---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act establishing the Rare Disease Advisory Council and providing for its powers and duties; and providing for duties of the Department of Health, the Insurance Department, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education."
description: "An Act establishing the Rare Disease Advisory Council and providing for its powers and duties; and providing for duties of the Department of Health, the Insurance Department, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education."
jurisdiction: "us/states/pa"
legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly"
session: "2017-2018"
identifier: "HB 239"
citation: "Pennsylvania HB 239 (2017-2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Toepel"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 23
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2017-02-01T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2017-07-07T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/73b4b856-66be-4065-a1c8-9532c8937798"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2017&sind=0&body=H&type=B&BN=239"
source_hash: "3d66e51dbd7c865cd8528948b173dd5b86b65e092f155dc3c0a4761a450341e6"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-pa"]
---

# Pennsylvania HB 239 (2017-2018) — An Act establishing the Rare Disease Advisory Council and providing for its powers and duties; and providing for duties of the Department of Health, the Insurance Department, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Printer's No. 0261** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2017&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=0239&pn=0261)
2. **Printer's No. 2005** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2017&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=0239&pn=2005)

## Votes

- Committee vote (APPROPRIATIONS): Re-Reported as Committed — **26–0** (pass) · upper
- HB 239 PN 2005, CONCUR — **199–0** (pass) · lower
- Committee vote (HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES): Reported as Amended — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE — **196–0** (pass) · lower
- FINAL PASSAGE — **50–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Toepel — primary (person)
- Baker — cosponsor (person)
- Corbin — cosponsor (person)
- D. Costa — cosponsor (person)
- Heffley — cosponsor (person)
- Kortz — cosponsor (person)
- Longietti — cosponsor (person)
- Murt — cosponsor (person)
- O'Brien — cosponsor (person)
- Phillips-Hill — cosponsor (person)
- Schlossberg — cosponsor (person)
- Simmons — cosponsor (person)
- Topper — cosponsor (person)
- V. Brown — cosponsor (person)
- Ward — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-01T05:00:00+00:00** PN 0261 Referred to HEALTH `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-04T04:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2017-04-04T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2017-04-04T04:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2017-05-08T04:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2017-05-09T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2017-05-09T04:00:00+00:00** Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2017-05-10T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2017-05-10T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-05-15T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-13T04:00:00+00:00** PN 2005 Reported as amended `committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2017-06-13T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2017-06-21T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2017-06-21T04:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-26T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2017-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-06-29T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to RULES `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-29T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported on concurrence, as committed `committee-passage`
- **2017-06-29T04:00:00+00:00** House concurred in Senate amendments
- **2017-06-29T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in House
- **2017-06-29T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in Senate
- **2017-06-30T04:00:00+00:00** Presented to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-07-07T04:00:00+00:00** Approved by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/73b4b856-66be-4065-a1c8-9532c8937798`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).