2025 PA Legislative Scorecard

SB444 requires that any regulation deemed "economically significant"—i.e., costing more than $1 million annually to the state, local governments, or private sector—must undergo a formal review three years after taking effect. The agency that issued the rule must report on its costs, effectiveness, and whether it’s still needed. That report goes to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC), which then opens a 30-day public-comment period before concluding whether the regulation should stay as is, be revised, or repealed.

The Pennsylvania State Senate passed SB444 on June 10, 2025 by a vote of 27 to 23. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because requiring periodic review of costly and unconstitutional regulations restores accountability and limits bureaucratic overreach. Too often, regulations remain on the books indefinitely, burdening citizens and businesses long after their purpose has expired. Administrative regulations violate the constitutional principle that laws should be made by elected representatives, not unaccountable agencies. The Founding Fathers repeatedly warned against unchecked regulatory power, with Jefferson noting that “the natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground.” By mandating review, SB444 reins in this tendency, ensuring that the people’s representatives, not entrenched bureaucrats, remain the ultimate guardians of liberty.

SB310 would require all high-school seniors attending public or private schools in Pennsylvania to either complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or submit a formal opt-out form. Schools must make opt-out forms available—where students or parents make the request—while also requiring the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency to share FAFSA completion data with schools.

The Pennsylvania State Senate passed SB310 on May 13, 2025 by a vote of 47 to 2. We have assigned pluses to the nays because requiring high-school seniors in public and private schools to complete the FAFSA or an opt-out form infringes on personal freedom and financial privacy. No government—state or federal—should track families’ private finances or mandate disclosure of sensitive information or forcing private schools to comply. Moreover, education is not the proper role of government, and federal involvement in schooling are not authorized under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. By forcing participation in an unconstitutional federal program, the bill erodes autonomy, expands government oversight, and conditions young people to accept state intrusion into personal financial matters.

SB9 mandates that public school and college athletic teams in Pennsylvania be explicitly designated as male, female, or co-ed based strictly on a person’s biological sex at birth, defined by anatomy and genetics. It prohibits individuals of the male sex from competing on girls' or women's teams, blocks government or athletic organizations from penalizing schools for maintaining sex-separated sports, and creates legal avenues for students or institutions harmed by these rules to seek injunctive relief, damages, and legal costs.

The Pennsylvania State Senate passed SB9 on May 6, 2025 by a vote of 32 to 18. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because this bill pushes back against the Left’s radical agenda that denies biological reality and undermines women’s athletics. By prohibiting males from competing on female teams, SB9 safeguards fairness, competition, and safety for women and girls. The push to normalize “gender identity” and pronoun choice is both scientifically baseless and morally wrong. Biblically and biologically, there are only two sexes—male and female—and public policy should reflect this truth rather than indulge Marxist-inspired social experiments that erode culture and common sense.

HB324 updates Pennsylvania’s Poultry Technician Licensure Law (originally enacted in 1956) to modernize and expand regulation of poultry technicians. It enables any U.S. legal resident to become a Certified Poultry Technician after completing a training course from the Department of Agriculture, removing previous citizenship and education restrictions. The Secretary of Agriculture is granted broader authority to establish licensing standards and training procedures—which may include offering courses in Spanish—streamlining the licensure and renewal process. The law also increases the licensing fee (from $5 to $10) and enhances enforcement power, enabling the Secretary to issue quarantine orders or revoke licenses if technicians fail to comply with regulations or are impaired.

The Pennsylvania State Senate passed HB324 on February 5, 2025 by a vote of 45 to 4. We have assigned pluses to the nays because expanding licensure to noncitizens undermines state sovereignty and advances globalist efforts to dilute American culture through mass migration. Instead of streamlining opportunities for citizens to learn on the job, the bill raises fees and centralizes power in a single bureaucrat, granting the secretary authority to revoke licenses or impose quarantines—an infringement on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Such measures erode constitutional freedom, weaken American sovereignty, and feed into the broader agenda of merging the United States into a North American Union.

SB186 repeals all regulations tied to Pennsylvania’s CO₂ Budget Trading Program, the state’s framework for capping and trading carbon-dioxide emissions under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), effectively ending Pennsylvania’s participation in RGGI. The bill requires any future emissions-related taxes or programs receive explicit legislative approval. Though the department had not yet held any CO₂ allowance auctions or collected funds, this bill ensures that such programs cannot proceed without the legislature’s consent.

The Pennsylvania State Senate passed SB186 on February 4, 2025 by a vote of 31 to 18. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because the CO₂ trading program buys into the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 scheme for “sustainability” and “climate action,” a globalist agenda rooted in the climate-change myth. Programs such as RGGI are nothing more than hidden energy taxes that increase costs for families, farmers, and businesses while stripping state sovereignty and transferring power to international interests. Unelected bureaucrats should not have taxing authority, especially when acting under global pressure. By repealing these regulations, the Senate rightly rejects international climate agendas and reasserts legislative authority over taxation and energy policy.