatic close to the session.

    One major topic of conversation in New York: What did Council’s recent conflict with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker over her housing plan mean for the unusually tight relationship between Council President Kenyatta Johnson and the mayor?

    Philly Council votes against Mayor Parker’s vision for her signature housing plan, signaling a win for progressives

    The consensus: Mom and Dad were fighting, but they’ll probably patch things up.

    “Disagreements between Council and mayor — it happens,” said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia-based public affairs executive whose firm hosted a packed party in Midtown on Saturday. “It’s the way the system is set up.”

    But Ceisler said he’s not worried that Parker and Johnson will abandon their goal of emulating then-Mayor Rendell’s close working relationship with Council President John F. Street in the 1990s.

    “The fact is they’re certainly in sync more than they’re not,” Ceisler said.

    Mayor Cherelle Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson are trying to bring back the ’90s in City Hall
    City Council president Kenyatta Johnson speaking with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker in June 2024.

    Johnson, he said, likely improved his standing with members by holding firm against a last-minute amendment Parker proposed to alter Council’s version of the housing plan’s budget.

    Parker and Johnson both made the trek to Manhattan, along with Councilmembers Rue Landau, Nina Ahmad, Jamie Gauthier, Jeffery “Jay” Young Jr., Kendra Brooks, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Jim Harrity, Cindy Bass, and Quetcy Lozada.

    The mayor also took the opportunity to engage in a bit of bipartisanship. She has often touted her ability to build relationships across the aisle, despite Philadelphia politics being dominated by Democrats.

    At the PMA luncheon, Parker embraced former Gov. Tom Corbett and gave a warm greeting to Auditor General Tim DeFoor, both Republicans.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker (left) and former Gov. Tom Corbett at the luncheon hosted by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association on Saturday in New York.

    At the same event, Republican U.S. Sen Dave McCormick shouted out Parker multiple times during his prepared remarks. The pair have forged a working relationship despite their partisan differences.

    “We talk about challenges in the city that we’re facing right now, and the hope is that we can count on some folks as allies,” Parker said of meeting with members of the GOP.

    Mayor Parker’s restraint with Trump is both calculation and gamble as the president escalates against blue cities

    She added: “It’s great to try to maintain those lines of communication.”

    Special interests woo political elite

    Many of the events were hosted by special-interest groups and corporations that have business with the government and are looking to win influence over glasses of Champagne.

    There were the usual suspects and big law firms: Duane Morris always hosts a marquee late-night event on Friday in the sprawling Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center. Other firms including Cozen O’Connor, Ballard Spahr, and Saul Ewing also hosted cocktail parties.

    Top Pennsylvania Republicans are projecting relative calm amid 2026 national party panic

    One notable newcomer to the party scene was Pace-O-Matic, the Georgia-based operator of “skill games” at the center of negotiations over regulation and taxing of the machines.

    The company, which has spent millions on political contributions and lobbying, threw a cocktail reception Thursday night at an Italian restaurant attended by a sizable contingent of state lawmakers.

    Legislators have yet to agree on how to regulate and tax skill games, which remain entirely unregulated and untaxed.

    But solutions seemed possible at the Pace-O-Matic party, as Central Pennsylvania Republicans and Philadelphia Democrats milled about the bar in an unlikely alliance.

    Another bipartisan event — this one in a sunny room atop the vintage Kimberly Hotel — was hosted by Independence Blue Cross and AmeriHealth Caritas, insurance companies that have Medicaid contracts with the state.

    Lawmakers often credit the weekend of partying in New York as a time for civil conversations in a neutral territory that ultimately benefit a philanthropic cause at the Pennsylvania Society’s annual dinner.

    But Rabbi Michael Pollack, who leads the government accountability group March on Harrisburg, said the civility seems to come only when special interests are footing the bill.

    “It’s absolutely embarrassing that our legislators can only interact with each other when a lobbyist sets up a playdate for them,” he said.

    A Christmas budget ballad by DJ Ward

    Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward debuted a hidden musical talent on stage at the annual bipartisan Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry breakfast: She can write a Harrisburg holiday hit.

    “I did live in Nashville for six years and no one discovered me,” she joked, before launching into a three-minute budget balladto the tune of “Deck the Halls.”

    Ward (R., Westmoreland) debuted her song after an ugly budget battle that lasted 135 days and ended just last month. Punctuated by fa-la-las, she called out each of the top leaders who were in the closed-door budget talks.

    Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) speaking in February 2024 at the Capitol in Harrisburg.

    Ward is among Shapiro’s top critics. The two had hardly spoken since 2023 until Ward joined in-person budget negotiations at the end of October.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro says national Democrats folded in the federal shutdown, while he stayed ‘at the table’ for Pa.’s late budget deal

    During those negotiations, Ward has said Shapiro gave her a special heart-shaped cookie to break the ice. And it appears that she’s not yet letting that go, dedicating a moment in her song to the encounter:

    Mr. Shapiro give me a break

    You know you gave me that heart cookie cake

    Why are you saying that you didn’t do it?

    Ward’s jingle wasn’t the first time a Pennsylvania Republican leader leaned on the power of song during the bitter budget battle.

    At the peak of the clash over transit funding in August, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman quoted heavily from the lyrics of John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” in recalling his upbringing in rural Western Pennsylvania.

    Shapiro will propose a new budget in February, restarting the budget negotiation process. Ward urged the group of leaders to take a break from fighting during the holiday season.

    It’s Christmas and we’re all here together

    Republicans and Democrats, and all who matter

    Let’s celebrate the birth of Jesus

    For the next three weeks, let’s not be egregious

    Perhaps next budget season will inspire a mixtape.

  • Philly Council votes against Mayor Parker’s vision for her signature housing plan, signaling a win for progressives

    Philly Council votes against Mayor Parker’s vision for her signature housing plan, signaling a win for progressives

    For almost two years, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has dominated Philadelphia City Hall with an unbending approach to negotiations.

    On Wednesday, City Council signaled those days may be over.

    During a combative hearing on legislation related to Parker’s signature housing initiative, Council President Kenyatta Johnson on Wednesday afternoon refused to allow a vote on an amendment brought by the Parker administration and instead advanced Council’s version of the proposal over the mayor’s objections.

    City Council took a rare stand against Mayor Parker by allotting more housing funds to the poorest Philadelphians

    In a voice vote, Council’s Committee on Fiscal Stability and Intergovernmental Cooperation approved its own changes to the legislation — authorizing the city to take out $800 million in city bonds to fund Parker’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative — without considering the mayor’s requested tweaks.

    Councilmembers Brian O’Neill, Anthony Phillips, and Curtis Jones Jr. signaled their support for Parker’s vision by voting against the measure, which now heads to the Council floor for a final passage vote or further amendments, either of which could come as soon as January.

    It is unclear how Johnson’s handling of H.O.M.E. will change the tight working relationship Parker and Johnson have maintained since both took office in January 2024. Wednesday’s vote marked their most contentious public disagreement during their tenures. Both officials still agree on many policy goals and have plenty to gain politically from maintaining their alliance.

    Mayor Cherelle Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson are trying to bring back the ’90s in City Hall
    Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker stands beside Council President Kenyatta Johnson (left) after finishing her budget address to City Council in Philadelphia City Hall on Thursday, March 13, 2025.

    The dispute between Parker and Council centers on income eligibility thresholds for two of the housing programs that will be funded by bond proceeds: the Basic Systems Repair Program (BSRP), which provides funding for needed home improvements to eligible owners who might be displaced by costly repairs, and the Adaptive Modification Program (AMP), which funds projects to improve mobility for permanently disabled renters and homeowners.

    Parker had structured the H.O.M.E. initiative with unusually high income cutoffs to make its programs more easily accessible to middle-class households, saying they are often left out of city assistance programs despite being crushed by rising costs.

    “The whole debate over income eligibility limits for BSRP and Adaptive Modifications is to make sure that we leave no working Philadelphian and no qualifying Philly rowhome owner excluded from these vital programs,” Parker said in a statement Wednesday. “If we don’t save Philly rowhomes, we’re going to become a city of used-to-be neighborhoods, blocks that used to be nice but now are showing signs of age and decline. I will not allow that to happen — not on my watch as Mayor of Philadelphia.”

    In a win for progressives, Council instead stuck to its plan of prioritizing lower-income Philadelphians.

    City Council took a rare stand against Mayor Parker by allotting more housing funds to the poorest Philadelphians

    Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who chairs the Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development and the Homeless, said Wednesday’s vote sent the message “that Council takes its job seriously as a steward of taxpayer money in the city of Philadelphia, that we are not here to just rubber-stamp in a proposal, that we’re here to work together.”

    Change in fortunes for Parker

    Wednesday’s vote appears to mark the first instance of Parker’s hard-line negotiating tactics failing her since she took office. Even when she could not get negotiating counterparts to bend to her will in the past, Parker has largely prevailed.

    Last year, for instance, Council declined to vote on one of Parker’s school board nominees. But the nominee, incumbent board member Joyce Wilkerson, then pulled out a letter from Parker instructing her to remain on the board until the mayor names a replacement, which she still has not done.

    And in July, when the largest union for city workers went on strike to try to squeeze larger raises out of the administration, Parker stuck to her guns amid increasing pressure to fold as trash piled up across the city and 911 wait times grew longer. The union ultimately folded after an eight-day work stoppage with a new contract that closely aligned with Parker’s last offer before the strike began.

    ‘They are my people’: Mayor Cherelle Parker on why she stood firm in the DC 33 city worker strike

    But this time, Parker appears to be out of options to prevent Council from getting its way because she cannot veto another key piece of legislation to keep the housing initiative in motion that needs to pass before the city can issue the bonds. That measure — a resolution setting the first-year budget for H.O.M.E. that received preliminary approval in a Council committee last week — could see final approval as soon as Thursday.

    In a last-ditch effort to rally public support for her version of how the H.O.M.E. bonds should be spent, Parker on Sunday barnstormed across 10 Philadelphia churches.

    “We’ve got to take care of the people who are most in need, but we can’t penalize the people who are going to work every day, pay their taxes, contribute to the city, and they can’t benefit from home improvement programs,” she said.

    Amid City Hall tensions, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker seeks public support at Philly churches for her H.O.M.E. initiative
    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks to the crowd at The Church of Christian Compassion in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. Parker visited 10 churches in Philadelphia on Sunday to share details about her H.O.M.E. housing plan.

    That maneuver did not appear to go over well with lawmakers, who likely did not appreciate the mayor encouraging their constituents to oppose Council’s version of the plan.

    Even before chief of staff Tiffany W. Thurman presented Parker’s amendment at Wednesday’s hearing, lawmakers sounded off, with Gauthier saying the administration was spreading “misinformation” and Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke calling Parker’s approach “Trumpian.”

    “It was in response to misinformation being spread during that tour,” said Gauthier, who, along with fellow progressive Councilmember Rue Landau, led the charge to lower the income eligibility thresholds included in H.O.M.E.

    Gauthier noted that Council’s version of the bill still increases those thresholds beyond what is offered in existing programs.

    “Obviously, the mayor, all of us, have the right to go and talk to our constituents,” she said, “but we have to be operating from a fact-based perspective, and telling folks that the Council proposal excludes them is not factual.”

    No vote on Parker amendment

    The legislative process for approving the city bond issuance — the centerpiece of Parker’s H.O.M.E. initiative, which she first proposed in March — has been long and tortured.

    Council initially approved the bond authorization in June, but lawmakers at that time inserted a provision requiring the administration to get their approval for annual budget resolutions determining how the proceeds will be spent.

    Council takes up Mayor Cherelle Parker’s $800M housing bond request — with a catch

    Johnson delayed a vote on the first H.O.M.E. budget resolution for months before allowing it to be approved last week by the Committee of the Whole. But lawmakers made major changes over the mayor’s objections, including granting themselves the right to set income thresholds for the initiative’s programs.

    It was the first sign that Council was serious about enacting its own ideas even if Parker was not on board and, in Council’s view, would not negotiate. In a twist, lawmakers took their latest stand Wednesday at a time when the mayor’s team came to the table with a significant, albeit last-minute, counteroffer.

    Council’s changes to the eligibility requirements for BSRP and AMP would require 90% of the H.O.M.E. bond proceeds for those programs to be spent on households making 60% of Philadelphia’s area median income, which is about $71,640 for a family of four.

    Thurman on Tuesday proposed a compromise in which only 60% of bond money would be set aside for those households. She told lawmakers that Parker, in part, wants to ensure H.O.M.E. helps city workers, who are required to live in Philadelphia but often struggle to make ends meet on municipal salaries. (Parker pointed to the H.O.M.E. plan during the strike as evidence she backed city workers despite opposing higher wages.)

    Johnson responded that he hopes “one day our city workers are getting paid enough where they don’t have to sign up” for assistance programs.

    “You know as well as I do we agree,” Thurman replied, prompting Johnson to cut her off.

    “I’m not acknowledging you yet,” Johnson said, referring to a Council hearing procedure in which the chair must recognize speakers.

    Tiffany Thurman, Mayor Parker’s chief of staff, takes questions from Council members in 2024.

    Parker’s latest offer, which came months into the standoff over H.O.M.E., appears to have been too little, too late.

    Phillips — who voted for the Council budget resolution last week but said he has since changed his mind to support Parker’s vision — wanted to call up the administration’s amendment for a vote, he said in an interview.

    “This week I changed my mind because that’s where my mind really has been,” said Phillips, who represents the Northwest Philadelphia-based 9th District that Parker held when she was on Council. “The 9th District neighbors — they’ve made abundantly clear that our housing policy needs to reflect them. … They’re long-term homeowners, residents who are on fixed incomes, multigenerational families.”

    Under Council rules, only Johnson can call on members to put forward amendments in committee. But instead he blocked it, prompting Jones, Parker’s most vocal ally on Council, to protest.

    “We should do the right thing always, even in spite of its inconvenience and time,” Jones said during Council. “Resolutions and amendments need to be introduced so that they can get the light of day and be heard.”

    Johnson said he pushed through Council’s version because the mayor’s administration did not engage with him about its new proposal ahead of the meeting.

    “Just for the record … I had not officially seen any official amendment prior to this actual hearing,” Johnson said. “The administration just showed up.”

    Despite Wednesday’s vote, the fight over H.O.M.E. may not be over. Councilmember Mike Driscoll, a Parker ally who voted to advance the bond authorization, signaled there may be further changes.

    “I wanted to keep the HOME initiative process moving,” Driscoll said in a statement, “but still hope to influence a reasonable solution which includes program support for row home Philadelphians.”

  • Philly is poised to launch a retirement savings program for workers without 401(k)s

    Philly is poised to launch a retirement savings program for workers without 401(k)s

    Philadelphia could soon become the first American city to establish its own retirement savings program for residents whose employers don’t offer one.

    City Council is poised to pass legislation that would enable the plan, called PhillySaves, which is modeled on similar state-facilitated “auto-IRA” programs that have been increasingly established across the country.

    The idea is that workers would be automatically enrolled in the city-managed plan and would contribute through payroll deductions at no cost to their employer. The plan would then follow employees, even as they change jobs.

    Council President Kenyatta Johnson, a Democrat, said during a committee hearing on the legislation last week that the program is an anti-poverty measure aimed at generating wealth for more than 200,000 Philadelphians who do not have access to a retirement savings plan through their job.

    “We want to make sure we are lifting all Philadelphians out of poverty, building generational wealth, and ensuring our seniors are financially stable in retirement,” Johnson said.

    A Council committee approved the legislation following a hearing last week, and the full Council is expected to pass it. Voters would have to approve the creation of an investment management board through a ballot question, which could come as early as the May primary election.

    Councilmember Cindy Bass, a Democrat who represents parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia, called the plan a “game changer.”

    “There was a time when you could retire just on Social Security alone,” she said. “That day has come and gone.”

    How would the program work?

    Workers would be automatically enrolled in the plan with a default contribution rate of 3 to 6% of their wages, however they can opt out or change their contributions at any time.

    Employers that do not offer their own retirement plans would be required to sign up. Their only responsibility would be facilitating the payroll deductions for their employees. There is no matching program for employers or the city.

    City Councilmember Mike Driscoll, a Democrat who represents parts of Northeast Philadelphia and is sponsoring the legislation, emphasized last week that there is “no cost” to employers and no fiduciary liability.

    “The goal is to make it easy for employees who want to save,” he said, “and not burden employers who are already managing their many responsibilities.”

    In this 2023 file photo, Council President Kenyatta Johnson (left) greets 6th District Councilmember Michael J. Driscoll (center) and Councilmember At-Large Katherine Gilmore Richardson (right) before the last City Council meeting of the year.

    The legislation includes minimal fines for employers who don’t enroll employees. But Council members said the city will launch a significant public education and outreach campaign before levying fines.

    Who is the program for?

    Under the current version of the legislation — which could still be amended — the program applies to businesses with at least one employee. It must have been operating in Philadelphia for at least two years.

    Auto-IRA plans are especially geared toward hourly workers who generally have fewer employer-covered benefits, such as 401(k) plans, as well as people who work for small businesses that can’t afford to provide retirement benefits.

    Is this a new thing?

    Twenty states have passed legislation creating their own auto-IRA plans and 16 programs are open to participants, according to the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown University.

    Pennsylvania is not among them, but New Jersey launched a state-run retirement savings program last year. That plan, called RetireReady NJ, was first established in 2019 and signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat.

    Should New Jersey embrace portable retirement savings plans?

    As of July, more than 18,000 workers were saving through the program, according to the state’s Department of the Treasury.

    It is more limited than Philadelphia’s would be, in that it only applies to businesses with at least 25 employees. Philadelphia’s would apply to businesses with just one.

    Gov. Phil Murphy speaks with members of the media after meeting with Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill at the governor’s office in Trenton on Nov. 5.

    Two other cities — New York and Seattle — passed legislation enabling auto-IRA programs, but neither was implemented because both New York and Washington states enacted state-run programs that include the cities.

    It’s time for lawmakers to enact a retirement savings plan for Pa. workers | Opinion

    The Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania State House passed legislation in 2023 along party lines enabling a similar program called Keystone Saves, but it stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.

    Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican now running for governor, has for years advocated for the program’s passage.

    How will the investments be managed?

    The city would create a nine-member Retirement Savings Board, which would include four appointees by the mayor, four by the City Council president, and one by the city controller.

    That board would be responsible for facilitating the program and may contract third-party consultants, financial advisers, actuaries, and other experts to manage the investments.

    Big changes are coming to retirement plans. Here’s what small businesses should know.

    Why does the money go into a Roth IRA?

    The program defaults to a Roth IRA, though people covered can elect to switch to a traditional IRA.

    John Scott, director of the retirement savings project at Pew Charitable Trust, said during the Council hearing last week that Roth IRAs are often the default in auto IRA programs because participating employees can pull money out of those accounts at any time without taxes or penalty.

    From 2019: Treasurer says Pa. needs auto-IRA plans to boost retirement savings

    He said that’s especially appealing to workers “who sometimes have fluctuations in their work schedule or they might have a financial shock.”

    “For many of these workers in these programs, this is really the first opportunity to save money,” Scott said. “So, you know, life happens. And sometimes they do need to pull that money out, and the Roth IRA is really the best vehicle to do that.”

    When will this become reality?

    Creating the board that will oversee the investments requires a change to Philadelphia’s Home Rule Charter, the city’s governing document.

    If Council passes legislation and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signs it — both are expected to support it — then voters could approve the change through a ballot question as early as May.

    The legislation says the program must be launched by July 2027, however there are exceptions in the case of legal challenges or a state-level program superseding the city’s.

  • Philly lawmakers approved $800M for Mayor Parker’s housing plan in June. Now they have to redo it. | City Council roundup

    Philly lawmakers approved $800M for Mayor Parker’s housing plan in June. Now they have to redo it. | City Council roundup

    Call it a H.O.M.E. repair.

    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson on Thursday introduced legislation that will amend a bill lawmakers approved in June that authorized the city to take out $800 million in debt to fund Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative.

    It’s the latest development in a saga that has seen several procedural squabbles, the most significant public dustup between Johnson and Parker to date, and a monthslong delay in the administration’s plan to issue city bonds to launch the housing initiative.

    The fix was needed because Council earlier this week amended a separate but related piece of legislation — called the H.O.M.E. budget resolution — that sets the first-year spending levels for the housing programs funded or created by the initiative.

    City Council took a rare stand against Mayor Parker by allotting more housing funds to the poorest Philadelphians

    Council’s changes, which Parker largely opposed, were significant enough that the budget resolution no longer aligns with the bond authorization bill Council approved in June, meaning the administration cannot rely on the original legislation as its legal basis for taking out city debt.

    The new bond bill introduced Thursday reflects Council’s changes, which include increasing the first-year H.O.M.E. budget from $194.6 million to $277.2 million and changing eligibility requirements for some programs to make sure the lowest-income Philadelphia households were prioritized.

    “We want to make sure that this is a H.O.M.E. plan that supports everyone, but obviously members of Council had an issue and concern about making sure those most in need are supported throughout this process,” Johnson said.

    The bill now heads to committee, and Johnson said negotiations could lead to further changes. Next week is Council’s final meeting of the year, and Johnson on Thursday ruled out adding an extra session, meaning the bill likely will not pass until January at the earliest.

    Funding for Mayor Cherelle Parker’s H.O.M.E. initiative will be delayed until next year

    Parker originally had hoped to issue the first of two planned $400 million tranches of H.O.M.E. bonds this fall. She said Tuesday that the legislative delays mean they might not go to market until March or later.

    “Working with Council President Johnson and the Members of City Council, we are laser-focused on building, repairing and restoring 30,000 units of housing and making H.O.M.E. a reality for the people of Philadelphia,” Parker said in a statement Thursday.

    ‘That’s my sister’: Johnson says relationship with Parker still strong

    Parker-Johnson pact intact: The Council president on Thursday downplayed his spat with Parker that saw both issue pointed statements Tuesday night blaming the other for delays in issuing the bonds.

    The exchange was notable because the two city leaders, who meet in person weekly, have forged an unusually close working relationship since both took office in January 2024.

    But Johnson said Thursday their relationship remains the same and has always involved disagreements — just not ones that have spilled out into public view.

    Mayor Cherelle Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson are trying to bring back the ’90s in City Hall
    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker have maintained a close working relationship.

    “That’s my sister,” Johnson said. “Most of the time, when we do have disagreements, y’all just don’t see it. We meet every week, so you don’t get a chance to see the back-and-forth. But at the end of the day, the mission is to move the city of Philadelphia forward together.”

    Council makes it harder to open convenience stores and pharmacies in Kensington

    No new nuisances: Members passed legislation Thursday that aims to make it significantly harder for convenience stores and pharmacies to open in Kensington and sections of North Philadelphia.

    The bill, authored by Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, forces any new “sundries, pharmaceuticals, and convenience sales” businesses in her 7th District — which covers much of Kensington and parts of North and Northeast Philadelphia — to get approval from the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment. That process is notoriously long and can be expensive for applicants.

    New bill would ban new convenience stores and pharmacies from opening in Kensington

    Lozada has said that the bill is targeted at corner stores and smoke shops, not chain businesses like CVS and 7-Eleven.

    The legislation is part of the body’s broader war on so-called nuisance businesses, which lawmakers say attract crime and disrupt neighborhoods. And it comes in addition to a controversial 11 p.m. business curfew in Lozada’s district that took effect earlier this year.

    City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada represents Kensington.

    It’s one of several legislative remedies lawmakers have undertaken to curb small businesses like smoke shops and convenience stores that have unregulated slot machine-like “skill games,” sell marijuana-like products, and peddle drug paraphernalia without a license to do so.

    Seriously … no nuisances, please: Lozada was not the only lawmaker taking aim at “nuisance” businesses Thursday, when Council approved two bills by Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson on the same topic.

    One measure makes it easier for the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections to issue stop-work and cease-operations orders to businesses violating city regulations. The other is aimed at closing loopholes that “let nuisance business owners avoid enforcement by changing their name or ownership, ensuring those with similar ownership or operations remain accountable for past violations,” Gilmore Richardson’s office said.

    The measures, which were both approved 16-0, were aimed at stopping “the spread of dangerous and destructive businesses and the need for further action to address their impact on our communities,” Gilmore Richardson said.

    “While I am encouraged by the steps we are taking today, I am also working on additional legislation to more aggressively crack down on these businesses and the bad actors behind them,” she said.

    Quote of the week

    Councilmember Jim Harrity in December 2023.

    Fond farewell: City Councilmember Jimmy Harrity gave an emotional speech in Council lamenting the loss of his friend Paul Staico, who died suddenly Sunday and was the owner of Big Charlie’s Saloon in South Philadelphia.

    Paul Staico, owner of South Philly bar dedicated to Kansas City Chiefs, dies at 59

    Staico stood by Harrity when the future lawmaker was struggling with addiction, Harrity said.

    “Anybody that knew Paul will tell you he really was that guy, that guy who would give you the shirt off his back,” Harrity said. “He’s the only person I truly knew never lost faith in me, even when I was at my lowest 10 years deep in my addiction.”

    Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. thanked Harrity, who often gives impassioned speeches, for his heartfelt tribute to Staico.

    “I want to shout out Jimmy Harrity for making crying in Council cool,” Jones said. “Nobody does it better, brother.”

    Staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed to this article.