Council bill aims to increase city employment

Looking to spur local hiring, Council President Darrell L. Clarke introduced a bill Thursday that would require some businesses that receive city contracts to set goals for hiring Philadelphia workers, in the same way they do for hiring women, minorities, and those with disabilities.

"It's not a mandate," Clarke said. "But it is a simple requirement that those entities that receive taxpayers' dollars ... will in fact give an opportunity to the city of Philadelphia residents first before they move on with their hiring process."

Clarke's legislation would also give Council's Economic Opportunity Review Committee (a five-member group of business and labor community members) new powers to enforce the city's First Source Jobs Policy. That policy requires some businesses that receive financial incentives to list entry-level jobs in a city database first.

Clarke said that since the policy was passed in 2012, the city had never designated an agency to oversee the program. According to Mayor Kenney's administration, the policy is being enforced by the Commerce Department, which has partnered with an outside workforce agency to refer candidates to eligible contractors.

The legislation also would give Council the ability to fine businesses that did not comply with the policy.

"Frankly speaking, I'm hoping we won't have to get to that point," Clarke said.

Also with an eye toward business growth, Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sánchez on Thursday proposed two bills to provide incentives for benefit corporations, also known as B Corps - for-profit companies that aim to have a positive impact on the environment and society in addition to turning a profit.

More than two dozen states, including Pennsylvania, have passed legislation recognizing benefit corporations and requiring that they provide an annual benefit report assessing their overall performance.

The legislation would expand two benefits for B Corps, increasing a tax credit from $4,000 to $8,000 and extending an exemption on the business income and receipts tax from two years to three. Quiñones Sánchez said she hoped the changes encourage current businesses to receive the designation and also lure new B Corps to Philadelphia.

"We want entrepreneurship," she said. "We want the millennials and other folks to start businesses, hopefully start them in our neighborhoods, and create that environment where Philadelphia is going to employ the best practices around people, the planet, and profit."

Also Thursday, the city sought to make use of $3 million in Neighborhood Transformation Initiative funds, money designated for community revitalization projects in 2001 that will expire in March.

Quiñones Sánchez introduced an ordinance to transfer the money for those projects. Kenney spokesman Mike Dunn said the money would be used for projects in the Departments of Commerce and Streets.

Source: Philly.com