Lawmakers continued work on a range of policy issues last week, advancing several measures affecting Pennsylvania employers, from workplace mandates to prevailing wage expansion.

Here’s a recap of last week’s legislative action most relevant to employers:

 

Workplace Regulations (H.B. 2135)

The House of Representatives voted 125-78 to pass House Bill 2135 last Wednesday.

This legislation imposes new workplace requirements on employers regarding pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, and other related health or reproductive circumstances affecting employees and job applicants.

This legislation duplicates and effectively circumvents existing federal and state workplace protections including under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.  Legislation that is similar in purpose to existing law but different in application and detail can complicate compliance for employers.

We urged lawmakers to hold off on considering this bill (CLICK HERE for our memo); it now goes over to the Senate.

 

Removing PHC4 Sunset Provision (H.B. 2702)

The House also voted 200-3 to pass House Bill 2702 last Tuesday.

This legislation would remove the sunset provision for the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4).

PHC4 empowers Pennsylvanians through transparency, providing access to data, research, analysis, and reporting focused on the cost, utilization, and quality of health care delivery in the Commonwealth.  It was founded 40 years ago with the backing of the business community and labor. Having to seek reauthorization every couple years has at times created uncertainty and reduces PHC4’s ability to focus on their mission.

We supported this legislation (CLICK HERE for our memo), which now goes over to the Senate.

 

Artificial Intelligence in Advertising (S.B. 806)

The House also voted 163-40 to pass Senate Bill 806 last Wednesday.

This legislation would create new requirements and potential penalties related to the use of synthetic or AI generated media in advertising, with the goal of addressing deceptive uses of synthetic content that could mislead consumers.

While a number of industry friendly amendments were made in the Senate, an amendment to strike the “knowingly, recklessly or willfully” standard significantly increases the risk for industry.

We opposed this legislation, which now goes to the governor’s desk for his signature.

 

Increasing Costs on Taxpayers (S.B. 908)

The House Labor and Industry Committee voted 14-12 along party lines to advance Senate Bill 908 last Monday.

This legislation would expand the PA Prevailing Wage Act to include certain custom fabrication work performed offsite. The bill was amended to remove prohibition on “split-rates” and exempt from prevailing wage certain residential projects and school security projects under $50,000.

While we supported a number of amendments adopted to the bill, we still have concerns from both a taxpayer perspective, as significant cost increases on school districts and local governments can lead to property tax hikes; and on behalf of custom fabrication companies, who have expressed concerns that this legislation would drive work to out-of-state competitors and negatively impact their workplace.

We opposed this legislation (CLICK HERE for our memo), which now awaits a vote by the full House.