General AssemblyOpen government
Sunshine Act fix is now Act 103, closing a door a court ruling opened
Local boards can no longer add a contested item to a meeting agenda by majority vote alone. The roll calls show the change passed with little opposition, after four months waiting in a House committee.
School boards, township supervisors and county commissioners across Pennsylvania can no longer use a simple majority vote to add a last-minute item to a public meeting agenda. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Senate Bill 1150 on Thursday, closing what open-government advocates called a loophole in the state's Sunshine Act, Spotlight PA reported.
For residents, the stakes are simple: if a public body plans to vote on something, the item generally has to be on an agenda posted at least 24 hours before the meeting, so people have a chance to show up and be heard.
How the loophole worked
The Sunshine Act lists a few exceptions to the 24-hour rule, including emergencies and minor last-minute matters. A fourth, less clearly written clause let a board add an item by majority vote, according to Spotlight PA. In 2021, a Lehigh County school board used that clause to add a vote ratifying a teachers' union contract. Jarrett Coleman, who is now a Republican state senator from Lehigh County, sued. He argued the clause applied only when another exception also applied. The state Supreme Court disagreed in a late-2025 ruling, which widened the exception, Spotlight reported.
The new law treats the majority-vote clause as a procedural step rather than an exception of its own. "Transparency only works when the public can see what's coming," Coleman said, according to Spotlight PA.
What the records add
Who wrote it. The prime sponsor is Sen. Patrick Stefano, a Republican from the 32nd District. The bill page lists eight co-sponsors: six Republicans, including Coleman, and two Democrats, Sens. Patty Kim and Lindsey Williams.
The Senate moved fast; the House waited. The bill was referred to the Senate State Government Committee on Jan. 23, 2026. It came out of committee 11-0 and Senate Appropriations 22-0, and the full Senate passed it 50-0 on June 10. It then reached the House Local Government Committee on June 12 and sat there for 129 days, until Oct. 19. From there it moved in three days: out of Local Government 25-1, out of House Appropriations 37-0, and through the full House on Oct. 21.
How the House voted. The final House roll call was 182-21:
- Democrats: 93 yes, 10 no
- Republicans: 89 yes, 11 no
The 21 no votes included Republican Reps. Kerry Benninghoff, Rob Kauffman and Valerie Gaydos, and Democratic Reps. Joe Ciresi, Arvind Venkat and Heather Boyd. The roll call doesn't say why members voted as they did.
A competing approach. Rep. Robert Freeman, a Northampton County Democrat, had pushed a similar bill that also would have allowed minor administrative votes, such as some permits and small repairs, when a delay would cause hardship. Freeman said he expanded his bill after township and county groups raised concerns, and that he supported the Senate bill, Spotlight PA reported.
Signed the next day. The bill was signed in both chambers, presented to the governor and approved on Oct. 22. It became Act 103 of 2026, according to the bill's history.
What happens next
Local governments and school boards now have to follow the narrower rule, and residents can check their board's posted agendas against what it votes on. The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association told Spotlight it knew of one dispute since the court ruling, over the Greater Latrobe School Board's vote to hire a solicitor.