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Committee advances bill to remove HIV-based sentencing enhancements and a related awareness resolution
Summary
House Bill 632, which would remove HIV-status sentencing enhancements and provide a path for limited resentencing relief, and House Resolution 393 designating an awareness day, were both reported out of the Judiciary Committee 14–12 after debate over medical science, resentencing and separation-of-powers concerns.
The House Judiciary Committee reported House Bill 632 by Representative Waxman, 14–12, and also approved House Resolution 393, which designates an 'HIV Is Not a Crime' awareness day in Pennsylvania. Sponsors said the bill removes HIV as a sentencing-enhancement factor and creates a procedural avenue for people previously sentenced under the enhancement to seek relief.
Representative Waxman told the committee the measure "removes the sentencing enhancements in section 5902 of the criminal code for individuals living with HIV and AIDS" and urged a yes vote. Committee counsel described the bill as also providing a procedural path for relief for individuals who previously received enhanced sentences tied to an HIV finding and noted a prior public hearing in June 2025.
Opponents, including Chairman Coffman, warned the bill could conflict with criminal accountability for knowingly exposing others to HIV and argued it might imply that courts could be asked to reopen final judgments — a practice some members said would violate separation-of-powers principles. Representative Kincaid and others stressed modern medicine makes HIV transmission far less likely and questioned the need for the enhancement.
After debate the committee voted to report HB632 14–12; counsel said the bill takes effect in 60 days. The companion resolution, House Resolution 393, was reported as committed 14–12 and designates Feb. 28, 2026, as an awareness day in Pennsylvania.
