Weekly Wrap
The House was the only chamber in Harrisburg this week.
On Monday, the House Human Services Committee held an informational meeting on impacts on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program resulting from federal HR 1. The House Judiciary Committee held an informational meeting on the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program.
Three bills of note were reported from the House Energy Committee:
- HB 2076 (Venkat, D-Allegheny), which would establish a regulatory framework for geothermal energy;
- HB 2223 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would require electric utilities to evaluate and consider the use of advanced transmission technologies on new and existing service lines; and
- HB 2347 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would modernize the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority.
The House Labor and Industry Committee reported out SB 867 (Tartaglione, D-Philadelphia), which would amend the Construction Code to establish a process for review and adoption of future accessibility codes.
The following two data center-related bills passed finally in the House and will go to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 2150 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna), which would require data centers to submit annual reports to the Department of Environmental Protection related to their energy and water usage; and
- HB 2151 (Donahue, D-Lackawanna), which would require Local Government Commission to develop a model zoning ordinance for the regulation of data centers.
On Tuesday, the House Energy Committee held a public hearing on HB 2348 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would modernize the Commonwealth’s net metering framework. The House Democratic Policy Committee held a public hearing on black maternal health and hospital accountability.
The House Education Committee held an informational meeting on education tax credits. The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee held an information meeting on the Living Independent for the Elderly (LIFE) program.
The House Health Committee reported out two bills:
- HB 836 (O’Mara, D-Delaware), which would prohibit the state from interfering with the use of medically appropriate methods of assisted reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization (IVF); and
- HB 2254 (Frankel, D-Allegheny), which would allow a facility to permit a terminally ill patient to use or be administered medical marijuana
The House State Government Committee reported out HB 37 (Conklin, D-Centre), which would allow counties to pre-canvass mail-in ballots seven days prior to election day.
HB 2400 (Harris, D-Philadelphia), the General Appropriations Act of 2026 passed finally in the House and will go to the Senate for consideration. The bill’s current language is identical to Governor Shapiro’s proposed $53.2 billion budget.
On Wednesday, the House Finance Committee reported out the following two bills:
- HB 2300 (Cepeda-Freytiz, D-Berks), which would allow the Department of Revenue to mandate use of the software that collects sales and use tax in real time for taxpayers with certain arrearages; and
- HB 2305 (Waxman, D-Philadelphia), which would provide for a temporary sales and use tax exemption for charities that meet certain criteria.
The following bills passed finally and will go to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 980 (Venkat, D-Allegheny), which would add a pharmacy technician and a pharmacist from an acute care institutional pharmacy to the State Board of Pharmacy;
- HB 1522 (Cepeda-Freytiz, D-Berks), which would require owners of residential and buildings to have a fuel gas detector in any room containing an appliance that combusts propane, natural gas or liquefied petroleum; and
- HB 2333 (Madsen, D-Dauphin), which would reauthorize and make changes pertaining to Chapter 14 (Responsible Utility Customer Protection) of the Public Utility Code.
The Week Ahead
The Senate is in session next week.
On Monday, the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee will consider two bills of note:
- HB 1251 (Curry, D-Delaware), which would amend the Physical Therapy Practice Act to allow midwives to refer patients for physical therapy; and
- HB 2163 (Madden, D-Monroe), which would allow dentists with a restricted faculty license to practice at facilities owned and operated by a dental school, an affiliated academic health care center, or a dental school-owned faculty practice.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
In Other News
- Governor Josh Shapiro signed three executive orders to strengthen the rights and protections of Pennsylvanians with disabilities and autism.
- The Department of Environmental Protection received a $14 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to pilot an enhanced geothermal system demonstration project.
- The Administration announced the approval of more than $65 million in grants to reduce gun and community violence and boost after-school programming for at-risk youth.
