PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A Philadelphia City Council committee has approved a scaled-down version of a mandatory earned sick leave bill.  On the path of what supporters are hoping will be a better outcome this year, the measure now goes to the full City Council for a vote.

This past spring, City Council passed a mandatory earned sick leave bill covering all businesses in the city, but it was vetoed by the mayor as too costly.

Now, City Council’s Committee on Commerce and Economic Development has approved Councilman Wilson Goode’s scaled-back version that would require paid sick leave only at large firms that have large city government contracts.

The Nutter administration and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce remain opposed to the measure.

At the hearing, Goode grilled the Chamber of Commerce’s representative, Denise Early, about the Chamber’s own sick leave policy.

(Goode:)  “Does the Chamber offer earned sick leave?”

(Early:)  “Yes it does.”

(Goode:)  “Do you expect the Chamber’s sick leave policy to change as a result of the public policy position you are taking today?”

(Early:)  “No, I do not.”

(Goode:)  “So the Chamber will continue to offer earned sick leave to its employees?”

(Early:)  “Yes.”

Goode’s bill would specifically cover for-profit firms that earn more than $1 million a year and have contracts with City Hall of more than $10,000 a year.

Reported by KYW City Hall bureau chief Mike Dunn