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House passes bill letting municipalities of any size form land banks to combat blight
Summary
The Pennsylvania House on March 24 passed House Bill 369 to let municipalities of any population establish land banks; sponsor said the bill excludes eminent domain powers and has wide local government support. Final vote: yeas 162, nays 40.
Harrisburg, Pa. — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on March 24, 2025, passed House Bill 369, which would allow municipalities of any population size to establish land banks on a voluntary basis to acquire and return vacant or blighted properties to productive use.
Representative Freeman, the House Republican majority chairman of the Local Government Committee, told the chamber that the bill removes the current population threshold that limits land-bank creation to municipalities of 10,000 people or more. Freeman said the change would "afford[] to all communities the opportunity" to use land banks to fight blight and foster redevelopment and emphasized that "this bill does not provide eminent domain powers for land banks" and that land banks are "explicitly forbidden from using eminent domain to acquire properties under section 2108 of the land bank law."
Support and vote
Representative Freeman noted support for the bill from multiple local-government organizations, including the County Commissioners Association, the Pennsylvania Municipal League, the Boroughs Association, and the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. The House recorded final passage with yeas 162 and nays 40; the clerk announced that the bill "passes finally, and the clerk will present the same to the senate for concurrence."
Why it matters
Proponents said smaller municipalities have lost population and business activity over time and therefore lack access to tools that larger municipalities already use to address blight. Freeman and his supporters said land banks can repair deteriorated buildings, increase property values and support community-driven redevelopment. The sponsor also said the bill follows precedent in removing population-based restrictions for local redevelopment tools.
What the bill does not do
The sponsor explicitly stated the bill does not grant land banks eminent domain authority and referenced section 2108 of the land bank law. The transcript does not include language setting implementation deadlines, financing sources, or administrative rules for new land banks; those details were not provided on the floor during recorded remarks.
Ending
House Bill 369 passed final House vote on March 24, 2025; the clerk will forward the bill to the Senate for concurrence. The transcript records the sponsor's floor remarks, the organizational endorsements cited, and the roll-call tally.
