Nutter Reverses Course, Supports Paid Sick Leave

Has vetoed a bill twice; now appoints a study group.

After twice vetoing bills that would grant paid sick leave to the employees of small Philadelphia businesses, Mayor Nutter on Thursday reversed course — saying he now supports such a bill, and appointing a task force to study how such policies have been implemented in other cities.

“I do believe the time has come for the City of Philadelphia to have a paid-sick-leave policy,” Nutter said. “The issue, of course, is always in the details.”

 “On Thursday, he said he simply had not had enough information at the time to support those bills,” the Inquirer reports. “He said he also had not thought the economy was strong enough to impose such a policy.”

The co-chairs of the task force are Lisa Crutchfield, senior vice president of advocacy and public affairs at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and Natalie Levkovich, executive director of the Health Federation of Philadelphia. The group’s report is due Dec. 1st. (Inquirer)