Plan to help domestic violence victims collect unemployment frozen in the Pa. Senate – again

A bill to help domestic violence victims collect unemployment benefits if they have to leave their job over safety concerns has stalled in the state Senate. It’s the third such measure introduced in as many years to have been held up before receiving final consideration in the chamber, despite each one having bipartisan support.

Typically, for someone who quit their job to receive unemployment benefits, they have to prove that they made reasonable efforts to keep their position. The bill would change the requirement for applicants who can prove they were victims of domestic violence.

“For domestic violence victims, proving these criteria is often burdensome and intrusive at a moment when stabilizing their family and their own security is paramount,” said a memo on the bill, sponsored by Sen. Devlin Robinson (R-Allegheny).

Unemployment recipients eligible for benefits under the legislation would have to provide a recent protective order, a signed affidavit, verification of domestic violence from a professional like a counselor, doctor or member of the clergy, or other reasonable evidence. All submitted evidence would remain confidential.

Another proposal, House Bill 274, sponsored by Labor and Industry Committee chair Jason Dawkins (D-Philadelphia) passed the Democratic-controlled chamber in March, advanced through the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, which Robinson chairs, but has not been brought up for a final vote before the GOP-controlled Senate.

The bill received a vote of 198-4 in the House, with only Reps. Joe Hamm (R-Lycoming), Robert Leadbeter (R-Columbia),  Dane Watro (R-Schuylkill) and David Zimmerman (R-Lancaster) opposing.

Dawkins also worked on a previous version of the measure, sponsored by former state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who is now a Republican congressman representing the Lehigh Valley. Dawkins told the Capital-Star he took up the Mackenzie-sponsored bill because, “we wanted to have some type of bipartisan bill to show community members that we have things we both agree are good legislation, and shouldn’t allow politics to dictate good policy.”

The bill, like its more recent counterparts, passed through committee, but was never brought up for a final vote in the Senate. It received a 158-43 vote in the House, with only Republicans in opposition, and was unanimously approved by the Republican-led Senate Labor and Industry Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee.

Dawkins said he believes his most recent proposal has been caught up in negotiations over the budget, which is still being debated nearly four months past the deadline for a spending plan to be in place.

“That’s my guess,” Dawkins said. “Hopefully we can get this bill moving forward again, because I do believe there’s many Pennsylvanians who would benefit from this legislation. I hate to see good legislation caught up in any sort of potential budgetary disagreement.”

A spokesperson for Sen. Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Robinson’s office also did not respond to a request for comment.

“I think it is really critically important that we provide unemployment benefits to domestic violence victims, because so often the case is these individuals, through no fault of their own, are being forced to leave their housing situation and potentially their job as well,” Congressman Mackenzie told the Capital-Star.

Mackenzie said that his bill, from the 2023-2024 legislative session, also faced an uphill battle.

“In the Senate, as I understand, there was some opposition,” he added. “I don’t have total clarity on who may have been holding it up, but it seems like it got held up by the Senate caucus.”