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PA.Regulation

Pennsylvania Act 117 requires bell-to-bell mobile device policies in schools by 2027-28

Pennsylvania enacted Senate Bill 1014 as Act No. 117 of 2026 on October 26, 2026, adding Section 1314-A to the Public School Code of 1949. The act requires each school entity to adopt a bell-to-bell phone-free policy by the start of the 2027-2028 school year. Policies prohibit student use of personal mobile devices during the whole school day on school property, with stated exceptions.

Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly) → · Philadelphia Weekly
PA.Regulation

Pennsylvania Act 103 tightens Sunshine Act agenda notice for agency business

Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1150 was approved on October 22, 2026, as Act No. 103 of 2026, amending section 712.1 of Title 65 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, the Sunshine Act. From December 21, 2026, an agency may add a matter to its meeting agenda by majority vote only if the matter is an emergency, is de minimis, or was raised by a resident or taxpayer at the meeting; the general power to add items by majority vote is repealed.

Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly (palegis.us)) → · Bucks Independence
PA.Regulation

Pennsylvania Act 106 standardizes sexual assault evidence testing statewide

Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1212 was approved on October 22, 2026, as Act No. 106 of 2026, amending the Sexual Assault Testing and Evidence Collection Act of 2006. Sexual assault evidence now counts as awaiting testing whenever it has been collected and not yet analyzed, removing the local law enforcement agency's discretion over whether a kit should be tested. Laboratories and local agencies report backlogged evidence through the statewide tracking system. The act took effect immediately.

Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly (palegis.us)) → · Pennsylvania Senate Republicans
PA.Regulation

Pennsylvania Act 108 creates statewide licensure for electrical contractors and electricians

Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1260 was approved on October 22, 2026, as Act No. 108 of 2026, the Electrical Services Licensure Act. From October 22, 2028, an individual may not provide electrical services for compensation unless licensed as an electrician or residential electrician by the new State Board of Electrical Licensure, and entities may not contract for electrical services unless licensed as electrical contractors. The board, fees, fines and penalties take effect December 21, 2026.

Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly (palegis.us)) → · Pennsylvania Senate Republicans
PA.Regulation

Pennsylvania Act 114 bars out-of-state dispute, arbitration and indemnification terms in Commonwealth procurement contracts

Pennsylvania enacted the Commonwealth Party Procurement Contract Terms Act (Senate Bill 1410) as Act No. 114 of 2026 on October 22, 2026. The act prohibits Commonwealth parties and local agencies from entering procurement contracts containing out-of-state dispute provisions, binding arbitration, non-Pennsylvania governing law or indemnification clauses. A prohibited term is void and unenforceable, and the remainder of the contract stays valid. The act takes effect December 21, 2026, and applies to contracts entered into, amended or renewed from that date.

Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly) → · Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill
PA.Regulation

Pennsylvania Act 115 ties Game Commission entry onto private land to the state constitution's search-and-seizure clause

Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1431 was approved on October 22, 2026, as Act No. 115 of 2026, amending sections 303 and 901 of Title 34 (Game) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. From December 21, 2026, Game Commission officers, employees and representatives may enter property outside buildings only in accordance with Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the search-and-seizure clause; the former unconditional right to enter posted or unposted land is repealed.

Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly (palegis.us)) → · Pennsylvania Senate Republicans
PA.Regulation

Pennsylvania Act 99 requires disclosure of synthetic content that creates a false perception in advertisements

Pennsylvania enacted the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act (Senate Bill 806) as Act No. 99 of 2026 on October 22, 2026. From December 21, 2026, an advertiser may not knowingly, recklessly or willfully run an advertisement whose synthetic content creates a false consumer perception about the nature, origin or authenticity of goods or services without clearly disclosing that the content was modified or generated using artificial intelligence. The Attorney General and district attorneys enforce the act; civil fines reach $3,000.

Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly) → · KingSpry
PA.Regulation

Pennsylvania requires water-supply evidence before final development approval under Act 58

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro approved Senate Bill 1287 on October 8, 2026, as Act No. 58 of 2026, amending Section 503.1 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. The act requires applicants whose subdivision or development will use water other than private wells to present evidence of water supply before final subdivision and land development approval. The House passed the bill 203-0 on October 6, 2026.

Enrolled text (Pennsylvania General Assembly) →

Rulings this week

All court orders

E.D. PA.Court order

Pennsylvania federal court denies Starbucks bid to dismiss, transfer or stay union trademark suit

U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson on October 2 denied Starbucks' motion to dismiss a declaratory judgment lawsuit brought by Workers United in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The union seeks a ruling that its name and raised-fist logo do not infringe or dilute Starbucks trademarks or infringe its copyrights. The court held that a 2024 memorandum of understanding did not end the live controversy and declined Starbucks' alternative request to transfer or stay the case.

Order (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania) → · Reuters, USA Herald, Hoodline
CONN.Litigation

Forty-four state attorneys general reach $2.29 million settlement with Labcorp over AMCA data breach

A bipartisan coalition of forty-four state attorneys general led by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, with Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Texas as co-leads, finalized an assurance of voluntary compliance with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings on Thursday. The settlement resolved a multistate investigation into the 2019 data breach at Labcorp's debt collection vendor, American Medical Collection Agency, which exposed records of 27.5 million people. Labcorp agreed to pay $2,287,455 and implement vendor risk management and incident response safeguards.

Filing (Connecticut Office of the Attorney General) → · Office of the Attorney General of Connecticut, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, GovTech
S.C.Breaches and incidents

Thomson Reuters C-Track breach exposes court files across U.S. and Canadian systems

West Publishing's C-Track notified the public on September 2, 2026 that an unauthorized party obtained court-management files after activity discovered on June 30, 2026, with files obtained in March. The notice lists appellate and other courts in multiple U.S. states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and three Ontario courts. Confidential, redacted or sealed information may have been impacted at some courts; South Carolina's preliminary review found no PII so far in 2020-and-earlier appellate backups.

Report (C-Track) → · Supreme Court of South Carolina, The Record, Help Net Security