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Committee unanimously reports commission bills providing 'recipe' for ordinance-advertising summaries
Summary
Two commission bills (HB2177 and HB2179) were introduced and unanimously reported to the House. The bills set required elements for brief summaries of proposed ordinances and create a presumption of sufficiency when local governments follow the prescribed 'recipe' and make the full text available locally (and online if available).
The House Local Government Committee unanimously reported two commission bills aimed at reducing court challenges to published summaries of proposed ordinances.
A commission representative (Mr. Gacy) told the committee the bills respond to a Lancaster County court decision that struck down a notice for an amended shade-tree ordinance in August 2024. The bills (HB2177 for boroughs and third-class cities; HB2179 for second-class townships) list the elements a brief advertisement summary must include — especially when an ordinance would impose costs or fees, impose sanctions for conduct, or commit public funds — and encourage local governments to post the full ordinance text at municipal offices and on municipal websites where available.
Under the proposal, a local government that follows the statutory 'recipe' and posts the full text would be entitled to a presumption that its published summary is sufficient, limiting the likelihood of a court later invalidating an advertisement for lack of detail. The bills carve out the Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) because MPC ordinances are governed by existing case law.
The committee took a voice vote and unanimously reported both bills to the House floor.
Next steps: HB2177 and HB2179 proceed to the House floor for further consideration.
