A Philadelphia City Councilman on Thursday introduced a resolution calling on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and the General Assembly to enact a proposal from the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which wants to replace its annual 1% assessment on taxicab medallion owners’ annual gross operating revenue with a 50-cent-per ride taxicab fee that would also cover digitally hailed services.
At City Hall yesterday, a number of local and state lawmakers endorsed the resolution put forth by Philadelphia City Councilman Derek Green, a first-term Democrat who estimated that two-thirds of the proposed tax could generate roughly $8 million a year for capital projects at Philadelphia schools.
Uber and Lyft currently pay a 1.4% tax on all revenue and they oppose the idea, which was created under an Act as a way to raise money for inspections after dozens of ride-share vehicles were found to be in unacceptable conditions.
“In the final hours when this bill was originally enacted, it was your Philadelphia delegation that was wise enough and smart enough to say to ride-hailing providers: ‘If you want to be involved in business in Philadelphia, you will help contribute to our schools,’” Mr. Scott Petri, the PPA’s Executive Director, told the local news media, which had assembled in City Council chambers.
On Thursday morning it was the conditions of the schools, not vehicles, which were the talking points.
At least two lawmakers, including State Senator Art Haywood, reflected on the 2016 incident where an exploding boiler at a West Oak Lane school resulted in the death of maintenance worker Mr. Christopher Trakimas. That incident prompted Councilman Green, who was inaugurated in January of 2016, to hold hearings regarding the state of school infrastructure and get involved in the Philly Healthy Schools Initiative.
“Students, teachers, and other school workers have a right to feel confident in the knowledge that the school spaces that they occupy aren’t threatening their health,” Mr. Green said at a 2017 press conference which announced the citywide coalition to improve the environmental health of city schools such as impotable water, lead paint, asbestos, and mold.
State Senator Vincent Hughes on Thursday said that Philadelphia students are being mandated to attend classes in buildings that are public health hazards.
In Mr. Hughes’ District are institutions like Plymouth Whitemarsh High School and Upper Dublin High School, posh learning environments surrounded by well-manicured lawns, and Overbook High School and Strawberry Mansion High School, which are the opposite of the aforementioned.
The difference is stark, real and sends a message, the Democrat lawmaker stated.
“The clearest face of inequitable funding is the conditions of our schools,” the senator declared.
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