---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in petition for adoption, further providing for consents necessary to adoption; in support matters generally, further providing for costs and fees and for State disbursement unit; and, in child protective services, further proving for employees having contact with children, adoptive and foster parents and for volunteers having contact with children."
description: "An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in petition for adoption, further providing for consents necessary to adoption; in support matters generally, further providing for costs and fees and for State disbursement unit; and, in child protective services, further proving for employees having contact with children, adoptive and foster parents and for volunteers having contact with children."
jurisdiction: "us/states/pa"
legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "HB 235"
citation: "Pennsylvania HB 235 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Toohil"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 24
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-01-28T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2019-07-02T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5e98b8f6-9b3b-4288-a305-3a6af7ae1fbd"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2019&sind=0&body=H&type=B&BN=235"
source_hash: "d17b1c1f25c72cf03deab9b8981c3be2f5af6e861b94d3f4552f61ee97ce8c45"
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 235 (2019-2020) — An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in petition for adoption, further providing for consents necessary to adoption; in support matters generally, further providing for costs and fees and for State disbursement unit; and, in child protective services, further proving for employees having contact with children, adoptive and foster parents and for volunteers having contact with children.

## Version chain

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

1. **House Amendment A00135** (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=0235&pn=0205&aYear=2019&an=00135)
2. **House Amendment A00145** (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=0235&pn=0205&aYear=2019&an=00145)
3. **Printer's No. 0205** (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=0235&pn=0205)
4. **Printer's No. 0877** (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=0235&pn=0877)
5. **Printer's No. 2265** (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=0235&pn=2265)
6. **Senate Amendment A02587** (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=0235&pn=0877&aYear=2019&an=02587)

## Votes

- Committee vote (JUDICIARY): Reported as Committed — **12–2** (pass) · upper
- Committee vote (APPROPRIATIONS): Re-Reported as Committed — **16–8** (pass) · upper
- HB 235 PN 2265, CONCUR — **183–13** (pass) · lower
- FINAL PASSAGE — **134–56** (pass) · lower
- HB 235 PN 205, 2019 A145, TOOHIL — **157–38** (pass) · lower
- FINAL PASSAGE — **32–18** (pass) · upper
- HB 235 PN 205, 2019 A135, B. MILLER — **158–37** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Toohil — primary (person)
- Bernstine — cosponsor (person)
- Caltagirone — cosponsor (person)
- Dush — cosponsor (person)
- Gillen — cosponsor (person)
- Irvin — cosponsor (person)
- Jones — cosponsor (person)
- Kortz — cosponsor (person)
- Mcneill — cosponsor (person)
- Millard — cosponsor (person)
- Murt — cosponsor (person)
- Neilson — cosponsor (person)
- Pickett — cosponsor (person)
- Quinn — cosponsor (person)
- Schweyer — cosponsor (person)
- Struzzi — cosponsor (person)
- Tobash — cosponsor (person)
- Zimmerman — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-28T05:00:00+00:00** PN 0205 Referred to CHILDREN AND YOUTH `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-19T05:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-19T05:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2019-02-19T05:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2019-03-11T04:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** PN 0877 Second consideration, with amendments `reading-2`
- **2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2019-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-03-19T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to JUDICIARY `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`
- **2019-06-24T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2019-06-24T04:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-25T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2019-06-26T04:00:00+00:00** PN 2265 Amended on third consideration
- **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`
- **2019-06-28T04:00:00+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`
- **2019-07-02T04:00:00+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/5e98b8f6-9b3b-4288-a305-3a6af7ae1fbd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).