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City Council recalls and reconsiders prison-oversight charter amendment, places bill 240-817 on second-reading calendar
Summary
Philadelphia City Council on Jan. 23 adopted a resolution asking the mayor to return bill 240‑817 — a proposed Home Rule Charter amendment to create a Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board — and voted to reconsider the council vote that had passed the bill, placing it on the second‑reading calendar.
Philadelphia City Council on Jan. 23 adopted a resolution requesting the mayor return bill number 240‑817 and then formally reconsidered the council vote that had passed the bill. Council members voted to place the measure on the second‑reading and final‑passage calendar for the next session.
The move began when Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas asked the council to suspend rules to allow consideration of a resolution seeking the mayor’s return of bill 240‑817, described in the resolution as “providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia” an amendment to the Home Rule Charter to create a Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board and an Office of Prison Oversight. The suspension motion passed by voice vote, and the recall resolution was adopted by voice vote.
The clerk then read a letter returning the bill to council as requested. Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas moved that the council reconsider the earlier vote on bill 240‑817; that motion also carried by voice vote. Council President Kenyatta Johnson announced that, following reconsideration, the bill would be placed on the second‑reading and final‑passage calendar at the next session of council.
Council members did not record a roll‑call tally in the transcript for the reconsideration motion; the record shows voice votes and the chair’s announcement that a majority voted in the affirmative. The resolution and reconsideration proceeded under suspended rules, a parliamentary step the council used to consider the matter during the Jan. 23 session.
No formal amendments to the text of bill 240‑817 were recorded in the Jan. 23 proceedings. The transcript includes the clerk’s readback of the bill’s long title and the mayor’s letter returning the bill. The council’s action means the measure will appear on the next session’s calendar for a second reading and possible final passage or further amendment.
A mayoral name is not provided in the passage of the resolution in the transcript; the clerk read a letter “to the president and members of the council” returning the bill as requested. The council’s notice to place the bill on the second‑reading calendar fulfills the procedural step announced on the floor and does not itself enact the charter amendment.
