---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in alimony and support, further providing for alimony pendente lite, counsel fees and expenses."
description: "An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in alimony and support, further providing for alimony pendente lite, counsel fees and expenses."
jurisdiction: "us/states/pa"
legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly"
session: "2017-2018"
identifier: "HB 983"
citation: "Pennsylvania HB 983 (2017-2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lawrence"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 20
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2017-03-28T04:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2018-10-24T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8c74f84e-0577-41fe-b85c-9266dbb69596"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2017&sind=0&body=H&type=B&BN=983"
source_hash: "2db1fb87667be56888232321edfdf11d2075cb6bb30e72087bf372c1e29262a6"
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 983 (2017-2018) — An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in alimony and support, further providing for alimony pendente lite, counsel fees and expenses.

## Version chain

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

1. **Printer's No. 1144** (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=0983&pn=1144)
2. **Printer's No. 2743** (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=0983&pn=2743)

## Votes

- Committee vote (JUDICIARY): Reported as Committed — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE — **46–3** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE — **187–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Lawrence — primary (person)
- A. Harris — cosponsor (person)
- B. O'Neill — cosponsor (person)
- Caltagirone — cosponsor (person)
- Corbin — cosponsor (person)
- Davis — cosponsor (person)
- Farry — cosponsor (person)
- Freeman — cosponsor (person)
- Irvin — cosponsor (person)
- Kinsey — cosponsor (person)
- Longietti — cosponsor (person)
- Neuman — cosponsor (person)
- Pickett — cosponsor (person)
- Rabb — cosponsor (person)
- Readshaw — cosponsor (person)
- Roe — cosponsor (person)
- Rozzi — cosponsor (person)
- Schlossberg — cosponsor (person)
- Solomon — cosponsor (person)
- Stephens — cosponsor (person)
- Sturla — cosponsor (person)
- Toepel — cosponsor (person)
- V. Brown — cosponsor (person)
- Ward — cosponsor (person)
- Watson — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** PN 1144 Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2017-11-21T05:00:00+00:00** PN 2743 Reported as amended `committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2017-11-21T05:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2017-11-21T05:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2017-12-04T05:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2017-12-05T05:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2017-12-05T05:00:00+00:00** Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2017-12-06T05:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2017-12-06T05:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-12-08T05:00:00+00:00** Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-05T04:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2018-06-05T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2018-06-06T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2018-09-24T04:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2018-09-24T04:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2018-10-17T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2018-10-17T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in House
- **2018-10-17T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in Senate
- **2018-10-18T04:00:00+00:00** Presented to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-10-24T04:00:00+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/8c74f84e-0577-41fe-b85c-9266dbb69596`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).