Votes at a glance: Pennsylvania House adopts several resolutions, passes and rejects key public-safety and background-check measures

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania House’s Sept. 30 session produced a mix of near-unanimous ceremonial votes, several bill adoptions and two notable defeats on public-safety measures after roll-call counts.

Key results recorded in the House journal and on the floor included adoption of congressional-appeal and ceremonial resolutions, passage of a universal background-check bill, and the failure of both an extreme-risk protection order bill and a measure targeting undetectable firearms. Members later filed motions to reconsider the two failed bills.

Select roll-call outcomes and actions (votes listed as recorded on the House floor): - House Resolution 234 (urging U.S. Congress to support the Major Richard Star Act): adopted (ayes 201, nays 1). The resolution calls on Congress to address concurrent military retirement and VA disability pay for medically retired service members. - House Resolution 272 (designating 07/27/2025 as a commemorative day): adopted (ayes 199, nays 3). - House Resolution 291 (recognizing September 2025 as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and Sept. 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day): adopted (ayes 199, nays 3). - House Resolution 313 (recognizing National Suicide Prevention Week): adopted (ayes 199, nays 3). - House Bill 1593 (universal background checks for firearm sales): passed on final passage (yeas 104, nays 99); the clerk recorded the vote and the bill will be returned to the Senate for concurrence. - House Bill 1859 (extreme-risk protection orders; red-flag law): lost on final passage (yays 101, nays 102). Earlier in the day a procedural question on constitutionality was sustained (yeas 102, nays 101) before the final passage vote failed to reach the majority required by the state constitution. - House Bill 1099 (making manufacture/import/possession of undetectable firearms an offense): failed on final passage (yeas 101, nays 102). Supporters argued the measure was needed because of 3-D printing and modern plastics that can produce firearms undetectable by metal detectors; opponents argued federal law and existing state statutes already address undetectable weapons. - House Bill 1615 (establishing a driving-under-the-influence treatment program): passed on final passage (yays 203, nays 0). - House Bill 1651 (expedited process to fill second-class township supervisor vacancies): passed (yeas 189, nays 14).

The House also agreed to a batch of other bills and reported committee referrals during the session; several bills were recommitted to the Appropriations Committee for further consideration and the House made procedural moves to remove certain bills from the table calendar.

Reconsideration motions: The House clerk’s desk received motions signed by Representatives Bradford and Schlossberg to reconsider the defeats of House Bill 1859 and House Bill 1099. The motions were entered into the record later in the day, per the clerk.

Why it matters: The votes affect state policy on firearms, background checks and public safety; the outcome on House Bill 1593 means a universal background-check requirement cleared the House and moves to the Senate, while failures on HB1859 and HB1099 reflect continuing division in the chamber on firearms regulation. The motions to reconsider keep those issues active in the short term.

Selected procedural notes from the session: several bills were “agreed to” on voice or unanimous consent without recorded roll-call totals shown in the transcript; the House ordered some bills reprinted following amendment adoption and directed certain bills back to committees for further consideration.