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February 10, 2005
TO THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA:
I am returning as disapproved Bill No. 040326, passed by the Council on January 25, 2005.
This bill amends the Pension Code to grants rights to current and former City employees outside the collective bargaining process. I have been advised that certain provisions of the bill are illegal, others are simply too costly or reflect poor policy. I, therefore, return Bill No 040326 as disapproved.
Sections 22-401 and 22-402 of The Philadelphia Code currently provide for an offset against disability benefits as a result of any subsequent non-City employment by the disabled member. Where the disability is service-connected; disability pay is reduced by one dollar for every three dollars of outside income. Where disability is not service-connected, the offset is one dollar for every two dollars earned. This offset was agreed to as a result of the collective bargaining process between the City and its municipal unions, and has been in effect since 1993.
While there are several exemptions from the disability benefit offset - for example, police officers who incur a disability as a result of heroic action are exempt - each of these exemptions, like the offset itself, exists as a result of the normal "give-and-take" of the City's collective bargaining process with its municipal workforce. Bill No. 040326 would eliminate this offset entirely, for all City employees, retroactive to July 12, 1993, the date the offset took effect. Based on extensive research the City Solicitor has advised that Pennsylvania law prohibits City Council's interference in the collective bargaining process to the extent that Council's unilateral increase in benefits would apply during the life of current collective bargaining agreements.
A second problem raised by Bill No. 040326 is its retroactivity. While Solicitor Ramos' Opinion concludes that the bill can be lawfully applied, at...
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