June 22, 2026 · STATE GOVERNMENT · 2,108 words · 17 speakers · 63 segments
. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to call the House State Government Committee meeting to order. Maya, would you please take the roll?
Chairwoman Hill-Evans. Here.
Representatives Boyd. Designation.
Brennan. Designation.
Davidson. Designation.
Genst. Designation.
Green. Designation.
Howard. Designation.
Inglis. Designation.
Kenyatta. Designation.
Probst. Designation.
Sanchez.
He's joining us online.
Designation.
Schusterman.
designation waxman webster designation chairman roy here representatives banta designation barger designation bonner designation brown designation diamond here think kozak designation shaffer designation wallen walsh designation weakneck chairwoman a quorum is present Having established the presence of a quorum, the committee is in order to proceed with business. The chair calls up House Bill 2542, printers number 3448. Mike, would you please read a summary of the bill?
House Bill 2542, sponsored by Representative Ortizai, amends the Pennsylvania Election Code to provide for certain deadlines in the certification of election results and the adjudication of related court cases.
Okay. We are waiting for Representative Ortitai, but in the meantime, the chair recognizes Representative Sanchez, who is joining us online. Rep. Sanchez, do you have some statement, a comment to make?
Good morning, everybody, and thank you, Madam Chair, for calling this up and calling on me. Just I'm going to defer to Representative Ortizai and I appreciate his taking up this bill as well. If anyone who's been on the committee for since last session and was in the House last session will recall we passed this last time with bipartisan support and hoping we can do this again. And this purifies and crystallizes proper deadlines in the electoral count in Pennsylvania. As everyone knows, Pennsylvania has purview over how we run our elections. And this really makes things certain in deadlines and you know creates some firm timelines when calculating the results and certifying results So very important something that should be certainly be bipartisan And it definitely something that we got gotten input from Department of State. I believe they are on board with where we are, you know, with two attempts at this and hope everybody can support that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Representative. And I would note that we have been joined by Representatives Bonner, Webster, Davidson, Green, who is joining us online, Inglis, and Ken Yada. Is there discussion on the bill that chair recognizes Representative Ortitai?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I won't belabor my co-prime's remarks. I'll try not to repeat those. I want to emphasize just one thing in the bill if he didn't already do so, and I apologize for coming in here a couple minutes late. The bill requires Secretary to notify the legislative leaders if the federal deadline is going to be missed. I think that's something that's new and is important because as of now, he can just miss the deadline and not tell us at all. with this bill that puts some strings in here. So they at least have to tell us that they're going to miss it and give us a reason as to what's going on. So with that, like I said, I'm not going to go over the bill. It sounds like you guys already did that. If you have any questions, I'm happy to take them. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The chair recognizes the chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Back in 2016, counties had to certify by November 28th. Trump won, and the state waited until December 12th to certify the election. In 2020, counties had to certify their elections by November 23rd. The very next day, on November 24th, the state certified that Biden won. Then in 2024, counties had to certify the results by November 25th. the state waited until December 10th to certify that Trump won. So it does seem that politics can be played with certifying to kind of embarrass the winner or to make the winner look good depending on what they want to do. The way the timelines in this bill works, all three of those election cycles could have worked out that same way, and they would have complied with this bill. They all complied with the federal law of when you have to be done, but the bill doesn't really address that issue. There are some other issues I'm not going to get into, but last session or maybe two sessions ago, this barely passed on the House floor, 105 to 97. So I believe most of the Republicans will be voting no. Thank you.
Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed, no. My understanding that all Democrats will be voting yes. As reported, all Republicans will be voting yes. And the bill will be reported. Chair calls up House Bill 1620, printers number 1954. Hannah, please read a summary of the bill. Thank you.
House Bill 1620, sponsored by Representative Keith Harris, would authorize the Department of General Services with the approval of the governor to grant and convey approximately 1.71 acres of land in the city of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, to the Pennsylvania Housing Authority for $50,000.
All right. The chair doesn't see Representative Keith Harris. So is there discussion on the bill?
Yeah, the Republicans will all be yes on this, so I don't think you have to do a roll call.
Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed, no. All Democrats will be voting yes, and all Republicans will be voting yes. So the bill will be reported. Chair calls up House Bill 2548, printers number 3456.
Ms Hannah please read a summary of the bill House Bill 2548 sponsored by Representative Kahn would authorize the Department of General Services with the approval of the governor to grant and convey 2 acres of land in the City of Philadelphia Philadelphia County to Gadenzia DRC Incorporated for $1.
Chair recognizes Representative Kahn.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Chair Roy. It's great to be here today. And so this bill, as was mentioned by the Executive Director, conveys the land from Gaudenzia diagnostic recovery centers over from the state to Gaudenzia. Currently, I've spoken to workers. I've spoken to patients who are served by Gaudenzia. There is a huge need to renovate these facilities. This is something that is not just in the last few years. This is probably decades. Major renovations are needed. This is not going to happen unless this land is conveyed to Garanzia so that they can do this upkeep. It's something that has been delayed years and years. There is stipulation so that this land cannot be converted to something else. And if it is, if it's sold, the state will take it back. So I'm grateful for the administration. I'm grateful for the Department of Human Services for working with us on this bill. This is a bill that benefits patients and benefits workers. I want to just give a quick shout-out to the workers at SEIU, the 668, the workers at FOP92, who actually brought this to our attention, and also Representative Green, a gentlelady from Philadelphia, who also helped to make this possible. I ask for a yes vote. Thank you.
The Republicans will be yes.
Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed, no. All Democrats will be voting yes. All Republicans will be voting yes. And the bill will be reported. We have been joined by Representative Boyd. The chair calls up House Bill No. 2581, printers No. 3476. Hannah, please read a summary of the bill.
House Bill 2581, co-primed by Representative Taycac and Benninghoff would authorize the Department of General Services with the approval of the Governor and the Department of Corrections to grant and convey approximately 9.029 acres of land in Benner Township Center County to Ferris Land Development for $90,000.
Is there anyone here to speak on House Bill 2581? Is there discussion? Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed, no. All Democrats will be voting yes. All Republicans will be voting yes. The bill will be reported. Thank you. Chair calls up House Bill 2604, printers number 3527. Mike, would you please read a summary of the bill?
House Bill 2604, sponsored by Representative Alec and Cabbage, authorizes the Department of General Services to grant and convey to the city of Nanticoke portions of the former Nanticoke Readiness Center site for fair market value of $860,000.
Is there discussion on the bill?
Republicans will be yes.
Okay. Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed, no. All Democrats will be voting yes. All Republicans will be voting yes. The bill will be reported. Thank you. Chair calls up House Bill 2606, printers number 3529. Mike, please read a summary of the bill.
House Bill 2606, sponsored by Representative Wendling, would authorize the Department of General Services to grant and convey to the City of Hermitage the site of the former Hermitage Readiness Center for fair market value of $920,000.
Is there discussion?
Chair Roy. Republicans will all be yes.
Okay. Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed, no. All Democrats will be voting yes. All Republicans will be voting yes. The bill will be reported. The chair calls up House Bill 2607 printers number 3530 Mike please read a summary of the bill House Bill 2607 sponsored by Representative Delosier
authorizes the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to grant and convey to Friends of Peace Church, a nonprofit, the Peace Church in Hamden Township, Cumberland County, for $1.
Is there a discussion?
Chair, really? Republicans will all be yes.
Okay. Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed no. All Democrats will be voting yes. All Republicans will be voting yes. The bill will be reported. The chair calls up House Bill 2608, printers number 3531. Mike, please read a summary of the bill.
House Bill 2608, sponsored by Representative Stender, authorizes the Department of General Services to grant and convey to the borough of Danville, the former Danville State Hospital, for $1.
Will the committee report the bill? Chair recognizes Chair Roy.
The Republicans will be yes.
Okay. Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed no. All Democrats will be voting yes. All Republicans will be voting yes. The bill will be reported. House Bill 2636. The chair calls up House Bill 2636, printers number 3602. Mike, please read a summary of the bill.
House Bill 2636, sponsored by Representative Roe, would authorize the Department of General Services to grant and convey a well site in Penn Township, Snyder County, to the Penn Township Municipal Authority for the fair market value of $63,000.
Will the committee report the bill? The chair recognizes Chair Roy.
The Republicans will be yes.
Those in favor of reporting the bill will vote yes. Those opposed, no. All Democrats will be voting yes. All Republicans will be voting yes. the bill will be reported. All right. The chair calls up House Bill 2559, printers number 3470. Hannah, please read a summary of the bill.
House Bill 2559, sponsored by Representative Smith-Wadell, would authorize the Department of General Services with the approval of the governor to grant and convey land known as the Whitmer Building and Miller's Bill Bureau, Lancaster County to Student Lodging Incorporated for $1.
Okay, will the committee report the bill? There is an amendment. The chair offers amendment number A03662. Will the committee agree to the amendment? Hannah, please provide a summary of the amendment.
A03662 would create an omnibus land conveyance by inserting the Philadelphia Nursing Home, Eastern PA Psychiatric Institute, SCI Bender Subdivision, Peace Church, and the Danville State Hospital Subdivision conveyances into the bill.
Is there a discussion on the amendment?
Republicans will be yes.
Okay. Those in favor of the amendment will vote yes. Those opposed vote no. All Democrats will be a yes on the amendment. All Republicans will be a yes on the amendment. The amendment is agreed to. Will the committee report the bill as amended? The chair recognizes, there's no one here to recognize. Smith-Wadell, if you were here, we would know, right? Okay. So, yeah. Okay. Yes. Those in favor of reporting the bill as amended will vote yes. Those opposed, no.
Republicans will be yes.
Okay. So, all Democrats will be voting yes. All Republicans will be voting yes, and those are yeses to the bill as amended. Okay, and the bill as amended will be reported. Seeing no further business, I move that the state government committee be adjourned. Thank you.