Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke and the Cost-of-Living Task Force hope to answer this question.
By Denise Clay-Murray
There are certain things that I’ve learned to make myself these days.
Spaghetti sauce. Pizza dough. Bread. Soup. I make all of them at home whenever possible.
Why? Because buying a jar of spaghetti sauce, a container of pizza dough, a loaf of bread or a can of soup isn’t cheap these days. In fact, it’s expensive to the point that sometimes you just can’t do it.
But for some folks, even making stuff yourself costs too much. Especially if you’re also trying to make sure your family has a roof over its head and the electric and gas needed for it to function, transportation to and from work and school, and the medication needed to manage a chronic health condition.
On Monday, Philadelphia City Council’s Committee on Global Opportunities and the Creative/Innovative Economy held hearings to discuss the high cost of living, and what solutions are available.
The hearings served as the introduction to the Cost-of-Living Task Force’s Affordable Philly Now report. The task force, which included stakeholders in the areas of health, housing, education, transportation, and food security, looked at ways the city can help its residents be able to better make ends meet.
At a time when the federal government seems more intent on taking a flamethrower to the country’s social safety net, cities like Philadelphia can’t wait for a new administration or even the Commonwealth to see to the needs of its citizens in this regard, said Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, the chair of the committee and conveyor of the task force.
When it comes to making sure citizens have what they need to survive, the city has to take the lead, he said.
“This task force was given a specific focus on Philadelphia, because we’re in a moment where we must grow more nimble as municipalities,” he said. “We cannot keep waiting, or at least we have to shift our attitude to recognize that it does us no benefit to wait until the government, the American government, or the government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania actually gives us what we need. The sledgehammer that the feds are taking to the welfare state requires innovation to survive, much less thrive.”
The report, which took about a year to produce and included community input, outlined actions that city government can take by making them legislative and budgetary priorities.
Some of these recommendations have already been discussed in Council chambers. For example, elements of O’Rourke’s Safe Healthy Homes package of laws that protect renters and provide proactive inspections of rental properties are included within this report. Also included is a request for a referendum requiring the City’s utilities to remain in public hands, a resolution O’Rourke introduced last session.
Here are some of the others:
*The City’s policy agenda regarding housing should include looking at market concentration and predatory behavior on the part of developers.
*Sustaining such efforts as eviction diversion, direct cash assistance programs and home repair programs while also making investments in renter tax rebates for seniors and people with disabilities
*Create an automatic one-step enrollment process for those needing energy assistance.
*Curb predatory supply and resale practices on the part of third-party energy companies while also being proactive regarding data centers and the impact on utility prices they have.
*Create a city-subsidized supplement program for those needing air conditioners.
*Establish and fund the Transit Access Fund and expand the City of Philadelphia’s SEPTA Key Advantage benefit plan to all municipal employees.
*Create a Birth Allowance For Beginning of Year, or BABY benefit to help low-income families.
*Expand programs that would increase the childcare workforce and expand the city’s Pre-K programs.
*Fund and expand the City’s Health Centers.
*Invest in affordable housing for seniors.
*Explore the creation of municipal grocery stores, fund a local SNAP supplement and fund emergency food access at all Neighborhood Community Centers.
Like I said, these are just some of the recommendations in the report.
And I’m guessing that to some of you reading this column, they look fairly intense.
But let’s be honest, the situation for many Philadelphians trying to stay one step ahead of having to make some difficult choices as winter approaches and prices continue to rise is pretty intense.
“We know that there are some ideas in the report, but we also know that, especially right now, working Philadelphians need bold leadership,” said Vik Patel, a member of the task force. “We don’t have the luxury of being cautious when our neighbors and family members are struggling every day.”
You know, he’s got a point.
Patel is the former managing attorney for the Energy and Utilities Unit at Community Legal Services. During his testimony, he told the committee that PECO shut off electricity for 125,000 households due to inability to pay. Of those households, only 100,000 were able to get their service restored.
That means that the residents of 25,000 households were sitting in the dark and watching the food that they paid for with money they didn’t really have spoil because the refrigerator wasn’t working.
Seeing as the law mandating a winter moratorium on utility shutoffs expired in 2024, it could have gotten ugly for those families.
But while some bold action regarding affordability is needed, I’m not sure we’re going to get it, especially since the 2027 Municipal Elections are around the corner and “bold” and “electoral politics” don’t seem to hang out much these days.
You can read the Cost of Living Task Force report at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BL-LqsG32rKlo4yc5fXsGcDKwiZ_dxK6/view.
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