House defeats amendment narrowing school facilities inventory bill but agrees to measure creating state inventory committee

House Bill 1701, which would create a school facilities inventory and advisory committee within the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), was debated on the House floor on Oct. 6, 2025. The chamber considered multiple floor amendments before agreeing to the bill as amended.

Representative Gleim offered an amendment that would remove a proposed statewide assessment requirement and eliminate the advisory committee tied to the bill, restoring a prior statutory voluntary self-reporting provision. Gleim argued PDE has not published implementing guidance since the 2019 directive and said the amendment would hold the department accountable.

Representative Fiedler, the bill sponsor, opposed Gleim’s amendment on the floor, saying the change “defeats the purpose of the original bill.” On the recorded vote the amendment failed, 101 ayes to 102 nays. Representative Anderson later offered a separate amendment intended to direct PDE to develop assessment guidelines consistent with Act 70 of 2019; the maker withdrew that amendment. Following debate the House agreed to the bill as amended; the clerk announced the bill “is agreed to” and that it will be reprinted.

Floor remarks included questions about whether the Department of Education had fulfilled prior statutory duties and concerns about using state funds for large-scale vendor-driven assessments. Representative Anderson, during debate, cited a vendor estimate that an HVAC assessment alone could cost “upwards of $100,000 per district for a total of $50,000,000,” and urged caution about duplicative statewide spending when districts already conduct periodic assessments.

Action: amendment to remove statewide assessment — failed 101–102; bill as amended — agreed to and to be reprinted.