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City of Philadelphia's Health Plan to Cover 'Gender Confirmation' Surgery

"[Philadelphia's] City Council approved a bill ... that would require the city's health plan to pay for transgender city workers to complete 'gender-confirmation surgery'.... The bill would establish transgender health benefits for city workers to cover psychotherapy, hormone treatments, laser-hair removal and gender-confirmation surgery, which costs about $50,000 per procedure.... The bill would also provide up to two tax credits ... to companies that start offering health care for life partners and their children and covering transgender medical needs."

Philadelphia Pension Board Sets Reform Standards for Continued Investment in Gun Industry Stocks

"The board established procedures to track whether the companies are complying with the principles, and to dump its investments within 15 months if the companies fail to comply. Between its direct investments and holdings in hedge funds that invest in gun makers, distributors and retailers, the city owns about $15 million in gun-related investments, about one-quarter of 1 percent of its total portfolio, according to a staff analysis. Besides well-known gun makers like Smith & Wesson, the list extends to major retailers like Walmart."

Philadelphia City Council Tries to Ease Surge in Deferred Retirement Option Plan Applications

Excerpt: DROP allows employees of retirement age who have worked for the city at least 10 years to collect a lump payment when they leave the city in exchange for accepting a lower pension payment during retirement. Council has hired its own actuary to evaluate the cost of DROP and plans to start debating over the program this fall.

Philadelphia Can Repeal DROP, But Outcome of Court Challenge Uncertain

Excerpt: [The Philadelphia City Solicitor]'s 13-page assessment says a sentence in the 1999 law stating that DROP 'will continue under the same terms indefinitely unless and until further amended by City Council' means Council has the right to repeal it.

In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Council Members Weigh in on DROP

Excerpt: DROP has become one of the most contentious political issues in the city. This month, a report commissioned by Mayor Nutter said the program had cost the city an extra $258 million in pension expenses over the last 10 years.

Philadelphia's Deferred Retirement Option Plan Pays City Employees Six-Figure Cash Bonuses When They Retire

Excerpt: Rather than get rid of it, city officials have raised property taxes 10 percent and passed budget cuts that will shut down firehouses, whack millions of dollars in police overtime, and shelve plans to hire 200 new cops.

Philadelphia, PA Wants Union Members to Share Health Costs

Excerpt: To help curb growing health-care costs, the Nutter administration wants members of Philadelphia's largest municipal employee union, District Council 33, to start paying for the health benefits they receive. The city is also seeking to take over the billing responsibility to insurance carriers from all four city unions, which together represent 20,000 workers. Both moves represent a remarkable shift from current practices, and are among the more aggressive and controversial proposals made by the city as it pursues new labor contracts with the police and firefighters unions, and District Council 33 and District Council 47 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. Contracts with all four expired June 30.

Pennsylvania Senate Passes Public Employee Pension Changes

Excerpt: After months of agonizing delays, state lawmakers yesterday gave Philadelphia the temporary sales-tax hike and two-year reprieve from pension payments Mayor Nutter had sought to plug the remaining $700 million hole in a multiyear deficit that once stood at $2.4 billion.... The other crucial pieces of the bill are pension-related. One addresses the city's immediate cash-flow crunch, permitting it to defer payments for the next two years. Those deferrals have to be paid back, with interest, beginning in 2013. Another key pension provision extends the amortization period from 20 years to 30 years, in effect spreading the city's pension burden over a longer period. Unlike earlier versions of the bill, the legislation passed yesterday does not include any statewide pension changes or cap or cut back retirement benefits for current or future Philadelphia employees.

Dupont Sued by Workers Over Pension Fund Payments

Excerpt: The International Brotherhood of Dupont Workers has sued the Wilmington-based chemical company and its pension fund, saying that company efforts to streamline its payroll system by hiring an outside contractor to manage it has led to workers' being shortchanged on their pension payments. The federal lawsuit, filed July 24 in the Eastern District of Virginia, involves four DuPont Co. facilities, including Philadelphia's. Affected are about 500 employees, including as many as 100 from Philadelphia, who retired after July or Aug. 2008, or will retire as Dupont seeks voluntary retirements to reduce layoffs.

Judge Awards Late Lawyer's Benefits to Lesbian Spouse

"A federal judge in Philadelphia ruled Monday that the lesbian spouse -- and not the parents -- of a deceased city lawyer should receive the proceeds of her firm's profit-sharing plan. U.S. District Judge C. Darnell Jones II said the nearly $49,000 payment that Sarah Ellyn Farley earned at Cozen O'Connor belonged to her spouse as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month to invalidate the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Farley worked six years at the firm's Chicago office and never in Pennsylvania. She and Jennifer Tobits married in 2006 in Canada and lived in Illinois."