NATION IN BRIEF : PENNSYLVANIA : Early Tax Payments to Help Philadelphia

Several of the largest employers in Philadelphia have agreed to prepay $50 million in wage taxes to help the city government, which is expected to go broke in December. They include the University of Pennsylvania, Bell of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Electric Co. and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, according to reports in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. The city failed last month to sell $375-million worth of temporary loan notes meant to keep it going until spring, when property taxes are due.