--- type: "Bill" title: "An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in preliminary provisions, further providing for Special Education Funding Commission; in school districts, providing for full academic year requirements; in school finances, further providing for annual budget, additional or increased appropriations and transfer of funds; in grounds and buildings, further providing for limitation on new applications for Department of Education approval of public school building projects; in district superintendents and assistant district superintendents, further providing for eligibility; in pupils and attendance, further providing for definitions and for nonprofit school food program; in Drug and Alcohol Recovery High School Pilot Program, further providing for audit required; establishing the Innovation Schools Program; in community colleges, further providing for financial program and reimbursement of payments; in educational tax credits, further providing for definitions, for qualification and application by organizations, for application by business firms, for tax credits, for limitations and for opportunity scholarships; adding provisions relating to postsecondary institution sexual harassment and sexual violence policy and online reporting system; in school districts of the first class, further providing for board of public education and additional duties; in ready-to-succeed scholarship, further providing for agency duties relating to eligibility criteria; in funding for public libraries, providing for State aid for fiscal year 2019-2020; in reimbursements by Commonwealth and between school districts, further providing for payments on account of pupils enrolled in vocational curriculums, for student-weighted basic education funding, for payments to intermediate units, for assistance to school districts declared to be in financial recovery status or identified for financial watch status, for Ready-to-Learn Block Grant and for payment of required contribution for public school employees' social security and providing for advanced placement and International Baccalaureate exam fees; providing for fostering independence through education; and providing for references to \"area vocational-technical school\" and \"vocational curriculums\" in statute or regulation." description: "An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in preliminary provisions, further providing for Special Education Funding Commission; in school districts, providing for full academic year requirements; in school finances, further providing for annual budget, additional or increased appropriations and transfer of funds; in grounds and buildings, further providing for limitation on new applications for Department of Education approval of public school building projects; in district superintendents and assistant district superintendents, further providing for eligibility; in pupils and attendance, further providing for definitions and for nonprofit school food program; in Drug and Alcohol Recovery High School Pilot Program, further providing for audit required; establishing the Innovation Schools Program; in community colleges, further providing for financial program and reimbursement of payments; in educational tax credits, further providing for definitions, for qualification and application by organizations, for application by business firms, for tax credits, for limitations and for opportunity scholarships; adding provisions relating to postsecondary institution sexual harassment and sexual violence policy and online reporting system; in school districts of the first class, further providing for board of public education and additional duties; in ready-to-succeed scholarship, further providing for agency duties relating to eligibility criteria; in funding for public libraries, providing for State aid for fiscal year 2019-2020; in reimbursements by Commonwealth and between school districts, further providing for payments on account of pupils enrolled in vocational curriculums, for student-weighted basic education funding, for payments to intermediate units, for assistance to school districts declared to be in financial recovery status or identified for financial watch status, for Ready-to-Learn Block Grant and for payment of required contribution for public school employees' social security and providing for advanced placement and International Baccalaureate exam fees; providing for fostering independence through education; and providing for references to \"area vocational-technical school\" and \"vocational curriculums\" in statute or regulation." jurisdiction: "us/states/pa" legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly" session: "2019-2020" identifier: "HB 1615" citation: "Pennsylvania HB 1615 (2019-2020)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: [] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Turzai"] version_count: 3 action_count: 25 vote_count: 8 first_action: "2019-06-11T04:00:00+00:00" last_action: "2019-06-28T04:00:00+00:00" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f4621a35-44f1-4e05-94c9-41c236a06ae5" source_url: "http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2019&sind=0&body=H&type=B&BN=1615" source_hash: "1166c26d5d83aea6cef49aec758e27c5bafa33bdf1dd09c1637f63072838e571" 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 1615 (2019-2020) — An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in preliminary provisions, further providing for Special Education Funding Commission; in school districts, providing for full academic year requirements; in school finances, further providing for annual budget, additional or increased appropriations and transfer of funds; in grounds and buildings, further providing for limitation on new applications for Department of Education approval of public school building projects; in district superintendents and assistant district superintendents, further providing for eligibility; in pupils and attendance, further providing for definitions and for nonprofit school food program; in Drug and Alcohol Recovery High School Pilot Program, further providing for audit required; establishing the Innovation Schools Program; in community colleges, further providing for financial program and reimbursement of payments; in educational tax credits, further providing for definitions, for qualification and application by organizations, for application by business firms, for tax credits, for limitations and for opportunity scholarships; adding provisions relating to postsecondary institution sexual harassment and sexual violence policy and online reporting system; in school districts of the first class, further providing for board of public education and additional duties; in ready-to-succeed scholarship, further providing for agency duties relating to eligibility criteria; in funding for public libraries, providing for State aid for fiscal year 2019-2020; in reimbursements by Commonwealth and between school districts, further providing for payments on account of pupils enrolled in vocational curriculums, for student-weighted basic education funding, for payments to intermediate units, for assistance to school districts declared to be in financial recovery status or identified for financial watch status, for Ready-to-Learn Block Grant and for payment of required contribution for public school employees' social security and providing for advanced placement and International Baccalaureate exam fees; providing for fostering independence through education; and providing for references to "area vocational-technical school" and "vocational curriculums" in statute or regulation. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **Printer's No. 2084** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2019&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1615&pn=2084) 2. **Printer's No. 2268** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2019&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1615&pn=2268) 3. **Senate Amendment A02598** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/HA/Public/HaCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sYear=2019&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1615&pn=2084&aYear=2019&an=02598) ## Votes - Committee vote (EDUCATION): Reported as Committed — **8–3** (pass) · upper - FINAL PASSAGE — **37–13** (pass) · upper - HB 1615 PN 2268, CONCUR — **77–121** (fail) · lower - Committee vote (APPROPRIATIONS): Re-Reported as Amended — **19–5** (pass) · upper - HB 1615 PN 2268, CONCUR — **160–39** (pass) · lower - HB 1615 PN 2268, MOT RECON, HARRIS — **196–3** (pass) · lower - HB 1615 PN 2268, MOT RECOM, DERMODY — **93–105** (fail) · lower - FINAL PASSAGE — **132–67** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Turzai — primary (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2019-06-11T04:00:00+00:00** PN 2084 Referred to RULES `referral-committee` - **2019-06-11T04:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage` - **2019-06-11T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1` - **2019-06-11T04:00:00+00:00** Re-committed to RULES `referral-committee` - **2019-06-17T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage` - **2019-06-17T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2` - **2019-06-17T04:00:00+00:00** Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee` - **2019-06-18T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage` - **2019-06-18T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3` - **2019-06-18T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to EDUCATION `referral-committee` - **2019-06-19T04:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage` - **2019-06-19T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1` - **2019-06-24T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2` - **2019-06-24T04:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee` - **2019-06-26T04:00:00+00:00** PN 2268 Re-reported as amended `committee-passage, amendment-passage` - **2019-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3` - **2019-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to RULES `referral-committee` - **2019-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported on concurrence, as committed `committee-passage` - **2019-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** House non-concurred in Senate amendments - **2019-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Vote on concurrence in Senate amendments reconsidered - **2019-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** House concurred in Senate amendments - **2019-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in House - **2019-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in Senate - **2019-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Presented to the Governor `executive-receipt` - **2019-06-28T04:00:00+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/f4621a35-44f1-4e05-94c9-41c236a06ae5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).