Dear Friends,
Several of you have reached out after my last email with questions about specific bills and their status in the legislative process. This week, I want to take a step back and explain how that process works, what happens at the end of a legislative session, and what it means for the bills still awaiting action.
Pennsylvania’s legislative sessions run for two years. At the end of each session, on November 30 of an even-numbered year, legislation that has not been enacted expires. To be considered in the next session, bills must be reintroduced and go through the legislative process again, including drafting, co-sponsorship, introduction and committee assignment, committee consideration, and votes in the House and Senate.
This week, I’ll revisit several bills you’ve specifically asked me about, explain why they matter, outline how far they advanced, and share what I expect may happen before the current session ends on November 30.
Raising the Minimum Wage
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for nearly two decades, while the cost of housing, groceries, utilities and other necessities have continued to climb. Throughout this session and the previous one, the House has repeatedly passed legislation to raise wages for working Pennsylvanians, most recently passing HB 2189 with bipartisan support in March. HB 2189 would gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029, with annual cost-of-living adjustments thereafter.
I believe that if someone works hard and puts in a full 40-hour week, they should be able to afford basics like food, rent, gas, and healthcare. Raising the minimum wage is about giving working people a fair shot, supporting our local economies, and reducing reliance on public assistance to make ends meet. At this point, failure to raise the minimum wage is consistent with subsidizing employers who refuse to pay employees a living wage. This legislation would benefit more than 500,000 workers in the commonwealth.
HB 2189 remains stalled in the Senate, as Senate Republicans have blocked efforts to bring it up for a vote. Senate Leader Costa attempted to bring up a discharge resolution to force consideration of the bill. Still, the Senate Republicans voted against the motion to bring it up for a vote, leaving Pennsylvania workers waiting yet again. The Senate lacks the political will to act on this issue. I do not think we will see action on this issue in our two remaining session days.
Enacting Paid Leave
In Pennsylvania, an estimated 4.3 million workers, about two-thirds of the workforce, lack access to paid family and medical leave. That includes new parents, workers recovering from surgery or cancer treatment, parents caring for a seriously ill child, and adults caring for aging family members. Workers without paid leave may have to drain their savings, take on debt, or return to work before they are ready. Nearly 1 in 4 employed moms return to work within 10 days of giving birth. The burden is especially difficult for lower-wage workers and employees at small businesses, who are less likely to have these benefits through their employers. No one should have to choose between a paycheck and caring for themselves or someone they love.
The House acted on this issue, passing HB 200, the Family Care Act, which would require employers to provide eligible workers with up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement for qualifying medical and family circumstances. The House version places the cost on employers and includes a proposed grant program to help qualifying small businesses, though it still needs funding. The bill passed 107–92 and now sits in the Senate Labor & Industry Committee.
Senator Collett offered a different proposal in the Senate. Her SB 906, which the Senate Labor & Industry Committee approved in June, would create a state-run insurance program funded through employee payroll contributions capped at 1% of income. It would provide leave for a worker’s own serious medical condition or the birth of a child, qualifying family caregiving and other covered circumstances. It was re-referred to the Senate Rules & Executive Nominations Committee and has not received a full Senate vote.
These proposals differ on how paid leave should be funded, but both recognize the need to help workers manage life’s most difficult moments without jeopardizing their financial security. In my opinion, neither proposal can make it through the full legislative process before the end of session.
Limiting Data Centers
The House took meaningful steps to address the challenges posed by data centers and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. We have passed legislation to establish statewide standards for data center development, give municipalities tools to address local impacts, reconsider tax breaks for data centers, increase transparency around public subsidies, and temporarily pause new proposals to allow time to evaluate their consequences.
I am deeply frustrated by the Senate’s failure to act. These are not fringe proposals. Several passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, including a 201–1 vote to pause on data center proposals and a 197–5 vote to reconsider data center tax exemptions. Yet the Senate failed to move these bills. Meanwhile, communities are raising legitimate concerns about rising utility costs, water use, environmental impacts, and whether taxpayers should subsidize some of the world's most profitable companies. Communities should not have to wait until these projects are built and the consequences are harder to address. The Senate’s continued inaction leaves our communities without the safeguards they deserve.
Gun Violence Prevention
Last session, the House made progress on a few gun violence prevention measures, but this session, the House’s record on gun violence prevention has been mixed. We have made progress on some important measures, including passing HB 1593 to expand background checks on firearm sales, including private transactions, gun shows, and online sales. Under current law, some private sales of rifles and shotguns, including AR-15's can take place without a background check. Closing that loophole is a commonsense step toward keeping firearms out of the hands of people who pose a danger to themselves or others. Research shows that background checks can reduce gun homicides and suicides, and in 2024 alone, Pennsylvania State Police conducted more than 1.2 million background checks. Yet gaps in our laws remain, allowing some firearms to change hands without these basic safeguards. Most background checks take less than a minute, but they can help prevent a lifetime of heartbreak for families and communities.
This session, some very meaningful proposals failed to pass by a single vote in the House, including: extreme risk protection orders, restrictions on ghost guns, and a ban on machine-gun conversion devices. Other measures, including secure firearm storage, stalled before reaching a final vote. We have more work to do, and I believe we have a responsibility to keep pursuing practical solutions that can help prevent tragedies and make our communities safer.
The Senate has completely failed to address this crisis. HB 1593 never moved, and all proposals in the Senate to promote safe firearm storage and strengthen gun violence prevention efforts never moved. These are serious public safety issues that deserve serious consideration, not continued inaction. We cannot keep having the same conversations after every tragedy and then fail to act on the solutions before us. Pennsylvanians deserve better.
Public Transportation Funding
Reliable public transportation is essential to our economy and to the people who depend on it to get to work, school, medical appointments and other places. Yet Pennsylvania has struggled for years to establish a sustainable source of funding for transit, leaving agencies facing difficult choices about service cuts, fare increases and how to meet growing need.
Over the past two sessions, the House has tried repeatedly to address this problem. In this session, we passed HB 1364 by a 107–96 vote in June 2025. Without increasing taxes, the bill would change the allocation of existing state sales-tax revenue dedicated to public transportation from 4.4% to 6.15%, helping provide more reliable funding for transit systems across all 67 counties, while also addressing road and bridge funding. In August 2025, the House passed HB 1788 by a vote of 108–95. It included additional transit funding, performance reporting requirements for transit agencies, and support for road and bridge infrastructure. These bills offered concrete proposals to address transit needs while responding to concerns about accountability and transportation funding statewide.
The Senate has had these proposals before it for more than a year and has failed to move either one forward. HB 1364 and HB 1788 remain stalled in the Senate Transportation Committee. The Senate has failed to offer a comprehensive alternative that addresses the long-term funding problem. Meanwhile, transit agencies are left trying to plan for the future without knowing whether they will have the resources to maintain reliable service. Riders face the prospect of service cuts and higher fares, and employers risk losing access to the workers who keep our economy moving. This is not an abstract budget debate; it has real consequences for people’s daily lives, livelihoods, and for communities across Pennsylvania. I do not think either proposal can be enacted before session ends.
Manufactured Homes
My office continues to hear from residents of manufactured home communities from across the commonwealth who are scared about what is happening to their homes and their futures. When companies buy these communities and dramatically increase lot rents, people who own their homes can find themselves facing costs they simply cannot afford. Many are seniors or people on fixed incomes who have few options if they are priced out of the communities they call home. It is heartbreaking to hear these stories, and it is even more frustrating to know that we have a solution sitting in the Senate that could help.
My colleagues and I in the House have done everything we can to protect these residents. We passed House Bill 1250 by a bipartisan vote of 144–59 in June 2025. It has been sitting in the Senate for more than a year, with the Senate refusing to bring it up for a vote and no majority senator willing to send a “dear colleagues” letter to show support to file a discharge resolution.
I find their inaction unconscionable. Residents are begging for help, often in the very communities Senate members represent, and their elected officials could act but refuse to. Instead, these families are left waiting while corporate owners continue to raise rents with too few protections in place. I am deeply disappointed that the Senate has allowed this bill to stall, and I abhor that Senate leadership stopped us from delivering these protections to the people who need them most.
I am not giving up. I will continue to do everything in my power to get this bill across the finish line, and I intend to reintroduce it. Every Senate Democrat has said they would support it, and Gov. Shapiro has said he would sign it. The House has done its job. Now the Senate needs to give this bill a vote and stop leaving residents to face this uncertainty alone. You can see how House members voted here.
In Conclusion
I know and share everyone’s frustration with how many important issues remain unresolved, especially when there are critically important bills pending that could make a real difference in people’s lives today. However, it is also important to understand how the legislative process works, where bills get stuck, and who is responsible for moving them forward. The decisions made in Harrisburg affect our paychecks, our families, our communities, and our futures. That is why it matters to pay attention, ask questions, and make our voices heard. As we approach Election Day, I encourage you to take the time to learn about the issues and participate in the process. Our government belongs to us, and we all have a role in holding it accountable.
As always, thank you for continuing to reach out to my office, sharing your concerns, and asking thoughtful questions. I may not always be able to get every bill across the finish line, but I can promise you that I will keep working on the issues that matter to you and fighting for solutions that make a difference in our communities and across the Commonwealth.