Sen. Camera Bartolotta

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a property tax freeze program for Pennsylvania seniors. It allows residents aged 65+ who have lived in Pennsylvania for at least five years to freeze their property taxes at the "base year" amount if they meet income requirements ($65,000 annual household income or taxes exceeding 10% of income). The freeze applies only to primary residences and must be renewed annually with proof of continued eligibility. Local governments implement the program, and the state department tracks participation and savings through annual reports.

Maddy summaryThis bill proposes a constitutional amendment to exempt certain veterans and their surviving spouses from Pennsylvania property taxes on their primary residences. It applies to veterans who served honorably and have specific service-connected disabilities (such as blindness, paralysis, amputation, or a 100% VA-rated disability), as well as surviving spouses of veterans killed in action or with service-connected deaths. The exemption requires the State Veterans' Commission to verify the applicant’s financial need and does not consider disability compensation when determining eligibility. The amendment must be approved by the General Assembly and voters before taking effect.

Maddy summarySB 75 amends Pennsylvania's Controlled Substance Act to decriminalize minor marijuana offenses. It removes criminal penalties for possessing up to 30 grams of marijuana (or 8 grams of hashish) for personal use, distributing small amounts without intent to sell, or smoking small amounts in public spaces. Instead of misdemeanor charges, these violations now carry only minor fines: $25 for possession or non-sale distribution, and $100 for public smoking. The bill explicitly states these offenses will not trigger license suspensions under Pennsylvania law. This change directly affects individuals caught with small amounts of marijuana for personal use or non-commercial distribution.

Maddy summarySB 76 allows Pennsylvania medical marijuana patients aged 21 or older to grow up to six cannabis plants at home for personal use, provided they live in the state for at least 30 days. Patients must cultivate cannabis in a locked, enclosed space on residential property (with owner consent), purchase seeds only from licensed dispensaries, and keep plants out of public view. Selling or giving away home-grown cannabis, or exceeding the six-plant limit, results in penalties and loss of cultivation privileges. This amendment to Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act specifically affects qualifying medical patients and adds home cultivation as a permitted activity under existing program rules.

Maddy summaryThis bill updates Pennsylvania's Automobile Lemon Law to clarify definitions and strengthen protections for buyers and lessees of defective new vehicles, including motorcycles. It establishes specific time and mileage limits for when manufacturers must repair issues that significantly affect a vehicle's use, value, or safety, and mandates refunds or replacements if these repairs fail after a reasonable number of attempts. The legislation also introduces a presumption that a reasonable number of repair attempts have occurred for motorcycles if manufacturer-sourced parts are used, while excluding off-road vehicles and dual-sport motorcycles from coverage. Additionally, the law sets a maximum deduction of 10 cents per mile or 10% of the purchase price when calculating refunds for the consumer's use of the vehicle before the defect was reported.

Maddy summaryThis bill modifies Pennsylvania's oil and gas laws to change how fees from unconventional gas wells are distributed to municipalities. It establishes that local governments with zoning rules that unreasonably restrict or ban future gas drilling will not receive these revenue shares. Additionally, if a municipality's zoning laws are challenged in court, the money owed to that area is held in a special account until the legal dispute is resolved. The law defines unreasonable restrictions as any local rules that conflict with or are stricter than the state's existing development standards. These changes take effect 60 days after the bill is signed into law.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands newborn protection laws in Pennsylvania by allowing parents to leave their infants with hospitals, police stations, emergency services providers, and urgent care centers without facing criminal charges. It grants immunity to these facilities and their staff, including security and administrative personnel, provided the newborn is not a victim of abuse and the parent clearly intends to surrender the child. The legislation also permits urgent care centers to accept newborns and take them into protective custody, while requiring hospitals and other facilities to install incubators with specific safety features like automatic 911 alerts. Additionally, the bill defines key terms such as "urgent care center" and "emergency services provider" to clarify who is authorized to handle these situations.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Pennsylvania's Public School Code to require that teachers and reading instructors receive training in structured literacy, a method grounded in scientific research that explicitly teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The legislation mandates that professional development for educators be conducted during paid work hours and removes the previous requirement to include characteristics of dyslexia in certain educational materials. Additionally, the law establishes a council to develop a list of approved training programs and requires schools to notify parents when their kindergarten through third-grade students show reading deficiencies, providing periodic updates on progress. These changes apply to public schools and charter schools, ensuring that reading instruction follows evidence-based practices while accommodating students with disabilities and limited English proficiency.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands workers' compensation coverage to include post-traumatic stress injuries for emergency medical services personnel responding to specific traumatic events. It defines a qualifying traumatic event as incidents involving serious injury or death, threats to life, mass casualties, or crime scene investigations, and extends the time limit for filing claims to one year after the injury occurs. The legislation also sets a maximum benefit period of 104 weeks for these stress-related injuries and allows treatment by licensed psychologists or psychiatrists. By updating the state's Workers' Compensation Act, the law ensures that EMS workers who suffer from psychological trauma related to their duties can receive financial and medical support.

Maddy summaryThis bill updates Pennsylvania laws regarding sexual offenses and child safety by replacing the term "child pornography" with "child sexual abuse material" to better reflect modern digital content. It specifically addresses the creation and sharing of sexually explicit images generated by artificial intelligence, defining these new technologies and expanding legal protections to include them. The legislation also clarifies penalties for transmitting such images, adjusting some offenses from felonies to misdemeanors while introducing new categories for the abuse of minors and the unlawful dissemination of intimate images.