Paid sick leave passes City Council, but bill not veto proof
City Council on Thursday passed the long contested bill extending paid sick leave to most Philadelphians by a vote of 11 to six, but the legislation may not stick.
Mayor Michael Nutter is expected to veto the bill and Council needs 12 votes to override his decision.
Legislation sponsor Councilman Bill Greenlee blasted the administration during a speech on the floor.
“They even refused to let the heatlh commissioner testify before the health committee of this Council – so much for transparency and good government,” he said.
“So apparently the administration doesn’t think health is an issue even though in the budget and in other settings, they talk a lot about health. I guess health is only an issue when they want it to be.”
The administration isn’t the only resistance Greenlee met. Six of his colleagues opposed the measure including Democrat Council members Bill Green, Jim Kenney and Cindy Bass.
“Philadelphia is doing everything possible to when you combine all our policies to prevent companies from moving into the city and creating jobs,” Green said.
Bass said the bill suffered from poor timing, as the city just increased business taxes and will soon be hiking property taxes under the proposed Actual Value Initiative.
“I believe we can have paid sick leave and I believe the bill can happen, but I believe with everything, there’s a season and a time to every purpose,” she said.
Greenlee agreed it wasn’t the right time to enact the legislation. “We should’ve done it a heck of a long time ago,” he said.
