Squilla hopes to quell registry controversy with revised Philly music club bill

A Philadelphia City Councilman is bringing back a watered-down version of a controversial bill. 

Councilman Mark Squilla’s says his bill is designed to force nightclubs that play recorded music to obtain a license similar to those that have live performances.

“It’s mainly for the clubs and operators now that are already operating as clubs that are skirting the law by not getting a license,” he said.  “This enables us to enforce that and allows [Licenses and Inspections] to say  you need to have a license to open and operate as a nightclub.”

However the bill no longer requires venues to write down names, addresses and phone numbers of performers and share with authorities if asked.  That part sparked strong opposition to the first bill.

“There was never any names collected,” he insisted. “The names were asked to be kept, so that is no longer required. Nothing that was controversial last time was put back into the bill.”

A hearing on the revised bill has not been scheduled.