Rabb bill establishing Emancipation Day clears House committee

Bipartisan support for legislation recognizing Thirteenth Amendment ratification in Pennsylvania

Rep. Christopher M. Rabb    October 28, 2025 | 4:36 PM

HARRISBURG, Oct. 28 – State Rep. Chris Rabb announced today that his legislation (H.B. 468) to designate the first Monday of February as Emancipation Day in Pennsylvania has advanced out of the House State Government Committee by a bipartisan vote of 17-9.

Rabb’s bill would establish a formal recognition for February 3, 1865, the date Pennsylvania became the sixth state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery throughout the United States. Although Pennsylvania passed the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in 1780, slavery persisted in the Commonwealth for another 67 years.

“The ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment marked a turning point in our nation’s history, but it did not mark the end of the struggle for true freedom,” said Rabb, D-Phila. “This legislation is about more than commemorating a date on the calendar. It’s about confronting the painful truth that emancipation, in its fullest sense, is still a work in progress.

“It’s disheartening that a bill of recognizing our legislature’s formal role in ending chattel slavery nationwide could not muster unanimous support and emblematic of the enduring challenges we as a society face in furtherance of racial justice and basic decency.”

Rabb said that while the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments—known as the Reconstruction Amendments—were intended to expand civil rights and freedom for Black Americans, their promise has never been fully realized.

“This day of remembrance is a call to action. It’s a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come and how much further we must go to ensure that every person in our Commonwealth can live free from systemic racism, discrimination, and economic injustice,” Rabb said. “By recognizing Emancipation Day in Pennsylvania, we affirm our ongoing commitment to dismantling the systems of oppression that have evolved since the abolition of slavery.”

House Bill 468 is now eligible for a full vote in the state House.