5 New PA Laws For 2025 To Know About

PENNSYLVANIA — While the minimum wage in Pennsylvania has remained at $7.25 per hour since 2009, more than 1,300 state employees are now guaranteed annual raises under the many new state laws going into effect in 2025.

Here's a look at some of those laws:

Pennsylania's governor, lawmakers and judges get pay raises.

More than 1,300 state employees get a pay raise of 3.4 percent under the law that delivers automatic raises matching the federal consumer inflation figure for mid-Atlantic urban areas. Among those getting raises are Gov. Josh Shapiro, all 253 state representatives and senators and all seven state Supreme Court justices.

Shapiro's salary this year rises to almost $246,000, making him the nation's second-highest paid governor behind only New York's governor.

'Safe Haven' sites increase.

Urgent care centers are now on the list of “safe havens” where a parent may surrender his or her newborn. The new law is designed to decriminalize the leaving of an unharmed infant with a responsible caregiver, protecting infants from harm by providing a secure haven for them when a parent is no longer able to care for a child.

First responders now can get PTSD compensation.

The new law makes post traumatic stress disorder an eligible claim for first responders filing for workers compensation. The disorder must be brought on as a result of the first responder's job duties and must be diagnosed by a licensed medical or mental health professional.

Biomarker testing is now easier to obtain.

The new law expands the use of personalized health care by increasing access to biomarker testing and requires state-regulated insurance companies to cover it. Biomarker testing involves biospecimen analysis to help determine a patient's best possible medical treatments.

Doula services are now Medicaid covered.

Under the new law, Medicaid will reimburse certified doulas for providing childbirth education and support services, including physical and emotional support, during pregnancy, labor and delivery and up to one year postpartum.