Philly’s delegation to Harrisburg wants to increase the minimum wage, fix school buildings, and more

Philadelphia Democrats in the state House are hoping their new majority will allow them to push for significantly increasing the minimum wage, addressing deferred maintenance to school buildings, and achieving other long-sought policy goals that they say would help the nation’s poorest big city.

State Rep. Morgan Cephas (D., Philadelphia), the new chair of Philadelphia’s 25-member delegation to Harrisburg, unveiled the group’s goals during a news conference Friday at City Hall.

With Democrats holding the majority in the state House after 12 years of Republican control, Philadelphia will have an outsize influence on the budget this year. House Speaker Joanna McClinton and Appropriations Chair Jordan Harris, two Democrats from Philadelphia, will be at the table for budget negotiations with Gov. Josh Shapiro and the GOP-controlled Senate.

Policy changes are often sent to the governor’s desk during budget season. And with seven Philadelphia Democrats appointed as majority chairs of committees, they will influence which pieces of legislation progress to votes on the House floor.

But the Philadelphia delegation’s wish list will still have to clear several hurdles to become reality. With a razor-thin Democratic House majority — 101-100, excluding two vacancies — leaders will need to whip every Democratic vote to pass legislation. Then, they will need to compromise with the GOP-controlled Senate before they can send bills to Shapiro’s desk to be signed into law.

Cephas, alongside four other members of the delegation in City Hall, announced the “Philadelphia Platform” Friday, with auspicious goals by Harrisburg standards, such as capping rent increases and raising the state’s minimum wage to $18 an hour. (Shapiro proposed a $15 minimum wage; the state minimum wage has been at the federal level of $7.25 per hour since 2008.)

The delegation also proposed requiring civic and financial literacy classes for high school students, creating a program to address deferred maintenance in Philadelphia school buildings, investing in rehabilitation and treatment to improve the juvenile justice system, and amending the state’s landlord-tenant laws to include more protections for renters.

They identified their priorities through a series of meetings with Mayor Jim Kenney, City Council, advocates, and business leaders, said Rep. Danilo Burgos (D., Philadelphia), the vice chair of the Philadelphia delegation.

The group also praised parts of Shapiro’s budget pitch unveiled last week, including his proposal to set aside $100 million for school repairs, fund the state public defender’s office for the first time, and create tax incentives to bring more nurses, police officers, and teachers to the state.

But Philly’s lawmakers also want to “move the needle for the city of Philadelphia,” Cephas said.

“It’s really time now that our governor, our leadership, and our city make sure that they’re investing in our neighborhoods,” Cephas said. “We have a significant amount of requests for our governor, and we are appreciative that his initial discussions around investments is truly a starting point.”

Cephas also said the delegation will play a role in creating a new school funding mechanism, after a judge ruled last year that the current system is inequitable and unconstitutional.

And she pointed to inequity in her own backyard: Lower Merion School District, the wealthiest district in the state, spends more than double what the School District of Philadelphia spends per student, she added.