Pennsylvania Bills

in committee · Pennsylvania · Senate Mar 30, 2026

SB 1250: An Act providing for legal protections from abusive work environments and for remedies.

This bill, known as the Safe Workplace Act, establishes legal protections against abusive work environments in Pennsylvania by defining and prohibiting abusive conduct such as sabotage, unreasonable workloads, excessive monitoring, and persistent verbal abuse. It applies to all employees and employers, including independent contractors who meet specific criteria, and covers actions by supervisors, coworkers, or the employer itself. The law prohibits retaliation against employees who report abuse and holds both employers and individual employees liable for violations, requiring employers to take reasonable preventive and responsive measures to maintain safe workplaces.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · Pennsylvania · House Mar 30, 2026

HB 2334: An Act amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in registration of vehicles, further providing for period of registration.

This bill allows Pennsylvania vehicle owners to choose a two-year registration option instead of renewing annually. Under the new provision, drivers can pay a fee equal to twice the standard annual rate, reduced by at least 10% of the total registration fee excluding local use charges. The option applies to most motor vehicles but excludes those registered under the International Registration Plan, seasonal registrations, and circus or carnival plates. The change would take effect 60 days after the bill is enacted.

Topics ✓ Transportation

Ed Neilson (D) · 24 co-sponsors

in committee · Pennsylvania · House Mar 30, 2026

HB 2338: An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, providing for safeguarding personal expression at K-12 schools.

This Pennsylvania bill, HB 2338, amends the Public School Code of 1949 to protect student expression in K-12 schools by requiring school entities to adopt policies safeguarding religious, political, and ideological speech. The legislation prohibits discrimination or penalties against students for expressing viewpoints in class, assignments, presentations, or student-led gatherings, provided such expression occurs in the same time, place, and manner as other students. While protecting student speech, the bill allows schools to restrict unprotected expression like threats, obscenity, or conduct that substantially disrupts school operations. Students who believe their rights are violated can file lawsuits seeking damages and other relief, with the state waiving immunity to allow such cases in federal court.

Topics ✓ Education

in committee · Pennsylvania · Senate Mar 30, 2026

SB 1253: An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in interscholastic athletics accountability, providing for playoffs and championships.

This bill amends Pennsylvania's Public School Code to require the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to establish separate playoffs and championships for traditional public schools and non-traditional schools, including charter, private, and parochial schools. The legislation mandates a public process that includes joint meetings with oversight committees, public notice, acceptance of testimony, and open board deliberations where the association must discuss the decision and its fiscal impact. The association must document its reasoning and submit the final decision to the oversight committee within five days, ensuring transparency in how the separation of athletic competitions is determined.

in committee · Pennsylvania · Senate Mar 30, 2026

SB 1254: An Act amending Title 66 (Public Utilities) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in Public Utility Commission, further providing for consumer protection and information.

This bill requires Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission to create a public online database tracking all utility rates and rate increase requests. The database must be searchable by company, utility type, year, or docket number and include data from the previous 20 years. The commission must update the database within 10 days of receiving a new rate increase request and make it available on its website. The bill allows the commission to hire a third party to manage the database and takes effect immediately upon passage.

in committee · Pennsylvania · Senate Mar 30, 2026

SB 1255: An Act amending the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, No.2), known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971, in personal income tax, further providing for classes of income and providing for exclusion of tips from taxable income.

This bill amends Pennsylvania's Tax Reform Code to exclude tips from taxable personal income. It directly affects employees who receive tips, such as restaurant and hospitality workers, by removing these earnings from their taxable income calculations. The legislation defines tips as voluntary customer payments and explicitly excludes employer-mandated fees or service charges from this exclusion. The Department of Revenue will create regulations to implement the change and prevent fraud or misclassification of wages as tips. The law takes effect 60 days after passage and applies to the next fiscal year following that date.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · Pennsylvania · Senate Mar 30, 2026

SB 1239: An Act amending the act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.805, No.247), known as the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, in zoning, further providing for ordinance provisions.

This bill amends Pennsylvania's Municipalities Planning Code to allow local governments to approve certain residential developments without enforcing standard zoning restrictions like minimum lot sizes, building height limits, or mandatory setbacks. It applies specifically to multifamily, mixed-use, and adaptive reuse projects in nonresidential zones, provided the developer has secured water and sewer connections from municipal systems. Under the new rules, these developments would not be subject to existing zoning requirements for density, parking, walls, fences, or open space, while still maintaining basic accessibility standards. The legislation defines key terms such as mixed-use (residential with less than 50% nonresidential space on the first floor) and adaptive reuse (retaining at least two exterior walls of an existing building). The changes take effect 60 days after the bill is enacted.

Topics ✓ Housing

in committee · Pennsylvania · Senate Mar 30, 2026

SB 1203: An Act amending Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in dispositions independent of letters, family exemption, probate of wills and grant of letters, providing for small estate primary residence affidavit.

This bill creates a new legal process in Pennsylvania that allows families to transfer a deceased person's primary residence without going through full probate court proceedings. The law applies only to homes valued at $150,000 or less and requires the homeowner to have been legally domiciled in a county that has established an affidavit process. Family members who can prove their income is below 120% of the federal poverty guidelines would receive a waiver of filing fees when using this simplified transfer method. The court can issue a distribution decree without requiring formal letters of administration or a probated will, and the process includes a two-year window for challenging improper distributions. The provision would expire seven years after it takes effect, with a required study on its implementation before any renewal decision.

in committee · Pennsylvania · Senate Mar 30, 2026

SB 1252: An Act amending the act of November 26, 1982 (P.L.744, No.203), referred to as the Prothonotary Fee Law, further providing for automation fee for prothonotary's office.

This bill amends Pennsylvania's Prothonotary Fee Law to allow prothonotaries in specific county classes to charge a new automation fee of up to $10 for initiating legal actions. The collected fees must be deposited into a special county fund dedicated solely to funding automation and ongoing technology updates for the prothonotary's office. The fee amount can be increased no more than once every three years, with any increase capped by the percentage change in the national Consumer Price Index. The legislation takes effect 60 days after passage.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Technology

in committee · Pennsylvania · Senate Mar 30, 2026

SB 1219: An Act amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, in lien of accounts due the Commonwealth and procedure in case of nonpayment, providing for liens against private property improved or renovated with State appropriations.

This bill amends Pennsylvania's Fiscal Code to allow the state to place liens on private property that was improved or renovated using state grant or loan money if the recipient used the funds without proper authorization. Under the new provisions, state agencies must notify the Department of Revenue and the recipient when misuse is detected, and the state can then recover the unapproved funds through civil action. The lien attaches to the property itself and takes priority over most other debts, except for existing mortgages and real estate taxes, but it cannot be enforced until the property is sold or transferred. The Department of Revenue must record the lien with the county prothonotary and notify the property owner by registered mail.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes

passed · Pennsylvania · House Mar 30, 2026

HB 802: An Act amending the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law, in procedure, further providing for exceptions for public records.

HB 802 amends Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law to add two new exceptions for public records: (1) notes and working papers used solely for personal purposes (like telephone message slips or routing slips with no official purpose) and (2) records disclosing the identity of a claimant or victim in a settlement of a sexual harassment or assault case. The bill clarifies that these exceptions do not apply to financial records, meaning agencies must still release financial records but may redact the specific protected portions. This change affects how public agencies handle record requests, particularly for personal employee materials and sensitive victim information. The bill takes effect 60 days after enactment.

passed · Pennsylvania · House Mar 30, 2026

HB 1191: An Act amending Title 66 (Public Utilities) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in railroads, providing for prohibition on blocking of crossings, for limitation on length of freight or work trains, for authorization to monitor safety practices and operations by collective bargaining representatives, for safe staffing levels for trains or light engines, for wayside detector systems, for study of transportation of hazardous materials or waste, for reporting system for transportation of hazardous materials or waste and for hazard impact assessment; and imposing penalties.

HB 1191 strengthens railroad safety in Pennsylvania by prohibiting railroads from blocking highway crossings for more than five minutes (with $10,000 penalties), limiting freight train lengths to 8,500 feet, and requiring two-person crews for freight trains (with limited exceptions for smaller railroads). The bill authorizes union representatives to monitor safety practices and operations, mandates functional wayside detector systems on higher-risk tracks, and creates a reporting system for hazardous materials transportation. It directly affects all railroads operating in Pennsylvania, including their safety protocols, staffing, and infrastructure maintenance. Penalties for violations range from $1,000 to $25,000 for crew-related breaches, with enforcement handled by the Public Utility Commission.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment ✓ Transportation

Rob Matzie (D) · 28 co-sponsors

Bill results