March 16-18, 2026

Bills voted on Third Consideration

SB 782 (J. WARD) Amends Titles 24 (Education) and 71 (State Government) to permit retired members of the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) and State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) to return to work as part-time emergency service instructors without losing benefits. PASSED 50-0.

SB 990 (BARTOLOTTA) Amends Title 75 (Vehicles) to prohibit state agencies or political subdivisions from restricting the use, purchase, or sale of a motor vehicle based on the source of energy used to power the vehicle. PASSED 28-22.

Bills voted on Third Consideration

SB 203 (ROTHMAN) Amends Title 75 (Vehicles) to allow Type A (10,000 pounds or less) and Type B (10,001 to 17,000 pounds) farm vehicles to operate on highways at night. PASSED 49-1.

SB 1090 (PENNYCUICK) Enacts the Safeguarding Adolescents from Exploitative Chatbots and Harmful AI Technology (SAFECHAT) Act by requiring operators of artificial intelligence (AI) to issue a clear notice that an AI companion is not human when users might think otherwise; maintain and implement a protocol to prevent an AI companion from producing suicidal ideation, suicide or self-harm content to a user, or content that directly encourages the user to commit acts of violence; disclose to a user the operator knows or should know to be a minor—or to a user of a service that the operator knows is offered to users who are minors—that AI companions may not be suitable for them; and institute reasonable measures to prevent AI companion from producing visual material of sexually explicit conduct or directly instructing the minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Authorizes enforcement by the Attorney General and subjects violations to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation, in addition to other remedies provided by law. PASSED 49-1.

Bills voted on Third Consideration

SB 802 (STEFANO) Amends Title 75 (Vehicles) to allow a designation on a driver’s license or identification card indicating an individual has a health condition that may impede their communication with a law enforcement officer during a traffic stop. Grants law enforcement agencies access to department records of communication barrier designations through existing networks during a traffic stop, including the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network (CLEAN). Makes it a third-degree misdemeanor to commit deception or fraud on the application for a communication barrier designation and a second-degree misdemeanor for an individual to falsely claim a communication barrier to avoid compliance with a lawful order. PASSED 50-0.

SB 867 (TARTAGLIONE) Amends the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act to change the Accessibility Advisory Board from eleven members appointed by the Secretary of Labor & Industry to seven members appointed by the secretary and four members appointed by the majority and minority chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate standing committees having jurisdiction to review the Uniform Construction Code regulations. Requires the board to review accessibility codes and submit a report within specified timeframes to the secretary after a public comment period and a public hearing is held, with the sections specified for adoption or modification. Reduces the amount of revenue deposited into the Review Advisory Council Administration Account from 13% to 10% of fees collected on construction and building permits. Establishes a new Accessibility Advisory Board Administration Account which will receive the remaining 3% of the revenue collected. PASSED 50-0.

SB 1218 (PICOZZI) Amends the Liquor Code to allow eligible licensees in Philadelphia to apply for a Philadelphia 250 permit which, if granted, gives permit holders a two-hour extension per day of operating privileges on licenses premises between June 11, 2026 and July 20, 2026. Allows a public venue licensee in Philadelphia for an international soccer tournament to obtain a fifty-day permit in association with the international soccer tournament. Allows the Liquor Control Board (LCB) to issue a free distillery of historical significance license to any distillery which was established prior to January 1, 1885, enabling the licensee to manufacture and sell liquor produced on the licensed premises to the LCB, to entities licensed by the LCB and to the public. PASSED 49-1.