Law & Justice 2023-2024

The Senate Law & Justice Committee met on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 to vote on the following bills:

House Bill 38 (Mustello) – Amends the Liquor Code to allow a liquor license to be transferred when given prior approval, contingent on a surcharge. This is sometimes referred to as the “Rauwolf fix” as it addresses case law that prevents the sale of a liquor license after a transfer and before an establishment opens. Several license holders have found themselves in limbo, especially during the pandemic, because of changing circumstances that prevent the sale of a license because the own didn’t have the capital to open the planned location.

  • The bill was adopted unanimously

House Bill 1160 (Nelson) – Amends the Liquor Code to allow for an unlimited amount of off-premise catering permits and further expands number of events for catering clubs. Current law caps the number of of off-premise catering events at 52. During the pandemic, the number of events was temporarily uncapped. This legislation would make the change permanent.

  • The bill was adopted unanimously

Senate Bill 646 (Regan) – Amends Title 71 (State Government) to provide a tiered annuity increase based on retirement date for Pennsylvania State Police Troopers who retired prior to June 30, 2010. Troopers that retired prior to June 20, 1990 would receive a $3,000 annual annuity increase. Troopers that retired between July 1, 1990 and June 30, 2000 would receive a $2,000. And Troopers that retired between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2010 would receive a $1,000. The last annuity COLA that any state employee received was under Act 9 of 2001.

  • The bill was adopted unanimously

Senate Bill 854 (Pennycuick) – Amends the Special Ad Hoc Municipal Police and Firefighter Postretirement Adjustment Act of 1988 to provide a tiered cost of living adjustment for municipal police officers and firefighters based on their retirement date. The COLA is funded at the local level and the actuarial note has placed the cost at over $340 million.

  • The bill was adopted unanimously

Senate Bill 882 (J. Ward) – Establishes guidelines and parameters for special order sales through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. This bill would potentially require that any product that sells less the 72,000 bottles per year through the PLCB would be required to be listed as a special order. PLCB policy currently has the threshold set at 15,000 bottles per year.

  • The bill was adopted by a 7 to 4 vote. All of the Democrats voted no.

The Senate Law & Justice Committee met on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 to vote on the following bills:

SB 260 (Robinson) Amends Titles 18 and 61 to allow parole agents to use body cameras. 

  • There is a gut and replace amendment that does the same thing as described above, but only amends Title 18 and further requires that the parole agent or correction police officer is clearly identifiable as being on official duty.
  • The amendment and the bill were unanimously adopted

SB 730 (A Williams) Establishes the Jayanna Powel Hit-and-Run Direct Notification System to require auto repair shops to check a PennDot database for hit and run accidents when fixing a vehicle. 

  • The bill was unanimously adopted

SB 836 (Farry) – Amends Title 53 to make a necessary update to require fingerprinting and background checks for applicants for MPOETC certification or approval to meet FBI accreditation standards.

  • The bill was unanimously adopted

SB 538 (Laughlin) – Allows for the production and sale of edible medical marijuana product under the Medical Marijuana Law.

  • Amendment A00804Provides for infused edible and non-edible products and removes some regulatory authority of the DoH over the forms that medical marijuana can be dispensed.
  • Senator J Ward was the only no vote on the amendment and the bill

SB 773 (Gebhard) – Provides dispensary permits to independent grower/processors

  • The bill was unanimously adopted

SB 835 (Regan/Brewster) – Medical Marijuana Act updates including eliminating the serious medical conditions list, requiring Senate confirmation of the Director of the Office of Medical Marijuane, and making the medical marijuana card free.

  • Senator J Ward was the only no vote

The Senate Law & Justice Committee met on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 to vote on the following bills:

SB 203 (Fontana) – Amends the Amber Alert System Law (P.L. 1270, Act 153 of 2004) to add a Green Alert to notify the public of a missing veteran.

  • Referred from committee unanimously.

SB 688 (Regan) – Amends the Liquor Code (P.L. 90, Act 21 of 1951) to permit for the sale of ready to drink cocktails (RTDs) outside of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) system.

  • Referred from committee by a 6-5 vote. Senators Brewster, Dillon, Farry, Flynn, and Tartaglione voted no.

The Senate Law & Justice Committee met on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 to vote on the following bills:

All three were passed unanimously.

SB 360 (J Ward) – Amends to the Liquor Code to allow club liquor license holders to sell up to 192 ounces of beer (12 – 16 ounce containers) for off-premise consumption.

SB 429 (Regan) – Amends the Enforcement Officer Disability Benefits Law (aka the Heart & Lung Act) to expand coverage to DCNR Rangers and State Park Officers employed by DCNR, members of Fort Indiantown Gap Police, commissioned officers within the Department of Corrections, Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence, and officers within the Office of State Inspector General. The bill also provides an opt-in for counties for probation officers, corrections officers and jail guards, as well as for universities.

SB 464 (Regan) – Amends Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) to permit full-time municipal and regional police officers to buy back up to five years of previous police employment service for pension benefit purposes.


The Senate Law & Justice Committee met this morning and unanimously voted to move Acting-PSP Commissioner Christopher Paris’s nomination forward.