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HB 1817

An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in obstructing governmental operations, providing for the offense of interfering or impeding a first responder's duties.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Mark Gillen and 8 co-sponsors

Requires monthly public reports by city/town/county with >1,000 residents showing households served, total recipients, average benefits, and ineligible counts, privacy-protected.

Referred to Judiciary
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HB 1817

Summary — HB 1817

Note on materials reviewed: The provided packet contains text from multiple bills labeled HB 1817 in different jurisdictions (including a Missouri-style public-assistance reporting measure, an Arkansas “Elijah’s Law” childcare anaphylaxis bill, and an Illinois police training bill). The summary below focuses on the public‑assistance reporting measure that matches the title you supplied (reporting counts by city/town/county). At the end I summarize the other included HB 1817 texts to avoid confusion.

Purpose

Require the state agency that administers public‑assistance programs to publish monthly, place‑level, aggregate reports showing program usage and basic benefit metrics for each city, town, village, or county with more than 1,000 inhabitants. The goal is increased transparency about distribution and average benefit amounts at the local level while protecting individual privacy.

Key provisions

  • Monthly public report (posted on the administering department’s website) for each public assistance program and for each city/town/village or county with >1,000 residents, including:
    • Total number of households enrolled;
    • Total number of people served;
    • Average benefit (dollars) received per household;
    • Number of households that became ineligible to receive benefits.
  • Explicit protection of privacy: no personally identifiable information or other confidential data is to be disclosed; only aggregate data is to be reported.
  • Programs specifically named in the text include SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), though language also covers other programs administered by the department.

Who is affected

  • State department(s) that administer public‑assistance programs (responsible for compiling and posting reports).
  • Localities (cities/towns/villages/counties with >1,000 inhabitants) — each will appear in monthly public rollups showing household and recipient counts and average benefits.
  • Program participants — data will relate to them in aggregate but individual identities are protected.

Implementation & timeline

  • Reporting is required monthly.
  • Reports must be posted on the department’s website.
  • The bill forbids release of personally identifiable or confidential information — implementation will require the department to ensure data aggregation and privacy controls.

Potential impacts / considerations

  • Transparency: Enables local-level analysis of program reach and benefit levels.
  • Administrative burden: Agencies must build data-extraction, aggregation, privacy‑scrubbing, and web‑posting processes to deliver accurate monthly reports.
  • Privacy risk management: Agencies must adopt standards to ensure small-cell or re‑identification risks are mitigated in small localities.
  • Policy use: Local officials, researchers, and the public could use these data for planning, oversight, and program evaluation.

Legislative status (from provided actions)

  • The packet shows procedural activity (filings, readings, committee actions) and a “notification that HB1817 is now Act 865” dated 2025‑04‑17 for the jurisdiction whose legislative actions are included. Confirm with the relevant state legislative website to verify enactment, effective date, and the administering department.

Other materials titled “HB 1817” in the packet

  • Arkansas: “Elijah’s Law” — requires a statewide childcare anaphylaxis policy (epinephrine administration guidance, individualized emergency health plans, parent notification, timeline for distribution/implementation, and access to CCDBG funds for training/epinephrine).
  • Illinois: Amendment to the Police Training Act — changes mandatory in‑service training frequency and hours (example language in packet).

If you want, I can:
- Produce a brief briefing memo for the state agency on implementation steps and privacy safeguards; or
- Prepare a one‑page comparison showing differences between the public‑assistance reporting bill and the other HB1817 texts included.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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