Weekly Wrap
Both chambers were in session this week, but all the attention was on the Governor, as he gave his annual budget address on Tuesday. His FY 2026-2027 proposed budget totals $53.3 billion, which is a $2.7 billion (5.38%) increase from last year’s budget. A summary with highlights of the plan can be found here.
The week began, with the House Education Committee holding a public hearing on Monday to discuss the Future Ready Index and student outcomes.
The House Energy Committee reported out HB 1834 (Matzie, D-Beaver), which would provide for the regulation of data centers. The Committee also held a public hearing on two bills:
- HB 2150 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna), which would require data center developers and end users to disclose the nature of their operations and report energy and water usage to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; and
- HB 2151 (Donahue, D-Lackawanna), which would direct municipalities to regulate data centers and adopt local ordinances to limit harmful impacts on nearby communities.
SB 990 (Bartolotta, R-Washington) was reported from the Senate Transportation Committee. The bill would prohibit restrictions of motor vehicles based on power source.
One bill of note passed finally in the House and will go to the Senate for consideration: HB 660 (O’Mara, D-Delaware), which would establish minimum energy efficiency and water conservation standards for certain appliances.
On Tuesday, the House Labor and Industry Committee reported out HB 2189 (Dawkins, D-Philadelphia), which would increase the minimum wage to $11/hour beginning in 202, $13/hour beginning in 2028, and $15/hour beginning in 2029.
The House Health Committee reported out HR 203 (Guzman, D-Berks), which would direct the Joint State Government Commission to conduct a study and issue a report on recommendations on reducing medical errors and improving patient safety.
Two bills of note were reported from the House Transportation Committee: SB 997 (Flynn, D-Lackawanna), which would add a member of the PA Online Messengers Association to the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee; and SB 1058 (Ward, R-Blair), which would modernize the E85 fuel blend standard.
Same goes for the Senate Appropriations Committee, who reported out: SB 256 (Fontana, D-Allegheny), which would require child care facilities to install carbon monoxide detectors; and SB 712 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would make changes to the abandoned and orphaned oil and gas well plugging process.
The House finally passed HB 1556 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which now be considered in the Senate. The bill would establish the Advanced Clean Manufacturing Tax Credit.
SB 116 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would allow a high school student to receive credit for employment at a congregate care facility, passed in the Senate and will go to the House for consideration.
Wednesday, the House Insurance Committee held a public hearing on HB 305 (McNeill, D-Lehigh), which would establish a $35 cap on a 30-day supply of insulin. The House Professional Licensure Committee held an informational meeting on establishing licensure for water, geothermal, geotechnical and environmental well drillers.
The House Education Committee had a full agenda and reported out the following bills of note:
- HB 1648 (Nelson, D-Montgomery), which would allow students to take excused absences for mental health issues;
- HB 1706 (Daley, D-Montgomery), which would require the State Board of Education to review and revise standards for health, safety and physical education to address student mental health awareness;
- HB 2084 (Harris, D-Philadelphia), which would establish the Pennsylvania Promise Program for students attending community colleges, state system universities, and state-related institutions;
- HB 2152 (Cooper, R-Westmoreland), which would allow a school entity to adopt a policy to implement an instructional day start time at the secondary school level to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.;
- HB 2176 (Prokopiak, D-Bucks), which would require the State Board of Education to adopt standards related to social media literacy; and
- SB 375 (Brown, R-Monroe), which would provide for training and use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and CPR in schools.
The House Finance Committee reported two bills out of committee: HB 788 (Merski, D-Erie), which would reduce the Mutual Thrift Institutions Tax rate and increase the net operating loss carryover from three years to six years; and HB 2090 (Gallagher, D-Philadelphia), which would prohibit credit card fees on the sales and use tax portion of a transaction.
SB 939 (Rothman, R-Cumberland) was reported from the Senate Communications and Technology Committee. The bill would: (1) establish the Office of Transformation and Opportunity; (2) establish the Artificial Intelligence, Data Center, and Emerging Technology Regulatory Sandbox Program; and (3) provide for permitting for high impact data centers that have their own power.
The Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee reported out the following bills:
- HB 78 (Neilson, D-Philadelphia), which would establish the Consumer Data Privacy Act;
- HB 80 (Venkat, D-Allegheny), which would authorize Pennsylvania to join the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact;
- HB 482 (Markosek, D-Allegheny), which would authorize Pennsylvania to join the National Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact;
- HB 554 (Abney, D-Philadelphia), which would authorize Pennsylvania to join the Social Work Licensure Compact;
- HB 668 (O’Mara, D-Delaware), which would authorize Pennsylvania to join the National Counseling Compact;
- HB 1961 (Merski, D-Erie), which would authorize Pennsylvania to join the Physician Assistants Licensure Compact; and
- SB 571 (Boscola, D-Northampton), which would authorize Pennsylvania to join the National Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact.
On the House floor, the following two bills of note passed finally and will go to the Senate for consideration: HB 460 (Daley, D-Montgomery), which would provide for age-appropriate curriculums on child abuse awareness and prevention; and HB 2017 (Giral, D-Philadelphia), which would allow the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to make changes to the nuclear facility fees for small modular reactor and microreactor sites.
The Senate finally passed SB 704 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would direct the Department of Community and Economic Development and DEP to work together to identify suitable sites for natural gas electric generation projects. The bill will go to the House for consideration.
Finally, HB 710 (Benninghoff, R-Centre), which would require the Department of Transportation to establish an online verification system for automobile insurance coverage, passed finally in the House and is on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature before becoming law.
Week Ahead
The House and Senate Appropriations Committee will hold budget hearings to examine the Governor’s proposed budget beginning on February 23. The Senate’s next session day is March 16, while the House doesn’t return to Harrisburg for session until March 23. However, there are a few committee meetings happening next week.
On Monday, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will hold a public hearing on stream impairment.
Tuesday, the House Liquor Control Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1413 (Bellmon, D-Philadelphia), which would implement recommendations of Stop-and-Go Legislative Task Force, including: strengthening the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s compliance program, streamlining the citation process, increase penalties and fines, and addressing current court review standards. The following day, the Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1451(Mustello, R-Butler), which would provide for delivery of ready-to-drink cocktails.
In Other News
- PennDOT announced they are advancing the transformative Scranton to New York Penn Station Passenger Rail Corridor project and will host an online public meeting to engage the public in the process.
- The Department of Revenue released January 2026 collections, which were $178.2 million (4.7%) more than anticipated.
