Philadelphia City Council’s Committee on Finance passed through five of six bills considered Wednesday, including an alteration to tax laws allowing businesses to carry net operating losses for a longer period on their tax returns. The only bill voted down was a change to tobacco licenses, allowing them to change locations or holders.

Introduced by Councilman Mark Squilla (D-District 1), the measure would roll back restrictions set in 2016 that blocked all transfers.

The Independent Fiscal Office latest numbers project a $1.7 billion deficit, a report that new Democratic fiscal chief Rep. Matt Bradford (D-Montgomery) would have preferred not to have seen.

“I only read good news,” he joked.

But the Minority Appropriations Committee Chair will likely be hearing a lot about that total over the next few months, as the General Assembly turns the page from the smooth election year budgeting of this year to 2019.

Hunger and housing advocates from around the city gathered in Pittsburgh City Council chambers to plead with council members to restore or increase funding to their respective organizations. 

Philadelphia’s Committee on Licenses and Inspections passed a bill creating guidelines for regulating and inspecting lead paint in schools Monday.

First introduced by Councilman Mark Squilla (D-District 1), the measure establishes a new certificate of inspection for these buildings and outlines how these should take place. It also recognizes an advisory group that includes advocates, the district, and the teachers union to suggest further legislation.

A top Senate Republican is preparing a bill to let the General Assembly take control of the timeline for Pennsylvania’s 67 counties to replace their voting machines, but action could run afoul of a newly-settled lawsuit.

In response to a plan from Gov. Tom Wolf released in April, Senate Majority Whip John Gordner (R-Columbia) is circulating a co-sponsor memo to delay the decertification of any state voting machines until Wolf and the legislature can agree on funding the estimated $125 million expense.