March 18, 2026 · LABOR AND INDUSTRY · 1,552 words · 8 speakers · 26 segments
I call this meeting of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee to order please call the roll to establish a quorum.
Senators Baker. Here. Bartolotta. Here. Brown. Proxy. Flynn. Here. Kane. Proxy. Laughlin. Here. Pacozi. Proxy. Pissitano? Proxy. Tartaglione? Here. Kim Ward? Proxy. Robinson? Here.
A quorum is established, and today, the day after St. Patrick's Day, so I trust that everybody celebrated accordingly yesterday, we will be considering two bills. We had planned to consider Senate Bill 1215 today In light of some concerns raised by stakeholders, we will be going over that bill today while we work on a potential amendment. I am committed to scheduling a voting meeting next week to consider the bill. The first bill is Senate Bill 1053, sponsored by Senator Hutchinson. Is there a motion to consider the bill?
Senator Tartaglian.
Is there a second?
Second.
Senator Bartolano. The bill amends the Workers' Compensation Act to clarify coverage for volunteer emergency service members engaged in organized fundraising activities. Senator Hutchinson, would you like to offer comments on your bill?
Thank you, Chairman Robinson, Chairwoman Tartagliano, and members of the committee. Thank you for accommodating me today and taking up my bill, Senate Bill 1053, for your consideration. Pennsylvania has a proud history of volunteer fire and emergency medical services, beginning with the establishment of the Union Fire Company back in 1736 by Ben Franklin. From this beginning, Pennsylvania has recognized the importance of fire and emergency services and the essential work that these nonprofits provide to their communities. The General Assembly wants to ensure that our volunteers receive meaningful benefits for their community service. These brave volunteers receive workers' compensation for injuries sustained while in the course of employment. This policy was reinforced with the passage of Act 108 of 2020, which expanded workers' compensation to cover more personnel and more activities. Act 108 extended workers compensation to new classifications including volunteers who respond to emergency calls officers directors of volunteer fire and EMS and staff who provide operational support such as maintaining station equipment assisting with recruitment providing IT support organizing fundraisers, and other necessary administrative tasks. However, no express coverage exists for volunteer fire and EMS personnel who are working during organized fundraising activities. We have a case in point. Back in 1976, the Commonwealth Court recognized that injured firefighters harmed at their fire company's annual fundraising picnic were eligible for workers' compensation, even though that activity was not included in the workers' compensation law. These firefighters, in this specific case, suffered injuries from taking down the picnic banner, which, unbeknownst to them, its metallic wires became electrolyzed when touching an electric wire. While the lower courts denied compensation, the law provided compensation for the performance of any duty that is authorized by the municipality. Commonwealth Court reasoned that since the municipality authorized a fire chief to direct duties of firefighters. They authorized these men to remove a banner at the picnic, and as such, these men's injuries were compensable. So case law does permit coverage for injuries that occurred at organized activities in this manner. However, it is not a universal standard in the law. My legislation will fill this gap in the law and codify the policy recognized by this case by expressly authorizing workers' compensation for volunteers who are participating in fundraising activities for volunteer emergency services so that these personnel are more adequately protected when contributing their time to raising funds which support these services in their communities. We work closely with the State Association of Township Supervisors who asked for this specific service to be covered, and I think it's a great way to put into law this workers' compensation coverage for those who are participating in fundraising activities. So thank you for your consideration. I respectfully request your affirmative vote, and I'll try to answer any questions you have today.
Thank you, Senator Hutchinson. Before I open up the floor to questions, I would like to ask the co-sponsor of the bill, Senator Carney, who also happens to be my co-chair for the American-Irish Legislative Caucus, if you would like to come up and offer any remarks. As an aside, Mr. Chairman, I did notice you still have a green tie on.
That is correct.
The spirit lives on.
It is Irish American Heritage Month so you going to have to get used to it Thank you Mr Chairman Thank you for having me here today for your committee meeting Senator Hutchins really covered the bill very well, I believe. I just want to point out that this is a bipartisan bill that we were pushing and was originally discussed in the Local Government Commission, which is, of course, the most bipartisan, apolitical thing we have in Harrisburg. So thank you.
Thank you. Now I would like to open up the floor to any questions or comments that you have for either of the sponsors of the bill. Senator Baker.
Thank you. Good morning. Thank you for the legislation. I think we all know how difficult it has been to not only recruit but retain good volunteers, and I think your effort here makes great sense. to include this activity. It's hard to raise money for pieces of equipment that are upwards of a million dollars, and having volunteers willing to serve in that capacity is important. Do we have any idea how many potential individuals have been impacted in the past by this, or is this just a preemptive attempt to ensure that this activity is covered? So if we have people who've been denied, do we know how many claims may have been affected by that?
I think your statement, it's more of a preemptive thing. Of course, I outlined the one major case, but obviously the townships, their organization, and their members believe that this could be a problem and they want to head it off before it happens. Obviously, they are the ones who pay the workers' comp insurance premiums, but they think that these activities should be covered because they don't want to be caught on the back end with somebody being injured in one of these activities and having no resources to fall back on. So I think it's mostly preemptive. I'm sure there have been other cases other than the one I outlined, but I don't know that those are gathered in any single place. But thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for your leadership on this. I think for those of us who have large communities, this has been the biggest challenge we face is attracting and retaining individuals who are willing to serve. So thank you very much.
Any other questions or comments? No. Hearing none, would you – should we call the roll? Okay. Okay. Well we don even need to call the roll No Are there any negative votes Seeing none hearing none Looks like by a vote of 11 to 0 the bill is reported from committee Second bill on our agenda is House Bill. Thank you.
Senator Carney and I both thank you for your consideration. There you go.
Trying to move this thing along here. The second bill on our agenda is House Bill 135, sponsored by Representative Kajewski. Is there a motion to consider the bill? Senator Sartaglian. Is there a second?
Senator Picozzi.
The bill amends Title 15 to reduce the minimum number of workers needed to establish a cooperative corporation from 5 to 3. Representative Kajewski, would you like to offer comments on your bill?
Thank you. Good morning to the committee members. I want to thank the chairs and the committee members generally for your consideration of House Bill 135, an important piece of legislation that makes it easier to form cooperatives. Cooperatives are an alternative business structure that allows the businesses to be owned and operated by the workers and communities that use the businesses. Cooperatives are popular in a variety of sectors, from agriculture to hardware and apparel. Some of our most famous brands, including REI, Ocean Spray, Land of Lakes, and Ace Hardware, are cooperatively owned, demonstrating that it is a financially viable business structure. In addition to allowing the owners to share participation and responsibility, they enable smaller entrepreneurs to band together and compete in the market. One challenge with creating cooperatives in Pennsylvania is the required number of members to start. Currently, to start a cooperative requires five members. Our bill simply lowers that number to three. This would allow entrepreneurs to select an economic model that is more aligned with their business values while supporting an entity structure that we know vitalizes local economies and communities. So with that, I ask for your affirmative vote on House Bill 135, and thank you again for your consideration.
Thank you, Representative Krijuski. Chairwoman Tartaglion, would you like to speak on the bill?
I ask for an affirmative vote.
Thank you. Are there any other questions or comments on the bill? Seeing none, hearing none. Bill, I could just say that are there any negative votes? No? Seeing none, hearing none. By a vote of 11 to 0, the bill is reported from committee. That concludes our agenda. The Labor and Industry Committee is recessed to the call of the chair.
Good vibes from my co-chair.