Pittsburgh City Council members want voters to make it official that the city cannot discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin or association with foreign nations when it conducts business.
A measure to seek a referendum on the matter comes after a pro-Palestinian group last year sought to stop the city from doing business with companies that have ties to Israel. The group was unable to get a referendum on the ballot for November’s general election because of problems collecting eligible signatures.
While the prohibition already exists under state and federal laws, it is absent from the city’s home rule charter — the document that establishes the powers, structure and limits of Pittsburgh’s government. A successful referendum would codify it under the charter.
Council members also hope voters will agree to prohibit using the home rule charter’s amendment process to pass measures that violate state or federal laws.
No War Crimes on Our Dime, which was fighting for the anti-Israel referendum, said it was still working to collect signatures in hopes the measure could appear on the May ballot.
A spokesperson for the organization, who refused to provide her name, declined to comment specifically on the legislation introduced during Wednesday’s council meeting.
City officials and others raised concerns that the measure was antisemitic, could seriously hinder the city’s ability to do business and called on the city to violate state and federal statutes.
If the referendums council introduced Wednesday are approved, such measures would be barred.
“These are guardrails we want to place on the home rule amendment process in the future,” Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill, told TribLive after introducing the legislation Wednesday.
The bills — which she co-sponsored with council members R. Daniel Lavelle, D-Hill District, Bob Charland, D-South Side, Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, and Bobby Wilson, D-North Side — would put the two referendums on the ballot in the May primary.
Council members wrote in the legislation that the city executes thousands of purchase agreements and contracts each year, which are essential to keeping local government functioning.
“The nature of a modern, globally integrated economy dictates that the city engages in business transactions with multinational entities,” the bills said.
It also acknowledged that the city must recognize federal and state laws. Strassburger said the proposal to bar the city from doing business with companies tied to Israel may fly in the face of federal and state regulations.
It would be a waste of the city’s time and money, she said, to try to uphold such a regulation, which would likely be struck down in court.
“It’s not something that I think anyone wants to have to spend time on, but we find ourselves in the position where we have no choice but to push back on something we believe would be unlawful and a huge time and money suck,” Strassburger said.
Wilson, who co-sponsored the bill, said the measures council introduced are “just codifying state law.”
“I think it makes sense,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to have anything passed that’s discriminatory or out of the scope of the city of Pittsburgh’s abilities to do.”
“We always want to make sure that if an initiative is being added to the city that it is on legal, sound footing,” Charland said.
The legislation will next appear on council’s agenda for further discussion next week.
Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, called for a public hearing to discuss the legislation ahead of a final vote.
If the referendums appear on the May ballot, a majority of voters would have to support them for the measures to go into effect.
Julia Burdelski is a TribLive reporter covering Pittsburgh City Hall and other news in and around Pittsburgh. A La Roche University graduate, she joined the Trib in 2020. She can be reached at [email protected].
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