PA House Passes Just 65 New Laws In 2025, Less Than Half Of Last Year

HARRISBURG, PA — The number of new laws that were approved in Pennsylvania this year dipped dramatically from 2024. With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed more than 160 bills passed by the state House and Senate into law last year. He did not have to worry about his pen running out of ink this year.

According to Spotlight PA, only 65 bills reached his desk after they were approved by the General Assembly.

Shapiro has blamed the lack of new laws on the fact that the state's government is divided, with Democrats controlling the House and Republicans controlling the Senate. Both chambers have to approve bills before they reach Shapiro's office. That did occur more than five dozen times this year.

Pennsylvania's full-time legislature has 253 members - 203 representatives and 50 senators. The group received an automatic 3.25 percent cost of living salary increase on Dec. 1, bringing the annual base salary for rank and file lawmakers to $113,575. Those in leadership positions make more.

In November, Shapiro signed these bills into law:

House Bill 1176: Amended the Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries Law to alter what occurs to a decedent's estate when they died with no will or heirs.

The law increases the maximum amount of unclaimed property an heir can claim from the Pennsylvania Treasury using a notarized relationship affidavit from $11,000 to $20,000. It also raises the amount a financial institution can release to a family member of a deceased person who provides a receipt of funeral expenses from $10,000 to $20,000.

House Bill 1359: Amended the Self-Service Storage Facility Act and the Entertainment Economic Enhancement Program to provide self-storage businesses with more options to evict defaulted customers.

Senate Bill 88: Expanded the Insurance Company Law of 1921 that requires insurance companies to cover breast cancer screenings for high-risk women. The law mandates that insurance companies must cover screenings and diagnostics with no out-of-pocket costs for not just high-risk women but also average-risk women.

Senate Bill 520: Amended the Wiretap Law that authorizes the use of body cameras by special agents with the stat Attorney General's Office, Department of Conservation and Natural Resource rangers and officers and deputies with the Pennsylvania Game and Fish and Boat commissions.

Those agencies previously were not permitted to use body-worn cameras.

In October, Shapiro signed these bills into law:

House Bill 18: Required courts to hold a hearing within 30 days of receipt of a petition to modify or terminate a guardianship for an incapacitated individual.

House Bill 1405: In attempt to address the state's teacher shortfall, this law eases restrictions on veterans who want to get a teaching certificate.

In July, Shapiro signed 19 bills into law, including:

House Bill 211: Updated Pennsylvania's insurance laws to replace the terms "physical handicaps" and "mental retardation" with "physical disability" and "intellectual disability."

House Bill 304: Ensured that naturalized Korean American veterans of the Vietnam War receive the same rights, recognition, benefits, and privileges under Pennsylvania law as other veterans.

House Bill 640: Affected surcharges and fees regarding drug and alcohol programs.

House Bill 1103: Amended state drug and alcohol programs.

Senate Bill 649: Amended forgery provisions to include forged digital likeness created via artificial intelligence. If someone now creates a digital representation of a real person without their consent and distributes it as genuine—with the intent to defraud, injure, or deceive —they are subject to felony charges.

House Bill 799: Required certain employers to display a poster containing information on veterans’ benefits and services such as contact and website information for the Pennsylvania Department of Military & Veterans Affairs; substance abuse and mental health treatment; educational, workforce and training resources and more.

Senate Bill 95: Amended the Pennsylvania Pharmacy Act to permanently permit emergency medical services providers to leave a dose package of Naloxone with the on-scene caregiver of a patient who overdosed on opioids and was revived by EMS personnel.

House Bill 103: Increased the penalty for abandoning a boat from a summary offense to a third-degree misdemeanor. In addition, the legislation provides definitions for “abandoned boats,” “at-risk boats,” and “derelict boats,” which formerly did not exist and allows municipalities and local law enforcement to investigate instances of abandoned boats within their jurisdiction.