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Briggs announces Judiciary Committee advances warrant requirement, transit protections and court security review

(1 hour ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

HARRISBURG, Oct. 21 – State Rep. Tim Briggs, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that the committee has approved three measures aimed at protecting private property rights and improving safety for public transit workers, passengers and people who work in or visit local courts. “These measures address important protections for Pennsylvanians — on their property, on public transit and in their local courts,” Briggs said. “Each takes a practical step toward making sure people’s rights and safety are respected.” Briggs said the following bills will now head to the full House for consideration: Senate Bill 1431 , sponsored by Sen. Daniel Laughlin, would require Pennsylvania Game Commission personnel to get a valid warrant before entering private property outside of buildings, whether or not the land is posted against trespassing. The bill would add a warrant requirement to the sections of Pennsylvania’s Game Code governing commission personnel and enforcement officers. Current law gives Game Commission personnel broad authority to enter private land outside of buildings, including property marked with no-trespassing signs. Senate Bill 210 , sponsored by Sen. Joe Picozzi, would make it a felony to attack transit workers, physically threaten them with immediate serious injury or death or interfere with their work in a way that injures or kills someone else. The bill Read more

 

Adjusted curfew for youth EMS volunteers to become law

(4 hours ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

HARRISBURG, Oct. 21 – The Pennsylvania Senate yesterday passed H.B. 2014, which would adjust the current curfew rules for minors volunteering with emergency services. The bill, introduced by state Rep. Greg Scott, D-Montgomery, allows minors to engage in training and firefighting activities until 10 p.m. any night of the year. “The number of Pennsylvania residents volunteering for their local fire companies has been in steady decline since the 1970s,” Scott said. “We’re in crisis. Many of our emergency response organizations are chronically understaffed and unable to respond efficiently to calls. This bill helps position us to grow our volunteer base, starting with our youngest volunteers.” Under the state’s Child Labor Act, minors can engage in training or firefighting activities until 10 p.m. the night before a school day. Yet on weekends, holidays and over summer academic breaks, that curfew is only 9 p.m. Scott said that this updated curfew will help support the pipeline of trained volunteers needed to respond to community emergencies. “The restrictions in the old law are arbitrary and only added a barrier for some companies to adequately train new volunteers,” Scott said. “Making the curfew 10 p.m. year-round is a small change that can make scheduling and holding trainings easier on many volunteer-run outfits. That can Read more

 

Neilson applauds passage of Road Work Safety Zone legislation

(21 hours ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

House Bill 2336 will require the Pennsylvania Transportation Department to educate prospective drivers about safety in work zones and the related penalties. PennDOT must also include at least one question relating to safe driving in work zones on the Pennsylvania driver’s license exam. Read more

 

Green bill to make parking fees transparent headed to governor’s desk

(21 hours ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

HARRISBURG, Oct. 20 – A bill sponsored by state Rep. Roni Green, D-Phila., that would require transparency of residential parking fees for tenants has been approved by the Pennsylvania state Senate and is headed to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk for his signature. House Bill 344 would require landlords to define parking availability and the associated fees to prospective tenants before they sign a lease. Green said transparency is needed so people aren’t stuck with unexpected parking fees after moving into a new home. Read more

 

Fiedler celebrates House passage of utility rate transparency bill

(22 hours ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

HARRISBURG, Oct 20 - Today, H.B. 2584, a bill to create a user-friendly public utility rate case record, passed the PA House with unanimous support. State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila., introduced the bill as a companion to a Senate bill (S.B. 1254), sponsored by state Sen. Michele Brooks, R-Crawford/Mercer/Lawrence. The bill would direct the Public Utility Commission to create a centralized, searchable database containing information on all utility rates under the commission’s jurisdiction. Currently, information relating to utility rate increases is accessible only on a case-by-case basis on various pages of the PUC’s website. “As utility bills continue to rise month after month, electric customers deserve to know how those decisions were made — without having to spend countless hours researching and tracking down information,” Fiedler said. “This is a practical change that gives Pennsylvanians more access to information that should already be accessible to them.” Last month, the House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee unanimously approved the bill with an amendment clarifying the exemption for telecommunications carriers. The bill has no known opposition and is supported by the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate. “I appreciate Representative Fiedler introducing H.B. 2584, companion legislation to my S.B. 1254, and am thankful the House Read more

 

Khan’s bipartisan legislation to protect nurses and healthcare workers passes General Assembly

(22 hours ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

The bill now heads to Gov. Josh Shapiro's desk to be signed into law Read more

 

PA House passes first-ever e-scooter regulations

(22 hours ago) Rep. Emily Kinkead

Bipartisan legislation for safe and responsible use of e-scooters advances to Senate Read more

 

Bipartisan bill to prohibit excessively loud ads on streaming services passes PA House

(1 day ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

HARRISBURG, Oct. 20 – On Monday, the PA House passed H.B. 2790, a bill to prohibit excessively loud ads on streaming services, with overwhelming bipartisan support, 189–14. “This bill is simple: what you set is what you should get,” said co-sponsor state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler , D-Phila. “As a lawmaker and as a parent, it’s frustrating for the video you’re watching to be interrupted by an ad at a much louder volume than the original video. I’m glad that we’re one step closer to giving Pennsylvanians the control they deserve with this House vote.” “Whether you live in Philadelphia or Allegheny County, nobody wants commercials blasting through their television, computer, or phone louder than the show they’re watching,” co-sponsor state Rep. Jeremy Shaffer , R-Allegheny, said. “This is commonsense consumer protection that brings streaming services in line with the standards we’ve had for traditional television for years. I’m pleased to have worked with Representative Elizabeth Fiedler in a bipartisan manner to address an annoyance that affects families across Pennsylvania.” While the FCC currently regulates television advertising volume through the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, the law doesn’t apply to internet-based streaming services. The CALM Act went into effect Dec. 13, 2012. Similar Read more

 

Community Violence Prevention, Transportation, Economic Development, and Additional Grant Opportunities

(1 day ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

Community Violence Prevention, Transportation, Economic Development, and Additional Grant Opportunities for your District Read more

 

Steele supports House passage of bill to ban cell phones in schools

(1 day ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

A proposal championed by state Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny, to restrict cellphone use in Pennsylvania schools passed the PA House today on a bipartisan vote, a key step in the process for enacting the legislation in time for the 2027-28 school year. Read more

 

PA House Communications & Technology Committee hears testimony about frontier AI bills

(1 day ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

HARRISBURG, Oct. 19 – The PA House Communications & Technology Committee today held a hearing on two bills that would regulate safety practices for the most capable “frontier” AI models. Read more

 

Worker co-op legislation passes Senate, heads to governor’s desk

(1 day ago) Rep. Rick Krajewski

HARRISBURG, Oct. 19 – Legislation ( H.B. 135 ) introduced by state Rep. Rick Krajewski, D-Phila., unanimously passed the Pennsylvania Senate today (50-0) and will now head to the governor’s desk to be signed into law. “This is commonsense, bipartisan legislation which will make it easier to start a worker cooperative,” Krajewski said. “Co-ops allow workers to wholly own the products of their labor and promote values of democracy, sustainability, and self-determination. Co-ops are proven viable business models and we should do what we can to support workers.” H.B. 135 would lower the number of workers required to form a cooperative from five to three, opening the door to more potential cooperatives to form. Under existing law, would-be cooperative entrepreneurs often choose instead to start LLCs. If they wish to become a worker cooperative later, it requires a burdensome and cost prohibitive refiling process. “This is a small change which will have a huge impact for start-up and conversion worker-owned and democratically run cooperative businesses,” wrote Corey Reidy, Cooperative Development Director at the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance. “More worker-cooperatives will be able to choose the entity which was created for them and will give them the most benefits -- all of which will support the strength of their business and foster further workplace democracy in Read more

 

Fiedler, advocates applaud passage of biggest renewable energy investment in Pennsylvania history

(1 day ago) Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, Rep. Steve Samuelson

HARRISBURG, Oct 19 – Today, the House passed H.B. 1667, which would reform the existing Pennsylvania Economic Development for a Growing Economy, known as EDGE, tax credit and create a new electric usage fee on data centers. Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila., chair of the House Energy Committee, applauded this passage as a win for renewable energy and affordability in the Commonwealth. “This is the largest investment in renewable energy in the Commonwealth’s history,” Fiedler said. “This tax credit will get more clean energy online, which we know will help lower electric bills and improve reliability on a strained grid. We need this urgently to combat the rising cost of electricity, which is causing households all over Pennsylvania a lot of pain. This bill represents one of the biggest environmental wins in Pennsylvania in decades.” "This legislation would impose a fee on the largest energy users, specifically data centers, and turn those revenues into a rebate on the electric bills of average homeowners who are facing rising utility costs," said state Rep. Steve Samuleson, chair of the House Finance Committee. This bill makes a number of changes to the EDGE tax credit: drastically reducing the original allocation for natural gas and reinvesting it in renewable energy like solar and the clean manufacturing sector. Included in the appropriation is $34.7 million available for a Read more

 

O'Mara bill to regulate Flock cameras passes House

(1 day ago) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

On a bipartisan vote, the state House today approved a bill sponsored by state Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, D-Delaware, to protect drivers’ privacy by regulating the use of automated license plate readers such as Flock cameras by government agencies in Pennsylvania. Read more

 

Pielli’s data center regulation bill passes state House

(1 day ago) Rep. Chris Pielli

“Since 2020, when data centers started to be constructed, Pennsylvania’s energy costs have risen by over 70%,” Pielli said. “With there being estimates of up to 130 active data centers with an additional 55 data centers being proposed, planned or under construction, this problem will only get worse without proper regulation. If data centers gain public utility status, they will essentially become digital dictators that could preempt local municipal zoning ordinances and reduce communities’ control over land-use decisions. We need to place guardrails on this issue immediately and ensure that Pennsylvanians have a voice in where these data centers are developed.” Read more

 

Effort to enact 'Marnie's Law' launches in General Assembly

(1 day ago) Southeast Delegation

A new effort was launched in Pennsylvania today to enact “Marnie’s Law,” which would require healthcare providers to be educated on the deadly cancer that killed Emmy-nominated actor Marnie Schulenburg. Read more

 

‘Keeping the Lights On’ in PA: In response to dire PUC warning, House Democrats share policy to prevent grid failures

(Oct 19, 2026) Rep. Kyle T. Donahue

HARRISBURG, Oct 19 – In early September, the PUC released a dire report warning about Pennsylvania’s energy future: because of the skyrocketing demand brought on by AI data centers, blackouts and other grid failures could be six times worse than PJM’s planning standard by 2030. House Democrats and the House Energy Committee today announced a comprehensive, three-pronged approach to addressing and reversing this crisis: generation, efficiency and demand response. The bills in the package are: H.B. 2347: PEDA Modernization (Fiedler) H.B. 2651: Siting New Energy Projects (Steele) H.B. 505: Modernizing Energy Efficiency in the Commonwealth (Donahue) H.B. 660: Energy Efficient Appliances (O’Mara) H.B. 2264: Establishing a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Program (Davidson) H.B. 2380: Reducing utility bills by utilizing grid-scale battery storage (Rivera) “The House Energy Committee has been sounding the alarm on this crisis since day one. We’ve put forward bills that would increase generation, stabilize and modernize our grid, and help us meet demand at those vulnerable, peak moments when power outages are most likely to occur,” said Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, committee chair . “My bill to modernize PEDA as a financing authority would unlock new energy supply, encourage innovation and put people to work across Pennsylvania.” Renewables like Read more

 

Judiciary Committee advances bills to protect privacy, improve public safety

(Oct 15, 2026) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

Judiciary Committee advances bills to protect privacy, improve public safety HARRISBURG, Oct. 15 – House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Tim Briggs today announced the committee recently approved four bills during two meetings, advancing legislation addressing drivers’ privacy, missing-person investigations, sexual assault evidence collection and the dissemination of booking photographs. House Bill 2771 , sponsored by Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, would protect drivers’ privacy by setting rules for how government agencies use automated license plate readers. The bill would limit what agencies can do with the information they collect, prevent it from being improperly shared and require the information to be deleted after a certain period of time. Senate Bill 1273 , sponsored by Sen. Camera Bartolotta, would allow police to use Pennsylvania Turnpike toll records to help find abducted children and missing people when an AMBER or missing endangered person alert has been issued. Giving law enforcement access to this information could provide another important tool to help locate someone quickly and bring them home safely. Senate Bill 1212 , sponsored by Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, would make it easier to track sexual assault evidence kits and ensure they are handled consistently by law enforcement. The bill would also clarify which evidence is considered “awaiting testing,” giving Pennsylvanians a Read more

 

Briggs-sponsored bill to simplify transfer of property to loved ones passes House

(Oct 15, 2026) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

HARRISBURG, Oct. 15 – Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Tim Briggs to give Pennsylvanians more flexibility in planning for the future of their property has passed the House and now heads to the Senate for further consideration. House Bill 2124 would allow property owners to name a loved one or other beneficiary to receive their home or other real estate after their death through a transfer-on-death deed. The deed could be changed or revoked during the owner’s lifetime. “Planning for the future and making sure our loved ones are taken care of should be as straightforward as possible,” Briggs said. “This legislation would give Pennsylvanians another tool to make their wishes known and transfer property to the people they choose, while reducing the need for a potentially lengthy and costly probate process.” Under the bill, property owners could record a transfer-on-death deed with the county recorder of deeds where the property is located. The deed would designate who receives the property upon the owner's death, provided the designated beneficiary survives the owner. The legislation also includes important protections for property owners. A transfer-on-death deed would be revocable during the owner's lifetime and would not prevent the owner from selling, transferring or otherwise dealing with the property. The designated beneficiary would have no ownership interest in the property while the owner is Read more

 

Young introduces legislation to combat bullying in nonpublic schools

(Oct 14, 2026) Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

HARRISBURG, Oct. 14 – State Rep. Regina Young, D-Phila./Delaware, has introduced legislation designed to protect students in Pennsylvania nonpublic schools from bullying. The “Jack Reid Law” was enacted in New York state in October 2025 to extend anti-bullying protections to students attending nonpublic schools, ensuring that all students have access to a safe learning environment regardless of where they attend school. The law is named in memory of Jack Reid, a 17-year-old student whose life was tragically cut short after enduring persistent bullying at a private school.“I was proud to vote for our 2026-27 state budget that strengthens anti-bullying laws in public schools, but we can’t ignore the safety of students in private and parochial schools,” said Young. “Students spend most of their day in school, and as a parent myself, I know the worry of kids being safe while they’re away from home. This bill would provide parents and students the peace of mind of these protections while they’re in school no matter where they attend classes.” More than 250,000 students attend nonpublic schools in Pennsylvania and do not receive the same statutory protection against bullying as students in public schools. House Bill 2816 would require nonpublic schools to: •adopt and periodically review their policies related to bullying, and review the policy with the school community.•make the policy publicly accessible on the school’s internet website, if available, and in every... Read more

 

Briggs announces Judiciary Committee advances warrant requirement, transit protections and court security review
1 hour ago

Adjusted curfew for youth EMS volunteers to become law
4 hours ago

Neilson applauds passage of Road Work Safety Zone legislation
21 hours ago

Green bill to make parking fees transparent headed to governor’s desk
21 hours ago

Fiedler celebrates House passage of utility rate transparency bill
22 hours ago

Khan’s bipartisan legislation to protect nurses and healthcare workers passes General Assembly
22 hours ago

PA House passes first-ever e-scooter regulations
22 hours ago

Bipartisan bill to prohibit excessively loud ads on streaming services passes PA House
1 day ago

Community Violence Prevention, Transportation, Economic Development, and Additional Grant Opportunities
1 day ago

Steele supports House passage of bill to ban cell phones in schools
1 day ago

PA House Communications & Technology Committee hears testimony about frontier AI bills
1 day ago

Worker co-op legislation passes Senate, heads to governor’s desk
1 day ago

Fiedler, advocates applaud passage of biggest renewable energy investment in Pennsylvania history
1 day ago

O'Mara bill to regulate Flock cameras passes House
1 day ago

Pielli’s data center regulation bill passes state House
1 day ago

Effort to enact 'Marnie's Law' launches in General Assembly
1 day ago

‘Keeping the Lights On’ in PA: In response to dire PUC warning, House Democrats share policy to prevent grid failures
Oct 19, 2026

Judiciary Committee advances bills to protect privacy, improve public safety
Oct 15, 2026

Briggs-sponsored bill to simplify transfer of property to loved ones passes House
Oct 15, 2026

Young introduces legislation to combat bullying in nonpublic schools
Oct 14, 2026