Sen. John Kane

Maddy summaryThis bill updates Pennsylvania's capital development loan program to increase the maximum funding amount for small business projects from $400,000 to $2,000,000. The legislation directly affects small businesses seeking financial assistance for land, buildings, and machinery by allowing them to borrow up to 50% of their total project costs, whichever figure is lower. Under the new rules, the state authority must review applications within 30 days of receiving a complete submission and can approve loans if all requirements are satisfied. The changes apply retroactively to project costs incurred in the 12 months before an application is submitted, and the law will take effect 60 days after being signed.

Maddy summarySB 1257, known as the Small Necessities Leave Act, requires Pennsylvania employers to provide eligible employees with up to 24 hours of paid leave per year to attend to specific family needs. Eligible employees, defined as those working at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months, can use this time to participate in their children's school activities or accompany children and elderly relatives to medical and dental appointments. The bill mandates that employers cannot retaliate against workers for using this leave and allows for the use of accrued vacation or sick time if preferred. Additionally, the legislation assigns duties to the Department of Labor and Industry to ensure compliance with these new requirements.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Resolution officially designates April 2026 as National Fair Housing Month in Pennsylvania. The measure serves as a symbolic acknowledgment of fair housing principles without altering existing laws or regulations.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes a new automation fee of up to $10 for court clerks in Pennsylvania counties of the second class A and third through eighth class, including home rule counties of the same class. The fee applies to the initiation of any legal action or proceeding and must be deposited into a special fund designated solely for purchasing and maintaining automation technology in clerk of courts offices. The bill allows the fee amount to be increased no more than once every three years, with any increase capped at the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers over the preceding three years. The legislation takes effect 60 days after enactment.

Maddy summaryThis bill updates Pennsylvania's Crane Operator Licensure Act to include well drilling under the same regulatory framework, creating a single State Board of Crane Operators and Well Drillers. It establishes new requirements for well driller licensure, including examinations, bonding, insurance, continuing education, and registration for drilling companies and rigs. The legislation also expands definitions to cover various types of wells and drilling activities, while maintaining existing provisions for crane operator certification and enforcement mechanisms.

Maddy summaryThis bill, known as the Safe Workplace Act, establishes legal protections against abusive work environments in Pennsylvania by defining and prohibiting abusive conduct such as sabotage, unreasonable workloads, excessive monitoring, and persistent verbal abuse. It applies to all employees and employers, including independent contractors who meet specific criteria, and covers actions by supervisors, coworkers, or the employer itself. The law prohibits retaliation against employees who report abuse and holds both employers and individual employees liable for violations, requiring employers to take reasonable preventive and responsive measures to maintain safe workplaces.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission to create a public online database tracking all utility rates and rate increase requests. The database must be searchable by company, utility type, year, or docket number and include data from the previous 20 years. The commission must update the database within 10 days of receiving a new rate increase request and make it available on its website. The bill allows the commission to hire a third party to manage the database and takes effect immediately upon passage.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Pennsylvania's Tax Reform Code to exclude tips from taxable personal income. It directly affects employees who receive tips, such as restaurant and hospitality workers, by removing these earnings from their taxable income calculations. The legislation defines tips as voluntary customer payments and explicitly excludes employer-mandated fees or service charges from this exclusion. The Department of Revenue will create regulations to implement the change and prevent fraud or misclassification of wages as tips. The law takes effect 60 days after passage and applies to the next fiscal year following that date.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new legal process in Pennsylvania that allows families to transfer a deceased person's primary residence without going through full probate court proceedings. The law applies only to homes valued at $150,000 or less and requires the homeowner to have been legally domiciled in a county that has established an affidavit process. Family members who can prove their income is below 120% of the federal poverty guidelines would receive a waiver of filing fees when using this simplified transfer method. The court can issue a distribution decree without requiring formal letters of administration or a probated will, and the process includes a two-year window for challenging improper distributions. The provision would expire seven years after it takes effect, with a required study on its implementation before any renewal decision.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Pennsylvania's Prothonotary Fee Law to allow prothonotaries in specific county classes to charge a new automation fee of up to $10 for initiating legal actions. The collected fees must be deposited into a special county fund dedicated solely to funding automation and ongoing technology updates for the prothonotary's office. The fee amount can be increased no more than once every three years, with any increase capped by the percentage change in the national Consumer Price Index. The legislation takes effect 60 days after passage.