People walk down the hall leading to the State Senate in the Capitol building on October 14, 2025. (Photo by Jessica Kourkounis for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
AND Bill to facilitate victims of domestic violence collect unemployment benefits if they have to leave their job for safety reasons has stalled in the state Senate. This is the third such solution introduced in as many years that has been suspended before final consideration in the chamber, even though each of them had cross-party support.
Typically, to receive unemployment benefits, a person who quit a job must prove that he or she made reasonable efforts to maintain his or her job. The bill will change requirements for applicants who can prove they have been victims of domestic violence.
“For victims of domestic violence, proving that these criteria are met is often burdensome and intrusive at a time when the most important thing is family stabilization and their own safety,” she said. note on the bill, sponsored by Senator Devlin Robinson (R-Allegheny).
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Unemployed people eligible for benefits under the legislation would need to provide a current protection order, a signed affidavit, confirmation of domestic violence from a professional such as a counselor, doctor or clergyman, or other reasonable evidence. All evidence submitted will remain confidential.
Another suggestionHouse Bill 274, sponsored by Labor and Industry Committee Chairman Jason Dawkins (Philadelphia), passed the Democratic-controlled House in March, passed the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, which Robinson chairs, but did not receive a final vote before the GOP-controlled Senate.
The bill received votes 198-4 in the House of Representatives, with only Reps. Joe Hamm (R-Lycoming), Robert Leadbeter (R-Columbia), Dane Watro (R-Schuylkill) and David Zimmerman (R-Lancaster) opposed.
Dawkins also worked on previous version of the measure, sponsored by former state representative Ryan Mackenzie, who is now a Republican congressman representing the Lehigh Valley. Dawkins told the Capital-Star that he took up the Mackenzie-sponsored bill because “we wanted to have some type of bipartisan bill that would show community members that we have things that we both think are good legislation and shouldn’t let politics dictate good policy.”
The bill, like its newer counterparts, passed through committee but never received a final vote in the Senate. It received an A 158-43 votes in the House of Representatives, with only Republican opposition, and was unanimously approved by the Republican-led Senate Labor and Industry Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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Dawkins expressed his belief that his latest proposal had been dragged into budget negotiations, which are still being debated nearly four months after the deadline for a spending plan.
“I think so,” Dawkins said. “I hope we can get this bill back on the agenda because I believe many Pennsylvanians would benefit from this legislation. I hate to see good legislation tied up in any potential budget disputes.”
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Robinson’s office also did not respond to a request for comment.
“I think it’s really incredibly important to provide unemployment benefits to victims of domestic violence because it’s often the case that through no fault of their own, these people are forced out of their housing situation and potentially their job,” Congressman Mackenzie told the Capital-Star.
Mackenzie said his bill in the 2023-2024 legislative session also faced an uphill battle.
“In the Senate, as I understand it, there was some opposition,” he added. “I’m not entirely clear on who may have been holding it up, but it looks like it was upheld by the Senate caucus.”
