19 New Laws Signed This Month In PA: See The Details

PENNSYLVANIA — Nineteen new laws have been signed this month by Gov. Josh Shapiro. The new laws will affect veterans, food donations, the disabled, boaters and more.

Here's a look at the recently signed laws, and what they'll do:

• House Bill 211: Updates Pennsylvania's insurance laws to replace the terms "physical handicaps" and "mental retardation" with "physical disability" and "intellectual disability."
• House Bill 304: Ensures 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 615: Eliminates immunity from civil and criminal liability to the food that has exceeded the manufacturer’s recommended label code date, but is still fit for human consumption. This applies to the donation of food that has exceeded the manufacturer’s recommended label code date, but is still safe to eat. This new law is aimed to correct the misconception that donating “past-date” food will place the donor outside of liability protection. It also supports changes made to the current version of the federal Food Code to encourage donation of food that is safe to eat.
• House Bill 640: Affects surcharges and fees regarding drug and alcohol programs.
• House Bill 992: Allows the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to add two boating at-large members of the board of commissioners to the Boating Advisory Board.
• House Bill 640: Provides for protection in the mortgage loan industry.
• House Bill 1103: Amends state drug and alcohol programs.
• Senate Bill 78: Designates an Indiana County Bridge to be named after John Tabasko.
• Senate Bill 89: Known as the Overdose Mapping Act, it provides for definitions and entry requirements for EMS providers.
• Senate Bill 78: Designates a span in Cambria County as the Corporal James D. Sloan Memorial Bridge.
• Senate Bill 1209: In Erie County, certain structures known as "groins" can be built to protect stretches of the beach from erosion. The new law reduces mandated fees to protect them.
• Senate Bill 649: Amends 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: Requires 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.
• House Bill 865: Clarifies Military Family Educational Program grant eligibility for Pennsylvania National Guard members.
• Senate Bill 90: Previously, a firefighter needed to take a cumulative test after four modules to become certified after completing 180 hours of training. Now, testing can occur after each module, making the certification process more flexible.
• Senate Bill 95: Amends 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 309: Enables physicians from countries that will compete in two international soccer tournaments this year and in 2026 in Philadelphia, to treat their own players without having to obtain a Pennsylvania medical license.
• House Bill 354: Establishes a teachers' program called “What is Your Pennsylvania Story?" in advance of America's 250th anniversary next year. The guidelines will encourage students to share their personal experiences and connections to both Pennsylvania and the United States.
• House Bill 103: Increases 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.

Shapiro also signed these bills into law this week.