An Act amending Title 51 (Military Affairs) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in general provisions, providing for veteran of Korean Armed Forces.
SB 173 extends Pennsylvania's veteran benefits and recognition to eligible veterans of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces who served during the Vietnam War (January 9, 1962 - May 7, 1975) and are recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under 38 U.S.C. § 109. It defines "eligible veteran of the Korean Armed Forces" as meeting these criteria and requires proof of service (like discharge papers or VA documentation) for benefits. The bill ensures these veterans receive the same rights, benefits, and privileges as Pennsylvania veterans of U.S. military forces. This policy change directly affects Korean veterans meeting the specific service period and VA recognition requirements.
Bill status
passed
4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Governor
Introduced Jan 23, 2025
Last action Mar 19, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Printer's No. PN0181
→
Printer's No. PN0432
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill text was updated to reflect its progression through the legislative process, changing the printer's number from 181 to 432 and updating the amendment history to show it was reported from the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness. Substantively, the language regarding eligibility for Korean War veterans was modified to remove all-caps formatting and ensure consistent sentence structure, while the definition of 'eligible veteran' was streamlined to remove redundant capitalization.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to apply to residents of Pennsylvania who are eligible veterans of the Korean Armed Forces.
TECHNICAL
Updated the header and amendment history to reflect the bill's new printer's number (PN 0432) and its reporting from the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness on March 19, 2025.
ELIGIBILITY
Reformatted the eligibility criteria in Section 1(a) to use standard lowercase for the recognition requirement, removing redundant all-caps text that was present in the previous version.
DEFINITION
Revised the definition of 'eligible veteran of the Korean Armed Forces' in Section 1(c) to use standard lowercase for the recognition requirement, ensuring consistency with the rest of the bill.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 5, 2025 · House Mar 19, 2025
How they voted
49–0
Passed
Total votes 49
Feb 5, 2025
D
Democratic22
100% Yea
R
Republican27
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
13
Key actions
6
Committee
5
Amendments
2
Mar 19, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (26-0)
house
Mar 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported as amended
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Committee
Referred to Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness
lower
Feb 5, 2025
Upper · Passed
Third consideration and final passage
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
Amended on third consideration
upper
Jan 29, 2025
Upper · Passed
Re-reported as committed
upper
Jan 29, 2025
Committee
Re-referred to Appropriations
upper
Jan 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported as committed
upper
Jan 23, 2025
Committee
Referred to Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness
upper
1 primary · 17 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Tracy Pennycuick
RRepublican
Co
Cris Dush
RRepublican
Co
Devlin Robinson
RRepublican
Co
Doug Mastriano
RRepublican
Co
Elder Vogel
RRepublican
Co
Frank Farry
RRepublican
Co
Jay Costa
DDemocratic
Co
John Kane
DDemocratic
Co
Judy Ward
RRepublican
Co
Kristin Phillips-Hill
RRepublican
Co
Lisa Baker
RRepublican
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