Mark B. Cohen - Independence From City Hall

Independence From City Hall

Under state law, Philadelphia is not allowed to raise taxes in mid-year without state legislative approval. Cohen actively opposed requests from Philadelphia Mayors Frank L. Rizzo and William J. Green, III to gain such approval. Rizzo's request was defeated in the state house, and Green's request never came up for a vote. No subsequent mayor requested a mid-year tax increase.

Like many other Philadelphia elected officials, Cohen did not sign off on plans of some advisors to Mayor W. Wilson Goode and Mayor Ed Rendell for the city to surrender control of the Philadelphia Airport to a proposed multi-county or multistate authority. While Rendell still had the status of Mayor-Elect, Rendell's campaign manager and future Chief of Staff David L. Cohen, no relation to the state legislator, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that "Control of the airport will be dealt with right after Rendell takes office on Jan. 6 and tackles the city's three biggest problems,... 'finance, finance, and finance.'" Rendell found little out of state interest in the Philadelphia Airport, and then focused on a multicounty authority. "I think a Pennsylvania regional authority is the way to go, and I hope the state legislature puts it on the front burner when they come back into session," Rendell said. But he ran into resistance from the Philadelphia delegation to the House of Representatives, whose chairman Anthony Hardy Williams said " I'm looking for what's best for Philadelphia County. There is no crisis. We don't need to do anything right away." An Inquirer article noted that the goals of a multicounty authority were to end requirements that airport employees be city residents, and to end restrictive procedures of competitive bidding that "make it difficult to buy equipment and supplies in a timely manner." Rendell was a strong critic of union work rules at the Philadelphia Airport. Along with getting increased state aid, cutting labor costs was a key for him to balance the city budget and cut city taxes.

As Democratic House Majority Caucus Chairman in 1992, Cohen was one of the people with the ability to put a bill establishing a state authority to run the Philadelphia Airport "on the front burner" of the House, but he did not do so. A strong ally of the labor movement and a strong supporter of residency requirements even when opposed by a labor union, Cohen was one of the least likely legislators to be converted to a plan endangering existing jobs and reducing the number of Philadelphians likely to be hired in the future. He endured petty harassment from Rendell's chief of staff and his biographer.

No bill creating an authority for the Philadelphia Airport ever became law. Cohen hailed a subsequent effort to form a special committee to study the sale of the Philadelphia Airport, on which he would later serve, saying it was much better to study it publicly than behind closed doors. The Philadelphia Airport was never sold.

When Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter proposed eliminating 11 branch libraries in 2008, Cohen strongly opposed the branch library eliminations. Two of the proposed library closings were in his legislative district. His public opposition began within days of Mayor Nutter's announcement. He called it "outrageous and deeply wrong" to cut libraries for lower-income people. "Cutting the services of low-income people in order to cut taxes for high-income people...is indefensible," he said, noting that the city's wealthiest neighborhoods had been untouched in planned library closures. Ultimately, none of the branch libraries were shut down.

Despite his opposition to some mayoral proposals over the years, Cohen was endorsed for renomination in the April 24, 2012 Democratic primary by incumbent Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, former Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, and former Philadelphia Mayor and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, among others.