4 New PA Laws: See How They Could Impact You

PENNSYLVANIA — Several new laws signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro recently went into effect or soon will. They involve human trafficking, telemarketers and sales taxes in the state's two largest counties.

Here's a closer look at the new laws:

Senate Act 45: Moves prostitution related offenses to the Human Trafficking section of the state crime code and will increase the penalties for most prostitution offenses related to the traffickers and buyers rather than the victims.The goal is to provide the Attorney General’s Office and local law enforcement agencies with ability to better target and prosecute people who are participating in human trafficking for prostitution purposes and will allow local district attorneys more freedom to pursue both sets of charges under trafficking and prostitution

"By increasing the penalties for such crimes as patronizing prostitutes and promoting prostitution, we can punish those who promote prostitution and reduce the incidents of prostitution and human trafficking while punishing traffickers and those who force victims into prostitution," Cris Dush, the Cameron County Republican who introduced the legislation, said in a statement.

The law went into effect on Sept. 18.

House Act 31: Establishes mandatory human trafficking awareness training for workers in Pennsylvania's hospitality industry. The training is required for workers at hotels, motels and other public lodging establishments who have contact with guests or access to guest rooms, as well as certain online lodging platforms and short-term rental operators.

"This law will give front desk and housekeeping staff training to identify signs of human trafficking and what they can do to report it," said state Rep. Regina Young, the Delaware County Democrat who authored the legislation.

"It also encompasses online reservation services to account for their specific set of warning signs as a popular and easy option to bypass face-to-face interaction. “It’s not just hotels and motels – it’s also inclusive of short-term rental operators.”

The law went into effect on Sept. 18.

Senate Bill 992: Prohibits telemarketers from spoofing phone numbers so the call appears to originate from the same local area as the recipient. Also, telemarketers are banned from making robocalls after 8 p.m. in the recipients time zone.

"Robocalls are a common nuisance in today’s society, and are especially burdensome to senior citizens" state Sen. Michele Brooks, a Crawford Country Republican and the legislation's primary sponsor, stated in a memo to colleagues when introducing the bill.

"When the phone numbers are spoofed to appear to be from the local area, a senior citizen may believe the call to be from a family member or a neighbor contacting them about an emergency, especially when these calls are made later in the evening. Instead, the individual is met with a computerized telemarketing message.

The new law goes into effect on Oct. 20.

Senate Bill 21: The law shifts Philadelphia County (2 percent) and Allegheny County (1 percent) local sales taxes from origin-based sourcing (seller's location) to destination-based sourcing (delivery address/customer's location).

Vendors delivering taxable goods or services into Philadelphia now collect an 8 percent total tax (6 percent state and 2 percent local); deliveries into Allegheny County total 7 percent (6 percent state and 1 percent county).

The new law goes into effect on Oct. 1.