After the Sixers arena debacle, Philly City Council is back and ready to work on anything else

Philadelphia lawmakers and the 76ers might need a little cooling-off period.

After City Council spent much of last year debating whether to approve legislation for a controversial new Sixers arena in Center City, then passed said legislation, the team’s owners scrapped those plans just a couple of weeks later and announced they had struck a deal to stay in South Philly.

Now, two weeks after that public about-face, Council members are set to return from their annual winter break to start the spring legislative session, and many said they are ready to work on something — anything — else.

» READ MORE: Philly City Council is considering fewer bills than it has in years. Does that matter?

Several members want to explore legislation to protect undocumented immigrants in preparation for the new presidential administration. A few have housing proposals and tax cuts to float. One wants to hold hearings on problems with the city’s 311 line. Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in an interview that he wants to tackle housing, homelessness, and poverty — no small problems — and get a city budget passed by June.

Here are five things we’re watching for as Council returns Thursday for the first meeting of its spring session.

On Wednesday, before Council’s first meeting of the year even took place, a half dozen members held a lengthy committee hearing on the city’s preparedness for the new administration under President Donald Trump. The hearing was largely focused on immigration and comes as Trump has promised a historic crackdown on undocumented immigrants, of whom there are an estimated 50,000 in Philadelphia.

No legislation came out of the hearing. The purpose was to explore potential safeguards the city could put into place to protect residents who are immigrants, as well as protecting members of the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups. This spring, lawmakers may consider more specific protections to bolster Philadelphia’s code or explore services the city can offer to immigrant groups.

The hearing, called by Councilmember Rue Landau, came as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has faced pressure to reassert Philadelphia’s status as a sanctuary city, which was enshrined by an executive order signed by her predecessor, Jim Kenney.

» READ MORE: Philly Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is among the Democrats trying to coexist with Trump

“My biggest concern is our own preparedness,” said Councilmember Kendra Brooks, of the progressive Working Families Party, “particularly given the lack of information we’ve heard coming from the administration regarding their approach to Trump.”

Don’t expect Council to take up legislation on the Sixers arena 2.0 this spring.

Besides the fact that members don’t seem to have an appetite for it, Parker said the city has to renegotiate a new deal with the 76ers, whose owners teamed up with Comcast Spectacor to build an arena in the South Philadelphia sports complex. The process of negotiating a community-benefits agreement and drafting legislation is a long one that took place over more than a year in the last go-round.

Johnson said he is currently focused on other agenda items. Asked whether Council would take up new legislation this spring, he said twice: “Our current schedule is focusing on that budget.”

Speaking of the budget: Parker will deliver her budget proposal to Council in March, and she is likely to include some adjustments to the city’s revenue streams, either changing the tax structure or cutting rates.

Her budget proposal last year did not include incremental cuts to the city’s wage and business taxes, a departure from past mayors who, over three decades, began their administrations by pushing to lower taxes. Parker has said she is in favor of reducing the city’s tax burden over time, but is awaiting the results of a review by the city’s Tax Reform Commission that was convened by Johnson.

That advisory committee is expected to release its report in mid-February, in time to inform the mayor’s budget proposal and Council’s consideration of it. It’s a business-friendly group that is likely to recommend tax cuts.

In the weeks and months following the budget proposal, Council members will wrangle over it with one another and the administration through a series of public hearings and behind closed doors. They will likely look to pass the budget in June.

Last spring was a rocky one for the mayor and Council. They publicly feuded over the school board, the open-air drug market in Kensington, and communication snafus that left some members peeved at the nascent administration.

However, by the time Parker’s first budget proposal came around, it seemed the relationship was still on track. Lawmakers granted Parker most of her budget requests, and they spent much of the fall debating and approving the arena project that she strongly supported.

» READ MORE: Mayor Cherelle Parker called the Sixers’ decision to stay in South Philly ‘a curveball.’ Some say she just whiffed.

That makes year two a make-or-break for Parker and her ability to advance her agenda through the city’s legislative branch. Her honeymoon period is decidedly over. Members are angry about how the Sixers arena debacle ended, and some are getting restless about the persistent drug traffic in Kensington.

Luckily for Parker, her major priorities this year are likely to find support in Council. She has said she will focus much of her second year in office on her still-to-come plan to address housing and the city’s supply of affordable units, issues that most members have long worked to address themselves.

“Housing inequality issues are something I’m very, very passionate about and something I’ve always worked on,” Johnson said. “So we’ll be working in partnership with the administration.”

The intense focus on Kensington from City Council and the Parker administration will likely continue this year.

The Parker administration is expected to ask for funding to operate its new recovery house in Northeast Philadelphia. And Council is still working through legislation aimed at implementing new regulations in Kensington.

Last fall, Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who represents parts of the neighborhood, put on hold a bill that would regulate mobile service providers that bring medical care and supplies to people in the neighborhood, many of whom live on the streets.

The legislation, which prohibits mobile units from operating on residential blocks and near schools, as well as within 100 feet of one another, proved controversial. Lozada’s office said it held the bill to meet with residents and service providers to discuss potential amendments.

Separately, Council may also dig into 311, the city’s nonemergency line that residents use to log service requests on matters like trash pickup or abandoned vehicles.

Councilmember Mike Driscoll plans to introduce a resolution Thursday to hold hearings that would review how the city can improve efficiency and streamline communication between 311 call-takers and the agencies that fulfill requests.