Weekly Wrap
The 2025-2026 legislative session got off to a hot start this week, as the House of Representatives and Senate were in Harrisburg for the first three voting session days of the year.
Each chamber has one vacancy; Rep. Matt Gergely (D-Allegheny) and Sen. Ryan Aument (R-Lancaster). The special elections will be held on March 25. The names of candidates for the special elections must be submitted by February 3 for inclusion on the ballot. The County Board of Elections have until April 1, 7 days after the special election, to count overseas ballots and submit unofficial results to the Secretary of State. If there are no contests, the Board will certify the results on April 6. This means the new House members would likely not be sworn in until April 7 and the new Senate member would be sworn in on May 5.
Monday, the House Education Committee reported out HB 190 (Ortitay, R-Allegheny), which would create an Eating Disorders Taskforce and require schools to provide educational information regarding eating disorders to parents/guardians of students in grades 6-12; and HB 201 (Ciresi, D-Montgomery), which would allow intermediate units to own instructional space and use facilities for instructional purposes.
The House Transportation Committee reported out three bills:
- HB 240 (Benninghoff, R-Centre), which would eliminate the hearing aid electroacoustic analysis test requirement for school bus drivers;
- HB 257 (Neilson, D-Philadelphia), which would require the Department of Transportation to include information relating to safe driving practices in work zones along with related penalties with other information that must be read before someone can receive their learner’s permit; and
- HB 291 (Daley, D-Montgomery), which would provide for parking-protected bicycle lanes.
In the Senate, the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee reported out SB 154 (Boscola, D-Northampton), which would provide for responsible utility customer protections, also known as Chapter 14 of Title 66, which expired last session. Furthermore, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out two bills:
- SB 186 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would abrogate the CO2 Budget Trading Program regulation that would create a carbon tax on electric generation and enter Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI); and
- SB 187 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would establish an Independent Energy Office to provide impartial, timely, and data driven analysis to guide the state in determining and meeting future energy needs.
On Tuesday, the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee held an informational meeting on direct care workers. Also, the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee held a public hearing on understanding your electric bill.
The House Insurance Committee reported out HB 111 (Curry, D-Delaware), which would prohibit insurers from denying coverage to individuals just because they have an opioid reversal agent in their prescription profile.
Two bills were reported from the Senate Transportation Committee:
- SB 35 (Langerholc, R-Cambria), which would exempt Blair, Cambria, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mercer, and Westmoreland counties from the vehicle emissions testing requirement; and
- SB 149 (Langerholc, R-Cambria), which would exempt the five most recent model year vehicles from the vehicle emissions test.
Finishing up the week, on Wednesday, the House Human Services Committee and House Insurance Committee held a joint informational meeting on care needs and coverage options for traumatic brain injury.
In addition, the House Health Committee reported out; HB 27 (Khan, D-Philadelphia), which would ensure that operating rooms utilize surgical smoke evacuation systems; and HB 33 (Frankel, D-Allegheny), which would establish oversight of medical marijuana products through audit testing, quality assurance testing, data transparency, and inspections.
Lastly, the following bills of note passed finally in the Senate and will go to the House for consideration:
- SB 155 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would require the Department of Human Services (DHS) to check death certificates with the Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics against its recipients of Medical Assistance (MA) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits;
- SB 156 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would require DHS to check wage records by employers and the Department of Revenue against recipients of MA and SNAP benefits; and
- SB 157 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would ensure that DHS is accurately following the Public Assistance Integrity Act, pertaining to lottery winnings, for MA and SNAP applicants.
The Week Ahead
Next week is highlighted by the Governor’s annual budget address, which will take place on Tuesday.
Additionally, on Monday, the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will hold an informational meeting to provide members with an update from the Area Agencies on Aging. The House Education Committee will hold an informational meeting on the Future Ready PA Index and student outcomes.
The House Professional Licensure Committee will consider two bills, which would change the definition of a primary supervising physician, allowing a physician assistant (PA) to work with either type of doctor regardless of licensing board. HB 75 (Venkat, D-Allegheny) would amend Osteopathic Medical Practice Act, and HB 76 (Venkat, D-Allegheny) would amend the Medical Practice Act.
SB 202 (Gebhard, R-Lebanon) will be considered by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. The bill would require virtual currency transmission to be treated similarly to money transmission under the Money Transmitter Act.
On Tuesday, the House Energy Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 362 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would authorize the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority to use the $156 million it was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency for a low-income residential solar installation program under the federal Solar for All grant.
Wednesday, the House Human Services Committee will hold an informational meeting on treatment and support for traumatic brain injuries.
The House Health Committee will consider three bills:
- HB 60 (Borowski, D-Delaware), which would align state rules with federal policy to permit electronic transfer of prescriptions for controlled substances between pharmacies;
- HB 157 (Rapp, R-Warren), which would establish a Rural Healthcare Grant Program to assist with the hiring of healthcare practitioners at facilities in rural counties or designated medically underserved areas; and
- HB 409 (Kosierowski, D-Lackawanna), which would require providers to inform patients that they will be receiving their test results in their electronic health record or that they can ask the provider to mail the results to them.
The House Labor and Industry Committee will consider:
- HB 118 (Young, D-Philadelphia) , which would increase penalties for Child Labor Act violations;
- HB 183 (Dawkins, D-Philadelphia), which would expand Workers’ Compensation for permanent disfigurement; and
- HB 308 (Harkins, D-Erie), which would establish the Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Act to extend federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) protections to public sector workers.
The House Local Government Committee will consider:
- HB 162 (Major, R-Armstrong), which would authorize third class cities to levy an emergency services tax;
- HB 369 (Freeman, D-Northampton), which would allow municipalities of any size to establish a land bank; and
- HB 388 (Cerrato, D-Montgomery), which would authorize municipalities to use public funds and workers to replace/repair private water or sewer laterals connected to public systems and require municipalities to utilize American-made materials when performing repairs on private lateral lines.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
In Other News
- Governor Josh Shapiro announced the “Lightning Plan” – a comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy plan to secure Pennsylvania’s energy future.
- Governor Shapiro announced he has reached an agreement with PJM Interconnection on a plan to resolve his recent lawsuit and to save consumers over $21 billion over the next two years.
- Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis announced a new $2.5 million federal award to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency for a new statewide sexual assault kit tracking system.
- Department of Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen launched a new pilot project to improve care for pregnant women and babies in rural communities at the State Health Center in Lock Haven.

























