PCCYFS Legislative Updates

July 11, 2025

Oh, the summer days in Harrisburg! Hot, humid, and…no budget.

The State House flew solo this week and positioned various bills that will be considered on final passage next week. The House sent a component of the Juvenile Justice Facilities package to the Senate (HB 1576 – addressing payments to counties, statutory references, and more), tax credits for fire sprinkler systems in Philadelphia, and establishing a false claims act (HB 1697).  The House also gave SB 475 a final passage vote, which makes changes to the state’s treatment courts.

While the State House plans to return to session next week, the State Senate remains at the call of the President Pro Tempore. Discussions continue between the caucuses regarding the state budget; however, the chambers remain at odds with a final spend number, exacerbated further by the federal budget reconciliation bill (refer to IFO briefs below) and changes at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (rescinding of the 1988 interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 aka PRWORA). HHS will no longer provide federal public benefits for the undocumented, which includes programs like behavioral health clinics, mental health services block grants, head start, or substance use disorder and treatment, prevention, and recovery and potentially more.

The House, on the other hand, may move forward with the general appropriations bill next week using Governor Shapiro’s spend number of $51.5 billion.

The House calendar also includes consideration of pet custody (HB 97), subsidized child care (HB 1108), public awareness campaign for 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (HB 564), union representation on PASSHE (HB 938), teacher certification (HB 1407), a part of the Juvenile Justice Facilities package to conduct an inventory of programs and services for children (HB 1573), notification of weapons incidents in schools (SB 246), residual food processing waste and certification for brokers and haulers (HBs 586 and 587),  data breaches (HB 997), and DUI treatment programs (HB 1615).

The Independent Fiscal Office released a budget brief on the impact of the federal budget on SNAP in PA. The report states that in the federal budget reconciliation bill:

Two notable changes require states to (1) fund 75% of administrative costs (up from 50%) and (2) potentially fund a share of benefit costs (up from none) depending on the state payment error rate…Other changes include increasing the age of an able-bodied adult without dependents (subject to work requirements) from 54 to 64 and reducing the age of a dependent child from age 18 to age 14 for caregivers and parents.

…[DHS] data show that 213,000 current beneficiaries aged 55 to 64 would become subject to the revised able-bodied adult work requirement, but some portion would be exempt due to physical or mental health conditions or other criteria (e.g., caregiver, eligible dependents)…The state currently funds one-half of the program’s total administrative costs. Under the bill, the state share increases to 75% starting with FY 2027 (October 2026), and the impact to the state will be roughly $130 million per annum once fully phased in. There is no impact in FY 2025-26.

The bill also requires the state to fund a portion of benefit costs based on the payment error rate computed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For the latest year (2024), the Pennsylvania rate is 10.8%: a 9.5% overpayment rate plus a 1.3% underpayment rate. Assuming full-year benefit costs of roughly $4.5 billion, the extra annual cost to the state would be $675 million if we continued to have a 10% error rate.

The IFO also released a brief regarding Corporate Net Income Tax revenues considering the federal budget reconciliation bill. The changes are expected to decrease collections over the next few years thanks to changes in how corporations can deduct certain expenses. The bill also reinstates 100% bonus depreciation for machinery and equipment, but Pennsylvania is “decoupled” from that provision. The IFO anticipates a decrease of $500 to $900 million in CNI collections for FY 2025-2026 because it is unclear if firms may immediately use deductions to offset taxable income or claim any unused deductions from 2022-2024. Now the IFO must revise its official estimate, using -$700 million (midway point) in CNI projections.

Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor released compliance audits of 14 county children and youth services agencies performed during the second quarter of 2025. The results can be found here. 

A new report by Code for America ranks Pennsylvania as one of the top states in the nation for AI leadership, capacity building, and technical capabilities. “Pennsylvania has demonstrated a strong commitment as an advanced state in AI maturity through comprehensive policies, ethical frameworks, capacity building, and pilot programs…The state’s proactive approach positions it as a leader in responsible AI adoption and innovation.”

Speaking of AI, Governor Shapiro signed SB 649 into law this week, which received overwhelming support in the State House and the State Senate at the end of June. The bill builds on legislation signed last session that tarted AI-generated child sexual abuse material. Act 35 of 2025 makes it a third-degree felony to use AI to generate fake voices, images, or videos that intend to scam Pennsylvanians, which is geared to prosecute those using AI for fraud and financial crimes.

PA Attorney General Dave Sunday announced the combined $720 million nationwide settlement with eight opioid manufacturers, which is expected to bring about $28 million to the Commonwealth to combat addiction and provide treatment resources. The latest settlement comes after the $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, which will also bring about $200 million in resources to the state. The recent settlement allows the Commonwealth to receive free pharmaceuticals in lieu of the cash payment. Seven out of the eight companies are prohibited from marketing or making or selling oxycodone over 40mg. It also requires the companies to create a monitoring and reporting system for suspicious activity/opioid orders.

Senate Session Days

July TBD

House Session Days

July: 14, 15, 16

September: 22 (NV), 23 (NV), 24 (NV), 29, 30

October: 1, 6, 7, 8, 27, 28, 29

November: 17, 18, 19

December: 8 (NV), 9 (NV), 10 (NV), 15, 16, 17

Updates from the PA Bulletin

N/A

Committee Meetings

N/A

New Co-Sponsorship Memos

HCO2482  – Children’s Online Safety Act

Sponsor

Rep. Manuel Guzman (D)

Comments

Last Action

07/10/2025 H – Cosponsor memo filed

New Bills

HB1706  – An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in school health services, providing for student mental health awareness.

Sponsor

Rep. Mary Jo Daley (D)

Comments

Last Action

07/07/2025 H – Referred to – House Education

HB1707  – An Act establishing the Social Worker Educational Enrollment and Training Pilot Program; and providing for authorization of internships, for award of internships and for funding of the Social Worker Educational Enrollment and Training Pilot Program.

Sponsor

Rep. Kristine C. Howard (D)

Comments

Last Action

07/08/2025 H – Referred to – House Human Services

SB900  – An Act providing for Commonwealth support for a Mental Health and Intellectual Disability Staff Member Loan Forgiveness Program and an Alcohol and Drug Addiction Counselor Loan Forgiveness Program; and imposing duties on the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

Sponsor

Sen. John I. Kane (D)

Comments

Last Action

07/08/2025 S – Referred to – Senate Education

Actions on Tracked Legislation

HB18  – An Act amending Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in incapacitated persons, further providing for review hearing.

Sponsor

Rep. Jeff Olsommer (R)

Comments

Last Action

07/08/2025 S – Referred to – Senate Judiciary

HB1412  – An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in child custody, further providing for modification of existing order.

Sponsor

Rep. Melissa L. Shusterman (D)

Comments

Last Action

07/07/2025 H – Third consideration and final passage 

HB1505  – An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in early learning programs, further providing for definitions.

Sponsor

Rep. Liz Hanbidge (D)

Position

Neutral

Comments

Last Action

07/07/2025 H – Third consideration and final passage 

HB1573  – An Act amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Human Services Code, in children and youth, further providing for availability of services, providing for purposes and further providing for statistics and assistance for research.

Sponsor

Rep. Melissa L. Shusterman (D)

Position

Support

Comments

PCCYFS is in support of HB1573 with the exception of a “publicly accessible data dashboard that includes… real-time information,” as outlined in Section 722(b). The language around a real-time publicly available database will create an additional burden to providers without necessarily establishing proportionate value. When identifying real-time bed capacity, for example, there may be greater information necessary than just the number of beds to be able to show what an agency’s ability to take a young person would be. Similarly, average lengths of stay alone are not able to show the drivers of placement instability or a move. Real-time data is not necessary to accomplish the goals outlined in this legislation and could continue to be collected on a periodic basis as is currently the practice. There is presently no infrastructure or mechanism for this information to be automatically fed to the Department. Rather, providers will have to have dedicated staff reporting this information to the Department on an ongoing basis. Especially, given the financial and staffing challenges of these organizations presently, an additional ongoing, real-time data requirement would become significantly impactful to day-to-day operations

Kara Beem (kara@keystoneingenuity.com) on 6/13/2025 at 4:37 PM

Last Action

07/09/2025 H – Re-committed to – House Appropriations

HB1576  – An Act amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Human Services Code, in children and youth, further providing for payments to counties for services to children and for review of county submissions.

Sponsor

Rep. Melissa L. Shusterman (D)

Position

Neutral

Comments

Last Action

07/09/2025 H – Third consideration and final passage 

HB1577  – An Act amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Human Services Code, in children and youth, providing for ensuring safe and humane institutional practices.

Sponsor

Rep. Melissa L. Shusterman (D)

Position

Oppose

Comments

PCCYFS is opposed to the provisions in HB1577 that will have a fiscal impact on providers without any corresponding recognition that the Department must make that additional funding available to providers, but otherwise neutral to the provisions around solitary confinement and restraints. Additional training requirements, development of new comprehensive policies, increased visits from the department and making staff available for those visits, preparing relevant documentation for these visits, ongoing data reporting to support the department’s monthly public reports – all of these new requirements will have a fiscal and resource impact to provider agencies yet this bill does not offer any process for the provider to request an increase in their rate for this additional work. At a time in which providers are resource-limited and struggling with staffing inconsistencies and workforce challenges, additional duties without a corresponding rate increase is putting additional strain on an already-stressed system.

Kara Beem (kara@keystoneingenuity.com) on 6/13/2025 at 4:38 PM

Last Action

07/09/2025 H – Third consideration and final passage