New PA Laws That Could Impact Life In 2024

HARRISBURG, PA — A wide range of new bills have been signed into law by Gov. Shapiro in recent weeks and months in Pennsylvania, and many will take effect when the calendar flips to January, 2024.

Here's a glance at eight of those bills, ranging from reforms to the criminal justice system to, curiously, toughening stances on petty crimes.

Clean slate and probation reform

A pair of bills hailed by advocates as landmark step in both reforming probation and providing second chances for low level offenders were passed and signed into law in December. The bills build on Gov. Tom Wolf's historic 2018 law that made the state the first in the nation to automatically seal criminal records after an expungement.

The probation bill, Senate Bill 838, requires mandatory probation review conferences every two years, or 50 percent of the probation sentence, whichever comes sooner. Judges are also now instructed to have a "presumption against confinement" for minor violations, and that no one should be left in jail unless the violation was serious or they are a threat to public safety.

Small probation violations, like returning home late after curfew or visiting family out of state, will not result in jail time.

The legislation was the result of years of discourse and bipartisan compromise and its signing was attended by celebrity activists like rapper Meek Mill and former Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin.

“I can’t explain how much this bill means to me,” Meek Mill said at the signing. “My experience on probation reflected millions of other stories that go unheard. So when the world saw my case and the absurdity of sending people to prison for non-criminal technical violations, it sparked a movement. It’s an honor and a blessing to see this change come to my home state."

Mill, who was jailed for years for a probation violation and whose case brought national attention to the need for criminal justice reform, founded the nonprofit Reform Alliance with Rubin and Jay-Z. The group worked with legislators on the bill.

The clean slate bill, House Bill 689, will ensure individuals who receive a pardon, not just an expungement, will automatically have their criminal records cleared.

Read the full probation bill here, and the full clean slate bill here.

Porch pirate crackdown

Stealing a package off a front porch will be a felony in Pennsylvania in 2024.

Senate Bill 527 – now Act 41 of 2023 – implements specific penalties for mail theft, including a package, bag or letter. In Pennsylvania, the theft of mail was charged under other theft offenses based solely on the value of the item taken.

Pennsylvania now joins eight other states ­—Texas, New Jersey, Michigan, Oklahoma, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas —that have already made porch pirating a felony.
“With online shopping being a growing commerce method, package thefts have been on the rise nationwide. It’s time to hold these thieves accountable,” State Sen. Frank Farry said. “This bill focuses on repeat offenders by using a grading system that would increase the penalties if the thief had prior convictions for theft of mail.”

Read the full bill here.

Organized retail theft

A new law has established a special Deputy Attorney General in Pennsylvania to handle retail theft cases, which have caused nearly a billion in losses nationwide, authorities said.

State officials say that while large retail stores are targeted some of the time in high profile cases, about 54 percent of small business owners in Pennsylvania saw an increase in shoplifting from 2022 to 2023.

"Coming off the heels of the pandemic, these thefts are a slap in the face of every hardworking Pennsylvanian trying to provide for themselves and their families," State Sen. David G. Argall said in a co-sponsorship memorandum.

The Deputy AG will oversee a team of prosecutors, located throughout the state, who will be tasked with prosecuting retail theft.

The bill also lowers the monetary threshold for what counts as a second or third degree felony retail theft, making it easier to prosecute.

Read the full bill here.

Military personnel residency

Individuals who are in the armed services will automatically be granted residency in Pennsylvania if stationed here. The benefit will also extend to their immediate families.

Read the full bill here.

Preferred organic logo

Pennsylvania stores will now feature local, sustainable products more prominently with a Preferred Organic logo, which aims to improve sales for Pennsylvania farmers creating environmentally-friendly products.

“Pennsylvanians should be proud that their commonwealth is a national leader in organic agriculture sales, research, and farmer training thanks to organizations like the Rodale Institute," State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski (D-Luzerne) said in a statement. "By making Pennsylvania-produced organic products more identifiable, our farmers would continue benefiting from this rapidly expanding market and industry."

Pennsylvania is third in the nation in organic agriculture sales. Pashinski and supporters say the legislation will help consumers more easily identity these state products and help further support the local economy.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is developing a program logo, and will authorize grants from the existing PA Preferred program.

Read the full bill here.

Physical fitness standards lowered for police

Police no longer need to reach the same physical standards to serve in Pennsylvania that they once did, according to this new law.

Recruits must need to score only within the 30th percentile of the "Cooper standards," which generally correspond to the 30th percentile of the entire population.

Cooper standards vary by age and gender. For a 20 to 29-year-old male recruit, the 30th percentile means 26 push ups in a minute, 38 sit ups in a minute, and a 1.5 mile run in 13:08.

Read the full bill here.

School bus stop enforcement

Senate Bill 851 marshals more law enforcement resources to catch individuals who violate the school bus stop arm law, by passing a school bus that has stopped to drop off children.

The bill expands the automated enforcement program that has been growing in recent years. Much of the state already uses BusPatrol's "smart buses" — AI-powered school bus stop-arm cameras that record traffic as they go by the bus. That data captured nearly eight thousand vehicles illegally passed stopped school buses in Pennsylvania in the first half of the 2022-23 school year.

Read the full bill here.