---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act amending Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in general provisions, providing for ten-year limitation for acquiring title to vacant land for gardens in cities of the first class."
description: "An Act amending Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in general provisions, providing for ten-year limitation for acquiring title to vacant land for gardens in cities of the first class."
jurisdiction: "us/states/pa"
legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "SB 645"
citation: "Pennsylvania SB 645 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Vincent Hughes"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 25
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2023-04-20T04:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2024-07-08T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/88c5cb80-877d-46b4-a89d-786586cb2a7c"
source_url: "https://www.palegis.us/house/committees/roll-call-votes/vote-list/vote-summary?committeecode=62&rollcallid=2225&sessYr=2023&sessInd=0"
source_hash: "00cfe76cad18c1857b81756f401357ceebe200ba5745b4951b27edf3c278e6d5"
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 645 (2023-2024) — An Act amending Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in general provisions, providing for ten-year limitation for acquiring title to vacant land for gardens in cities of the first class.

## Version chain

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

1. **Printer's No. PN0618** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/text/PDF/2023/0/SB0645/PN0618)
2. **Printer's No. PN0686** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/text/PDF/2023/0/SB0645/PN0686)
3. **Printer's No. PN1789** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/text/PDF/2023/0/SB0645/PN1789)
4. **Senate Amendment A00355** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/amendments/text/2023/0/A00355)
5. **Senate Amendment A05135** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/amendments/text/2023/0/A05135)

## Votes

- Committee vote (Judiciary): Reported as Committed — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE — **42–7** (pass) · upper
- HUGHES AMENDMENT NO. A-355 — **47–3** (pass) · upper
- Committee vote (Appropriations): Re-Reported as Committed — **22–2** (pass) · upper
- Committee vote (Housing & Community Development): Report Bill As Committed — **14–9** (pass) · lower
- LAUGHLIN AMENDMENT NO. A-5135 — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE — **102–100** (pass) · lower
- Committee vote (Appropriations): Re-report Bill As Committed — **37–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Vincent Hughes — primary (person)
- Nikil Saval — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-04-20T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-25T04:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2023-04-25T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2023-05-01T04:00:00+00:00** Amended on second consideration `amendment-passage`
- **2023-05-03T04:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2024-04-29T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2024-05-08T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2024-06-10T04:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2024-06-10T04:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2024-06-26T04:00:00+00:00** Amended on third consideration `amendment-passage`
- **2024-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Housing & Community Development `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2024-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2024-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2024-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2024-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2024-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2024-07-01T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2024-07-01T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-07-01T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in Senate
- **2024-07-02T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in House
- **2024-07-02T04:00:00+00:00** Presented to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-07-08T04:00:00+00:00** Approved by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-07-08T04:00:00+00:00** Act No. 50 of 2024

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/88c5cb80-877d-46b4-a89d-786586cb2a7c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).