---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in jurisdiction of appellate courts, providing for commerce court program; and, in organization and jurisdiction of courts of common pleas, further providing for problem-solving courts and providing for commerce courts."
description: "An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in jurisdiction of appellate courts, providing for commerce court program; and, in organization and jurisdiction of courts of common pleas, further providing for problem-solving courts and providing for commerce courts."
jurisdiction: "us/states/pa"
legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 976"
citation: "Pennsylvania SB 976 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Regan"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 23
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-12-12T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2020-11-03T05:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2d7d24a8-9a18-490b-980a-a0142f656f1b"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2019&sind=0&body=S&type=B&BN=976"
source_hash: "3a981d438ed4ca6729aa0c9d854deca6a1a21eabbe76a76d92ed5e2994ac575a"
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 SB 976 (2019-2020) — An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in jurisdiction of appellate courts, providing for commerce court program; and, in organization and jurisdiction of courts of common pleas, further providing for problem-solving courts and providing for commerce courts.

## Version chain

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

1. **House Amendment A06831** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/HA/Public/HaCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sYear=2019&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0976&pn=1481&aYear=2019&an=06831)
2. **Printer's No. 1425** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2019&sessInd=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=0976&pn=1425)
3. **Printer's No. 1481** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2019&sessInd=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=0976&pn=1481)
4. **Printer's No. 2023** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2019&sessInd=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=0976&pn=2023)
5. **Senate Amendment A04569** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/HA/Public/HaCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sYear=2019&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0976&pn=1425&aYear=2019&an=04569)
6. **Senate Amendment A05557** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/HA/Public/HaCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sYear=2019&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0976&pn=1481&aYear=2019&an=05557)

## Votes

- SB 976 PN 1481, A5557, HUGHES AMENDMENT NO. A-5557 — **20–29** (fail) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE — **201–0** (pass) · lower
- Committee vote (RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS): Re-Reported as Committed — **17–0** (pass) · upper
- Committee vote (JUDICIARY): Reported as Amended — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- CONCUR IN HOUSE AMENDMENTS — **47–0** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- Committee vote (APPROPRIATIONS): Re-Reported as Committed — **24–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Regan — primary (person)
- Argall — cosponsor (person)
- Arnold — cosponsor (person)
- Aument — cosponsor (person)
- Baker — cosponsor (person)
- Bartolotta — cosponsor (person)
- Brewster — cosponsor (person)
- Brooks — cosponsor (person)
- Browne — cosponsor (person)
- Costa — cosponsor (person)
- Dinniman — cosponsor (person)
- Farnese — cosponsor (person)
- J. Ward — cosponsor (person)
- K. Ward — cosponsor (person)
- Killion — cosponsor (person)
- Martin — cosponsor (person)
- Mastriano — cosponsor (person)
- Mensch — cosponsor (person)
- Phillips-Hill — cosponsor (person)
- Stefano — cosponsor (person)
- Street — cosponsor (person)
- Yudichak — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-12-12T05:00:00+00:00** PN 1425 Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-29T05:00:00+00:00** PN 1481 Reported as amended `committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2020-01-29T05:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2020-02-04T05:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2020-02-04T05:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2020-04-21T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2020-05-12T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-05-13T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2020-09-29T04:00:00+00:00** PN 2023 Reported as amended `committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2020-09-29T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2020-09-29T04:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2020-09-30T04:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2020-10-20T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2020-10-20T04:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2020-10-21T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2020-10-21T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-10-21T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2020-10-21T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported on concurrence, as committed `committee-passage`
- **2020-10-21T04:00:00+00:00** Senate concurred in House amendments
- **2020-10-21T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in Senate
- **2020-10-26T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in House
- **2020-10-26T04:00:00+00:00** Presented to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2020-11-03T05:00:00+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/2d7d24a8-9a18-490b-980a-a0142f656f1b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).