It’s crunch time for City Council members trying to get their pet bills passed before the end of the term - especially those who are leaving office and allies of outgoing Mayor John Street.
The calendar is bursting with public hearings — Monday begins a three week flurry culminating in the final Council meeting Dec. 13. Any bills not passed by then are dead -- they would have to be reintroduced,
and pass through the committee process again, when the new term begins Jan. 7.
The Transportation and Public Utilities Committee holds a hearing Monday on outgoing Councilwoman Carol Ann Campbell’s bill to require Philadelphia school buses to use three-point seatbelts. Campbell, who has vowed to push her agenda until her last day in office, also has bills in committee this week requiring recreation programming for the disabled and prompt payment of city contractors.
Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, a Street ally, still wants to pass a bill that would require dentists to provide some degree of disclosure about the mercury contained in fillings. On Wednesday the Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing on her bill to prohibit minors from doing fund-raising in the street.
Next week Councilman Frank Rizzo gets a hearing on his proposals to regulate towing, and Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, also a Street ally, will be before the Licenses and Inspections Committee for his bill that would make the displaying of symbols including nooses and burning crosses a crime.
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