June 16, 2026 · TRANSPORTATION · 4,166 words · 17 speakers · 54 segments
Good morning, everybody. I call the meeting of the House Transportation Committee to order. This meeting is being broadcast and recorded. Evan, can you please take roll?
Chairman Nielsen. Here.
Bellman. Designation.
Curry. Designation.
Guzman. Designation.
Hohenstein. Here.
Isaacson. Designation.
Madsen. Designation.
Mazzacco. McAndrew.
designation Mullins designation O'Mara designation Powell designation Sappy Schusterman Chairman Benninghoff here Bernstein designation Devonzo designation Blood designation Ham Labs Brink-Havage designation Shuren here Schaefer designation
Smith. Stanbaugh. Here.
Tomlinson. Designation.
We have a quorum. The chair calls up House Bill 1296, printers number 1492, introduced by Representative Marla Brown. Lane, can you please give us a summary of the bill?
House Bill 1296 is sponsored by Representative Brown. This legislation adds options to donate to fire and EMS companies on driver's licenses, ID cards, and vehicle registration renewal. These new available options are provided as follows. Separate $5 contribution options for fire and or EMS companies and separate $10 contribution options for fire and or EMS companies on two-year vehicle registration renewal. Contributions reported to the state treasurer will be transferred from the Motor License Fund and appropriated to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency on a continuing basis. While there are currently no amendments, PennDOT identified technical issues with the current language of the bill. Tuition amendment will be filed to the floor.
Thank you, Lane. And with us we have Representative Brown, please.
Thank you, Chairman. Chairman Nielsen, Chairman Benninghoff, members of the committee, Thank you for considering House Bill 1296. This legislation would provide Pennsylvanians with a simple, voluntary way to support EMS and fire companies that serve our communities across the Commonwealth. As many of you know, fire and EMS organizations continue to face significant financial and also staffing challenges. And yet these organizations are often the first to respond when emergencies occur. yet they continually find resources like having to maintain equipment, support training, improve facilities, recruit personnel. They continue to need funding for those type of resources. Current law already allows you to be able to select voluntary donations like this when you renew your driver's license. and there are several other important causes like Veterans Trust Fund, pediatric cancer research, breast cancer research, and programs for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. House Bill 1296 would add similar donation options to support Pennsylvania's fire company grant program and emergency medical services grant program. Individuals that are renewing their driver's license or a one-year vehicle registration could choose to donate $5, while those renewing a two-year registration could choose to donate $10. This legislation does not create a mandate or increase fees. It simply gives residents and other opportunities to support our firefighters and EMS personnel who dedicate themselves to protecting our communities every day. House Bill 1296 provides a straightforward way for Pennsylvanians to invest in public safety and strengthen the emergency services that so many of our communities rely upon. Thank you for your consideration, and I respectfully ask for your support of House Bill 1296.
Thank you, Representative. Any comments or questions on House Bill 1296? Seeing none, are there any negative votes on House Bill 1296? 1296. Seen on House Bill 1296, printers number 1492 will be reported as committed. Thank you. Thank you, Representative. Thanks. Chair calls up House Bill 2219, printers number 2913, introduced by Representative Jeannie McNeil. Kyle, can you please give us a summary of the bill?
House Bill 2219 by Representative Jeannie McNeil. This bill prohibits the use of license plate obscuring devices and creates penalties. Act 150 of 2024 prohibited license plate flipping devices with a $2,000 fine. However, this prohibition does not apply to multiple other devices that can obstruct or hide a license plate from view intentionally, but do not necessarily flip the plate. This bill expands the prohibition and $2,000 fine to include any license plate obscuring device used on a motor vehicle, which includes a device or product that enables a plate to be intentionally obscured either manually or electronically, or technology that can hide a plate from view, can change the appearance of a plate to appear as a different plate, or does not change the appearance of a plate but can inhibit the proper operation of automated enforcement systems. And there is one amendment filed to the bill.
The question is, will the committee report the bill? I offer Amendment A-03638. Kyle, please give us a summary of the amendment.
Amendment A-03638 by Chairman Nielsen. This amendment inserts the following proposals, turning House Bill 2219 into an omnibus transportation package as follows. Senate Bill 955 creates the mental health awareness plate, benefiting the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. Senate Bill 1207 creates the Vice Presidential Service Badge plate for recipients of the award. House Bill 48 creates the License Plate for the Arts, benefiting the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. House Bill 419 creates multiple commendation and achievement military medal plates for recipients of these awards. House Bill 1675 creates the Space Force plate for members of the U.S. Space Force. House Bill 1783 expands the permitted use of vintage plates to include years 1906 through 1999 or later as determined by PennDOT. House Bill 1940 creates the Fish PA Plate, benefiting the Trout in the Classroom program administered by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. House Bill 2020 waives the fees for the Gold Star Family Plate and House Bill 2397 to prohibit PennDOT from denying a special event permit if the sponsor meets the requirements but does not indemnify elected officials participating in the procession special activity or assemblage
Yeah, this amendment was negotiated with Chairman Benninghoff and myself and is agreed to by the prime sponsor. I ask all the members to support the amendment. Are there any questions or comments on the amendment? Are there any?
I'll represent him. Chairman, does your amendment also include changing that $2,000 fine downward?
Yeah. The amendment removes the proposed language increasing the fine from $100 to $2,000 under Section 1332.
What does it make the fine?
The fine for using a license plate obscuring device would remain $2,000 with this amendment. Any other questions? We're on the amendment. Vote will now be taken on amendment A03638. Are there any negative votes on amendment A03638? You good? Seeing none. Amendment A-03638 is adopted. We will now vote on House Bill 2-219 as amended. Are there any negative votes on House Bill 2-219 as amended? Seeing none, House Bill 2-219 will be reported as amended. Chair now calls up House Bill 2233, printers number 2926, introduced by Representative Tim Brennan. Kyle, can you please give us a summary of the bill?
House Bill 2233 by Representative Tim Brennan. This bill allows for the use of ATVs on roadways by emergency responders up to a maximum of 10 miles and on streets closed or restricted to special events. There is one amendment filed to the bill.
The question is, will the committee report the bill?
Representative Stamball offers Amendment A-03685
Jacob, can you please give us a summary of the amendment?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman Amendment A-03685 is offered by Representative Stamball This amendment allows emergency responders to operate utility terrain vehicles commonly known as UTVs The amendment defines an emergency UTV as a motorized off-highway vehicle that Has a maximum dry weight of 1,800 pounds Has a maximum width of 65 inches is designed to travel on four or more tires, has a steering wheel, has two headlights, a taillight, and brake light, has a roll bar or similar structural system or device, has a seat belt for the operator in each passenger, is equipped with doors on all sides, is operated by a police department, fire department, or emergency services agency during the course of performing official duties. The amendment places safety requirements upon the use of an emergency UTV by emergency responders, and the amendment increases the mileage limitation for an ATV operated as an emergency vehicle from 2 miles to 15 miles. I ask the members to support the amendment. This is the result of a bipartisan effort by Representative Brennan Stanball, and I now recognize Representative Stanball on this amendment.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I offer Amendment A-03685 to House Bill 2233, And as the chairman noted, it incorporates many of the changes that was suggested on this topic during the hearing we held in March on this bill, as well as my related House Bill 297. I want to thank Chairman Nielsen for holding that hearing as the testimony revealed how our current law is limiting the travel range of fire and ambulance department-owned ATVs and UTVs really hinders the effective and efficient emergency response in both rural and urban communities. Currently, as was noted, these vehicles can only be driven on roads within two miles of an EMS or fire station during an emergency. That's an arbitrary constraint that, in my opinion, makes little sense. On the UTV side, this amendment would allow first responder-operated UTVs to travel an unlimited number of miles on roads, as long as they have certain safety features, such as doors, lights, and a siren. UTVs would also be required to use visual and audible signals. They wouldn't be allowed to operate on limited access freeways. Drivers would have to be 21 with a valid driver's license. The driver and any UTV occupant on a highway or road with a speed limit greater than 25 miles per hour must wear a helmet and a seatbelt. I would note this provision does not apply to a person requiring medical care and who is incapable of wearing a helmet or seatbelt. The first responder owners of a UTV must maintain the same minimum levels of liability insurance as owners of registered motor vehicles. And regarding first responder ATVs, this amendment would allow them to travel up to 15 miles. This will greatly benefit efforts to aid with life-saving services in difficult-to-reach areas. In addition, my amendment includes language from the core part of HB 2233 that enables use of emergency ATVs during special events on closed roadways and provides first responder ATVs and UTVs the same protection from liability given to ambulances and fired equipment. Mr. Chairman, again, I thank you for your encouragement on this legislation, and I ask for an affirmative vote on Amendment A-03685.
The vote will now be taken on the amendment. Those in favor of adopting the amendment will vote A. Those opposed, no. Are there any negative votes on Amendment A-03-685? The amendment is adopted. We're now on the bill as amended. Are there any questions or comments on House Bill 2233? Chairman Benninghoff.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to echo Representative Steinbach's conversation. The hearing really brought out some significant examples of when this is appropriate. For some of us who have responded to emergencies in the past, they don't generally happen in the middle of a town. Plane crashes specifically that I have responded to are generally late at night, in the dark, in the snow. And trying to get equipment to these things alone is difficult. And if you have an injured person in these situations, trying to move them out is very cumbersome on the manpower. We have enough trouble trying to keep enough EMS people available that it only seems to make sense. A lot of these tragic things happen in quarries and very remote areas and this will allow us to utilize equipment that we may not have had available to us 20 years ago when some of us were responding to this type of thing It makes sense I think the restrictions are smart, the helmet and everything. This is just a better-equipped vehicle to get in tight areas than we could use for a truck or a car. I'd ask the members to support it, and I appreciate the committee working on it. And this truly was a bipartisan effort with Rep. Brennan and Stanball, And I think the hearing did open my eyes because I'm a city kid, and I never really realized the time it would take to respond to something because they have to go around the mountain. Now they can go right up the mountain. I mean, some of the uses that the first responders were talking about, this will do real good. And with the safety measures in place, I think it's going to work out great, and Pennsylvania is going to be a better place for it.
Are there any other questions or comments on House Bill 2233 as amended? Seeing none, are there any negative votes on House Bill 2233 as amended? House Bill 2233 will be reported. Next item on our agenda is House Bill 2549. Chair calls up. Printers number 3459 introduced by Rep. Hohenstein. Kyle, can you please give us a summary of the bill?
House Bill 2549 by Representative Joe Hohenstein. This bill allows applicants to donate $5 to the Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing within the Department of Labor and Industry when electronically renewing a driver's license, ID card, or vehicle registration online through PennDOT's website. Contributions must be used exclusively to provide communication access for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and there is one amendment filed to the bill.
Question is, will the committee report the bill? I offer Amendment A-03644. Kyle, can you please give us a summary of the amendment?
Amendment A-03644 by Chairman Nielsen. This amendment does the following. It changes the effective date of the underlying bill to 25 months and makes other technical corrections. It also inserts language, allowing applicants to donate $5 to the Shriners Hospitals for Children when electronically renewing a driver's license, ID card, or vehicle registration online through PennDOT's website. Contributions must be used exclusively for Shriners Hospitals for Children facilities located in Pennsylvania.
There you go. I've got to turn it on. So we've all saw the commercials at Shriners Hospital and how they take care of children across the Commonwealth and across the country and world. They do this at no cost, at no cost. So, therefore, if a sick kid needs health care, they can go there and get it. And I believe this is a great cause. and I appreciate the maker of the bill to allow me to amend it because I don't think I just did this or I'm doing it. Joe Holenstein, he let me do this, and I asked him if I could be part of his good efforts. And on that, I asked for a vote on the amendment. Are there any questions or comments on Amendment A03-644? Any negative votes? See none. A03-644 has been adopted. I now like to recognize Representative Holenstein on the amended bill.
Thank you, Chair, and thank you for bringing up my bill that would allow for a $5 donation to the Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services that is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Deaf and hard of hearing services are needed for about one million Pennsylvanians. Those are folks that have deafness or are hard of hearing in some way. Most of those folks require interpretation services, and American Sign Language interpreters are in short supply these days. There are not a lot of folks that are trained and fully certified to be able to get into the field and to be registered with ODHH and to make sure that they are there for the community. So this is a donation checkbox that will allow for increased support for the American Sign Language and Certified Deaf Interpreter communities so that their numbers can be increased and more fully supported. And it's also an extremely important resource for the deaf and hard of hearing community to make sure that they can communicate in their own language and in their own way as best as possible. And there really is nothing more effective in interpretation than a live interpreter right there with an individual. And that's what these funds will go to support. And I appreciate the chair for bringing this forward, and I'm more than happy to be able to include the Shriners Hospital provisions in here as well, because that is good work, too. Thank you. And I ask everyone for an affirmative vote.
Thank you, Rep. Any other questions on House Bill 2549 as amended? Seeing none. Any negative votes on House Bill 2549 as amended? Senate House Bill 2549 will be reported. The chair now calls up Senate Bill 481, printers number 439, introduced by Senator Judy Ward. Kyle, can you please give us a summary of the bill?
Senate Bill 481 by Senator Judy Ward. This bill allows for the transportation of milk on roadways with travel restrictions due to inclement weather or a declared emergency. This bill passed the Senate 36 to 14, and there is one amendment filed to the bill.
The question is, will the committee report the bill? I offer Amendment A-03643. Kyle, please give us a summary of the amendment.
Amendment A-03643 by Chairman Nielsen. This bill strikes out the entirety of the language and inserts the following language. To allow a combination of vehicles hauling milk to or from a milk plant or dairy farm or traveling to a milk plant or dairy farm to pick up milk. To travel on specified highways, including interstate highways, with the following increased weight limits. up to 95,000 pounds when hauling milk in a five-axle vehicle, up to 107,000 pounds with a permit when hauling raw or bulk milk in a six-axle combination vehicle, up to 117,000 pounds with a permit when hauling raw or bulk milk in a seven-axle vehicle combination. For context, the current general weight limit on Pennsylvania's roads is 80,000 pounds. Currently, milk haulers can weigh up to 95,000 pounds with an oversized load permit. Neighboring states of Ohio and New York allow milk haulers to weigh up to 117,000 pounds, which is what would be accomplished by
this amendment. Currently, our neighboring states, New York and Ohio, as Kyle indicated, have higher weight limits for milk haulers than Pennsylvania. By increasing these weight limits, Pennsylvania dairy industry will become more competitive. This amendment is a result of a bipartisan effort to find compromise on an important issue that can still help our milk callers The amendment was negotiated with the administration It is provisionally agreed to by the prime sponsor with the understanding that more conversations need to happen I asked the members to support the amendment The question is, will the members support the amendment? A vote will now be taken. Are there any questions or comments on Chairman Benninghoff?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Very briefly, I also wanted to echo that the prime sponsor in the Senate does support this amendment. Well, it's not necessarily everything that she wants. for those that don't live in the rural areas, getting milk to market, actually getting it from the farmers trucked away is a very tedious thing. It needs to be done on a day-to-day basis. The cows don't care what the weather is. They keep producing milk, and so it becomes very cumbersome and actually physically dangerous for the cows if they aren't milked on a frequent basis. During the climate weather, it's become a problem actually getting this and getting moved and getting the tanks cleared. We did have a conversation with the Secretary this year in terms of our tougher weather, and we were able to work a compromise, but we don't have to go through that exercise every time there's very bad weather. This is kind of a happy medium for more. I suspect the chairwoman is going to continue to pursue this in rural Pennsylvania. This is really a significant problem. And the last thing I say to that, people don't realize that some of our farms produce the majority of milk for Land O'Lakes and some of our other butterman manufacturers. That's a really significant economic issue for Pennsylvania as well as the farm. Help our cows out. Thank you, Chairman.
The vote will now be taken. Those in favor will vote yay. Those opposed, no. Are there any other negative votes? The record will reflect. Rep. Tomlinson was a no vote. All others are aye. The amendment passes. The question is, will the committee report the bill as amended? Any questions or comments? Representative Powell.
Thank you so much. Genuine question. In inclement weather, are there any other exceptions or exemptions made for food to be hauled? Is it just in this bill? I know we're specifically addressing milk because of how timely we heard milk needs to be delivered from the cow to its final destination. But just curious, are there other exemptions made for other critically important food during inclement weather or dangerous road conditions?
So on the bill, as amended, the provisions related to inclement weather and emergencies has been taken out. So on the current version of the bill, it's just raising the weight limit in all circumstances for these milk haulers. But to answer your question, it depends on the scope of the declared emergency or the weather event. The PNDOT, in coordination with Pima and the state police, issues the weather restrictions during weather events. And at the end of the day, they are the ones who decide the details of those restrictions.
Thank you for that education. I appreciate it.
The question recurs. Will the committee report the bill as amended? I ask the members to support the bill as amended. We will likely have more conversations on this issue, but today we need to advance the bill through the process. I want to thank Senator Judy Ward for her leadership on this issue and her willingness to work with us to get it moved forward. A vote will now be taken. Those in favor will be voting aye. Those opposed, no. Are there any negative votes on Senate Bill 481? Senate Bill 481 as amended will be reported. Next bill on our agenda, Chair calls up Senate Bill 1181, printers number 1456, introduced by Senator Don Kiefer. Kyle, please give us a summary of the bill.
Senate Bill 1181 by Senator Don Kiefer. This bill transfers ownership of a locally owned road, Bow Creek Road, in East Hanover Township, Dauphin County, to PennDOT, on the condition that the municipality accepts ownership of a state-owned road, Canal Road. This bill also transfers ownership of a locally owned road, Susquehanna Trail T956, in Conwaygo Township, York County, to PennDOT, on the condition that the municipality accepts ownership of a portion of a state-owned road, Bowers Bridge Road, State Route 1013. And there are no amendments filed to the bill.
The question is, will the committee report the bill? I ask the members to support the bill. This bill is identical to House Bill 333, introduced by Representative Thomas Mahaffey, which previously passed the House 202 to 0. It's supported by PennDOT and all affected municipalities. Are there any questions or comments on Senate Bill 1181? Seeing none, are there any negative votes on Senate Bill 1181? Seeing none, Senate Bill 1181 will be reported as committed. The chair now calls up Senate Bill 1294, printers number 1696, introduced by Senator Judy Ward. Kyle, can you please give us a description of the bill?
Senate Bill 1294 by Senator Judy Ward. This bill allows the State Board of Private Licensed Schools to levy a civil penalty of up to $25,000, increased from $2,500, on unlicensed commercial driving schools. According to the prime sponsor, this bill is intended to enforce and shut down illegitimate CDL schools, which illegally provide CDL training to enrollees without a license. And this bill passed the Senate 48 to 2, and there are no amendments filed to the bill.
Question is, will the committee report the bill? I asked the members to support the bill. It is a difficult process to obtain a CDL. Applicants must study a lot of different educational materials and then successfully pass a written test and a driver's test. Applicants frequently seek assistance from third-party organizations to help them obtain this CDL. Residents should have the confidence that when they see an advertisement for a CDL school that offers training assistance, it is a properly licensed CDL school that will teach them the correct way to operate commercial motor vehicle. The bill will ensure that unlicensed CDL schools operating outside the legal process while taking people's money can be penalized and held accountable. Are there any other comments or questions on Senate Bill 1294? See none. Are there any negative votes on Senate Bill 1294? See none. Senate Bill 1294 will be reported as committed. I thank everyone for their patience today. We're getting into a swing of things, it seems, and I hope you have a wonderful day. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you.