Looking ahead to a new legislative session, state Sen. Anthony Williams recently unveiled his agenda – which includes a proposal to end a phenomenon called “passing the trash” – and discussed several other items that will have a major impact on Philadelphia.

Williams met with The Tribune’s editorial board to discuss legislation being mulled over in the upcoming session. The Senate will reconvene March 5 and the House resumes March 12.

There are several controversial proposals circulating in the General Assembly, and with both chambers controlled by Republicans and a Republican in the governor’s office, the GOP has the ability to move just about any legislation over the objection of Democrats.

That fact worries Williams, who noted that Republicans from both branches are focused on a pushing their version of conservatism though legislation.

“This administration is the most ideological I’ve ever seen,” Williams said.

Chief among them: a voter identification bill, a concept endorsed by Gov. Tom Corbett, legislation that would require voters to provide a state approved ID at the polls before they can vote.

The Senate and House both have their own versions.

Williams said he expects the Senate bill to move out of the state government committee this spring.

“They’re going to try and make it happen,” he said. “I don’t know if the House is lined up, but I’m quite clear that they’re trying to line up the Senate.”

Supports say the proposals would cut down on voter fraud. Critics, including many elected officials from Philadelphia and the surrounding region, charge that it keeps minority and poor voters from casting their ballots.

Another item, which has generated ripples across the state, is a Welfare Department plan to impose an asset test on food stamp recipients. Under the administration’s latest proposal, a household with more than $5,500 in eligible assets for the typical family or $9,000 for a household with an elderly or disabled member, would be barred from receiving food stamps.

Those numbers were an increase from an earlier proposal, in which people under 60 with more than $2,000 in savings or other assets – including an automobile – would have

been barred from receiving food stamps. For people over 60, that threshold was set at $3,250. Asset testing will go into affect May 1.

An estimated 440,000 Philadelphians receive food stamps.

Williams, and a number of other Philadelphia legislators, have proposed a bill that would remove the welfare department’s power to put eligibility restrictions in place without legislative approval.

“We’re trying to eradicate this,” he said.

It was too early to tell if the proposal would be approved by the General Assembly, he said.

The asset test plan now proposed can be put in place without legislative approval because as part of last year’s budget approval process, Corbett and the legislature agreed to trim the welfare department’s budget - and could do so without coming back to the table for more approvals.

Williams has sponsored several other proposals he hopes to see some action on in this session.

Among them is a bill that would hold parents or guardians responsible for crimes committed by a minor in their care.

“It would now rise to a criminal offense,” he said, noting that it would be a third degree misdemeanor.

Under the plan, parents or guardians who “intentionally and knowingly” commit acts that cause their child to become involved in a crime could be prosecuted. The proposal does allow parents to enter, with the approval of the district attorney’s office, a diversion program that requires them to take part in parenting classes.

“Then their record would be expunged,” said Williams.

If they fail to complete the program they would be referred back to the courts for criminal prosecution.

Finally, Williams has also put forth a bill that would force elementary and secondary schools, public and private, to release employment histories for employees and independent contractors, and their employees who come into contact with children if they have ever faced allegations of abuse or sexual misconduct.

“This is a pre-emptive step to protect children before a crime is committed,” he said. “It’s one that’s worked in other states, and we hope it will work in Pennsylvania.”

Personnel files are confidential, and separation agreements negotiated in the wake of accusations usually are too.

“That places the protection of the accused predator above the safety of our children.”

Opposition is expected from the teachers’ union, Williams admitted.

But, he said its time to stop a pattern called “passing the trash” where employees who are accused of abuse or sexual misconduct leave quietly, and then get a job at another school where they can abuse again, all without the knowledge of those who hire them.

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