💰 Should PA lawmakers get paid if there’s no budget?

‘Remove Racial’: Philly’s DEI Whitewash

Before the city scrapped its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative for government contracts and replaced it with what Mayor Parker called “a DEI model of the future,” internal documents obtained by The Inky reveal how deep the DEI purge had gone. For example when city agencies vowed in a public documents to advance “racial equity,” the Philadelphia Law Department instructed it to remove the word “racial.” [🎧 City Cast Philly, 🔒The Inquirer]

• Related: This policy change is one of several decisions sparking debate on whether Parker is being too accommodating to President Trump. [🎧 City Cast Philly]

Sidewalk Dining Could Expand in Philly Next Year

Restaurant owners expressed frustration when their pandemic-era outdoor dining structures had to be removed due to new regulations. Now the city is trying to make the process to obtain permits easier just in time for 2026’s major events. [CBS Philly]

• Related: Until the weather’s nice enough to dine out again, here are the best designed restaurants and best places to dine out alone in the city. [🎧 City Cast Philly]

New ‘Quinta Brunson Field Trip Fund’ To Support Philly Schools

The “Abbott Elementary” star doesn’t just recreate iconic Philly field trips for the show; she’s now making them a reality for students in the city through a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. Teachers and administrators can apply for grants, made available twice a year, to fund school trips. [Philly Voice]

Prepare To Get Stuck Behind More Amazon Trucks

Because everything needs to arrive as quickly as a pizza these days, the e-commerce giant rolled out its new expedient delivery service here on Monday. Not all of your online shopping can arrive in 30 minutes, but items like diapers or medication are eligible, with a fee of course. [🔒 Philly Mag]

• Related: It can take less than 30 minutes for your package to get swiped from your stoop, especially during the holidays. Here’s how to protect your orders from porch pirates. [🎧 City Cast Philly]

After a 135-day impasse, Pennsylvania got a $50.1 billion state budget that lacked a dedicated funding mechanism for SEPTA, ended the state’s participation in a climate program to curb carbon pollution, and failed to resolve the skill-game funding debate.

Meanwhile as school districts, nonprofits, and counties are recovering from months of trying to make ends meet without a state budget, legislators got their 3.25% raises with neither a delay nor a vote, increasing their base salaries to $113,575. So what did Harrisburg learn from this and is this going to happen again next budget cycle?

State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, whose district covers parts of West, South, and Southwest Philly as well as sections of Delaware Country, sat down with City Cast Philly host Trenae Nuri to share what legislators could have done differently and how he really feels about U.S. Sen. John Fetterman.

I recently heard you on WURD Radio talk about an idea to have legislators not getting paid when there is a budget impasse. Do you think that would incentivize [lawmakers] so that we didn't have 135 days where we're just all waiting for money?

“ I think everybody knows if you don't get a paycheck, it moves you to a different place, right? Think about a person who goes on strike. They will say, ‘I'm for organizing,’ et cetera, until they’re like, ‘Wait a minute, I can't afford to not pay my mortgage.’ We're no different. We're not immune to that.

“The general assembly runs [for re-election] next spring. In that primary, you should ask the person who's running, ‘Will you support the legislation that says this next budget cycle, if you don't pass the budget, you do not get paid on July the first?’ ... I would expect if the public begins to pick that up, one, that'll become law. Two, we will not spend that much time passing a budget.”

[Over the summer] we saw so many signs in our neighborhoods, like, "Hey, this bus is not gonna be available soon." Children were late to school. Sometimes people ... had to find all sorts of ways just to get to work. They felt like maybe they were basically screwed over. So I wanna talk about that.

“ We failed … we have a Band-Aid that we put on it for a year, but I do believe there's promise. Next year's budget will be addressing that issue along with a few others.

”We just went through an election cycle that made a very big statement about how people felt about all these issues, and both parties are gonna respond to that. I know for a fact we're not gonna go through what we just went through.”

Are you interested in maybe a higher office?

“I don't think I should be running for any advanced office now. I will make one exception… There is a U.S. Senate seat held by a Democrat from Pennsylvania. If somebody said, ‘I'll give you a hundred billion dollars to challenge that person,' I would do it."