What happened:
The General Assembly returned September 28 after a 10-week recess. The two-year legislative session ends November 30, and every bill not signed into law by then dies and must be reintroduced in 2027. With the November 3 election taking lawmakers out of Harrisburg for much of October, only a handful of session days remain. Three bills PANO has been tracking have passed one chamber and are waiting on the other:
- SB 906 — Paid Family & Medical Leave (Sens. Devlin Robinson and Maria Collett): Creates an employee-funded state paid leave program, with payroll deductions capped at 1% of wages and up to 20 weeks of leave. Cleared the Senate Labor & Industry Committee 9-2 in June and has sat in the Senate Rules & Executive Nominations Committee since June 22 with no floor vote scheduled. The House-passed version is HB 200. Contact your state senator.
- HB 2305 — Sales Tax Relief for New Nonprofits (Rep. Ben Waxman): Gives newly formed charities a conditional two-year sales tax exemption while they build the record needed for the standard five-year exemption. Passed the House 202-0 in June; no Senate committee action yet. PANO supports. Contact your state senator.
- SB 1183 — Nonprofit Audit Thresholds (Sens. Lynda Schlegel Culver and Nick Pisciottano): Raises the thresholds, unchanged since 2017, that determine when charitable organizations must have their financial statements audited, reviewed, or compiled. The audit threshold would rise from $750,000 to $1 million in annual contributions; reviews would apply from $500,000 to $1 million; compilations from $150,000 to $500,000; and organizations under $150,000 would need none. Passed the Senate 50-0 on June 22; awaiting House action. PANO supports. Contact your state House member.
Why it matters:
All three bills passed their first chamber with strong bipartisan margins, which makes them realistic wins — but only if the second chamber acts in the next eight weeks. If they stall, nonprofits start from scratch with a new legislature in January, which may include many new members after November.
What nonprofits can do:
Contact your state senator about SB 906 and HB 2305, and your state House member about SB 1183 and SB 416 (see above). Ask them directly to push for a vote before November 30. District-level calls make the difference in which bills get floor time before session ends.
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Photo by Michael Burkholder from Pixabay.
