Labor & Industry 2021-2022

The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 to consider the following legislation:

SB 1319 (Argall) – Amends the Unemployment Compensation (UC) Law to provide that employers are deemed to have paid UC contributions in quarters during a COVID-19 disaster emergency, even if no contributions were made.

  • A05560 (Bartolotta) – Establishes the provision in a different section of UC Law, clarifies the time frame the provision applies, and fixes an inconsistency in the “Definitions” section of the law between federal and state law.

HB 2079 (Delozier) – Amends the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act to allow for the use of refrigerants approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 to consider the following legislation:

SB 1147 (Robinson and Gebhard) – E-Verify Improvements

                Reported as amended by a vote of 9-1, with Senator DiSanto voting in the negative.

A04190 – Limits the debarment period at three years (the legislation increased it to five years) for willful violations of the act, and makes technical changes.

Adopted by a unanimous vote.

The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 to consider the following legislation:

SB 1083 (Baker) – Follow the Active Duty Spouse Act – clarifies that a spouse’s move to follow their active duty spouse will not be considered voluntary if the Department of Labor and Industry determines that continued employment would be impractical or unreasonably difficult.

Unanimously reported as amended

Amendment #03873 (Tartaglione) – makes changes to the Shared Work section of the Unemployment Compensation (UC) Law

Unanimously adopted

Amendment #03864 (L. Williams) – grants UC eligibility to striking workers after a 30-day waiting period

Amendment failed by a party-line vote (4-7)

SB 1162 (Bartolotta and Tartaglione) – PennSERVE Program Updates – makes changes to the PennSERVE Program

Unanimously reported as committed


The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on Tuesday, February 8, 2022 to consider the following legislation:

  • SB 569 (Argall) – Establishes procedures to be followed when state correctional officers and forensic employees are under investigation and requires that state correctional officers suspended pending investigation continue to receive pay and benefits unless a criminal proceeding has been instituted under the Governor’s Code of Conduct.

Reported as committed by a vote of 9-2 with Senators Kearney and L. Williams voting in the negative

  • SB 993 (J. Ward) – Amends the Unemployment Compensation Law to eliminate requirements on agricultural employers and H-2A workers to pay unemployment compensation (UC) taxes.

Reported as committed by a vote of 7-4 with Senators Kane, Kearney, Robinson and L. Williams voting in the negative

  • HB 129 (Cox) – Amends the Unemployment Compensation Law to change the default method by which UC hearings are held from in-person hearings to videoconference and telephone hearings.

Reported as amended by a vote of 7-4 with Senators Kane, Kearney, Tartaglione and L. Williams voting in the negative

    • Amendment A03619 (Bartolotta) – The amendment would allow a party to a UC hearing to request an in-person hearing for any reason while still allowing other parties to participate by videoconference or telephone, unless the referee determines that all parties must participate in person to ensure a fair hearing.

The amendment was adopted unanimously

The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 to consider the following legislation:

HB 1819 (Labs) – Amends the Unemployment Compensation Law to clarify that a claimant may not take actions, such as skipping an interview, to discourage their own hire.

Reported as committed by a vote of 7-3, with Senators Kane, Kearney and Tartaglione voting NO.

HB 1829 (Ecker) – Amends the Child Labor Act by modernizing the work permit issuing process to eliminate the requirement that the minor appear in-person to sign the permit and be examined by the issuing officer. This provision was initially waived under the Governor’s COVID-19 disaster declaration, and the legislation would make the change permanent.

Unanimously reported as committed

HB 1837 (Irvin) – Amends the Workers Compensation Act to allow a claimant to appear before a workers compensation judge and provide a sworn statement that they understand the terms of a compromise and release agreement. This provision was initially waived under the Governor’s COVID-19 disaster declaration, and the legislation would make the change permanent.

Amendment #02899 (Bartolotta) – Replaces the requirement that an insurer provide an affidavit when suspending or modifying worker compensation benefits due to an employee’s return to work with a requirement that the insurer provide a verification form.

 Amendment was unanimously adopted and the bill was unanimously reported as amended

The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on Tuesday, September 28, 2021 to consider the following legislation:

SB 320 (Bartolotta) – Non-Compete Provisions in Broadcast Contracts

The bill was reported out of committee by a vote of 7 to 4, with all Democrats and Senators Bartolotta, Dush and Robinson voting YES, and Senators DiSanto, Baker, Mensch and Corman voting NO.

SB 634 (Laughlin) – Third Party Contracts and Municipalities

The bill was pulled from the agenda and did not receive consideration. 

SB 775 (Bartolotta) – Workers’ Compensation for First Responders with PTSI

The bill was reported out of committee by a vote of 9 to 2, with Senators Dush and Mensch voting NO. 

HB 723 (Mizgorski) – Modernization of the Workforce Development Act

Amendment #02313 – Adds “forward-facing employment data” as a criteria to be used by the Department of Labor and Industry when identifying industry clusters and targeted industry clusters and imposes additional requirements on the Department for producing and disseminating employment data. This language is identical to SB 168 which passed out of committee unanimously in February.

 The amendment was adopted unanimously, and the bill was unanimously reported out of committee as amended.

The Senate Labor & Industry Committee and the Senate Education Committee held a joint public hearing on September 22, 2021 on the importance of adult education as part of Pennsylvania’s workforce development system:


The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on May 26, 2021 to consider the following bills:

SB 567 (Brooks and Bartolotta) – Utilization of Federal Standards for Determining Essential Businesses

Reported as committed by a vote of 10-1 (Senator Kearney voting in the negative)

SB 617 (Tartaglione, Bartolotta, and Kane) – Pennsylvania Family Medical Leave Act

Unanimously reported as committed

SB 689 (Baker) – Reinstating Work Search Requirements for UC Claimants

Reported as committed by a vote of 8-3 (Senators Kane, Kearney and Tartaglione voting in the negative)

A#01205 (Tartaglione) – Require Employers to Post Job Openings on PA CareerLink

Amendment failed by a vote of 4-7

HB 664 (Hershey) – Prohibits Municipalities or HOAs from Requiring Small, Minor-Owned Businesses to Obtain Licenses or Permits

Unanimously reported as committed

The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 to consider the following bills:

SB 319 (Bartolotta) – Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Lawsuits – Whitmoyer Remedy

Reported as committed by a 7-4 vote (all Democrats voting NO)

SB 486 (Sabatina) – Veteran Job Training Preference for Work Training Programs

Unanimously reported

SB 563 (Laughlin) – Update to Fire and Panic Act

Unanimously reported

HB 178 (James) – Lengthening Time Periods for Unemployment Compensation Appeals

Unanimously reported as amended

A00813 (Bartolotta) – Amendment unanimously adopted


The Senate Labor and Industry Committee met on Tuesday, February 23, 2021 to consider the following pieces of legislation:

SB 69 (Langerholc) – Recovery to Work Pilot Program – Unanimously reported as committed             

SB 147 (Langerholc) – Incorporating Risks of Opioid Use into Workers’ Compensation Safety Committee Requirements – Unanimously reported as amended

              Amendment #A00347 (Bartolotta) – Unanimously adopted

SB 168 (Hughes and Mensch) – Forward-Facing Employment Data – Unanimously reported as amended

              Amendment A#00339 (Mensch) –  Unanimously adopted

SB 191 (J. Ward) – Exempting Agriculture Buildings from the Uniform Construction Code – Reported by a vote of 7-3, with Senators Kane, Tartaglione, and L. Williams voting in the negative.

HB 157 (Fee) – Milrite Act Repeal – Unanimously reported as committed


Senator Christine Tartaglione

Senator Christine Tartaglione

Committee Chair