HB 2513 Action Alert & Talking Points

Legislation Breakdown

• HB 2513 restores the hospitality and private event industry to the standards that were in place before the July 15 mitigation announcement. Specifically, it addresses the following items:
  • Allows restaurant operations and private events to be restored to a minimum of 50% capacity with continued social distancing and barriers in use.
  • Eliminates the requirement that meal must be purchased to get an alcoholic beverage. 
  • Allows for bar seating, again, with social distancing/barriers. 

Current Status of HB 2513
Despite HB 2513 passing in the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support, Gov. Wolf vetoed the bill on October 16, 2020. On October 20, the House attempted to override the veto but failed by a few votes. The final vote was 133-69 (vote roll call). Of note are the 12 Democratic representatives who voted to pass HB 2513 on September 23 but flipped to sustain the veto:

• Reps. Ciresi, Tina Davis, Deasy, Driscoll, Hill-Evans, Flynn, Galloway, Kirkland, Malagari, Solomon, Wheatley, Zabel

The House passed HB 2513 with a bipartisan vote of 145-56 on Wednesday, September 23 (vote roll call). The full Senate passed HB 2513 by a bipartisan vote of 43-6 on Tuesday, September 22 (roll call vote). 

What can you do?
You can thank the 133 representatives for standing with our industry. PRLA is preparing new social graphics and messaging that will be available soon for you to share on your own timelines. You can also express your disappointment with the 12 representatives who flipped their vote.

Social Media Graphics and Messaging
Please remember that 24 Democratic representatives stood with the industry on that vote so sending mass emails to the entire Democratic caucus is inappropriate. Instead, please thank the following Ds who stood firm in their support of our industry either via email or on social media:

• Reps. Bizarro, Burns, Carroll, Conklin, Delloso, Harkins, Kim, Kortz, Kosierowski, Kulik, Longietti, Markosek, Matzie, McNeill, Merksi, Mullery, Mullins, O'Mara, Petrarca, Readshaw, Sainato, Sappey, Snyder, and Ullman

Thank you message

​[Rep Name-tagged], thank you for standing with the industry by voting to override the veto on HB 2513. Your support will not go unnoticed. 

No vote message

​[Rep Name-tagged], the industry will not forget where you stood when it came time to support our businesses and employees' livelihoods. We will continue to fight for the safe, sensible reopening of restaurants, and to protect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians.

The 12 Ds who flipped their votes on HB 2513 were: ​

• Reps. Ciresi, Tina Davis, Deasy, Driscoll, Hill-Evans, Flynn, Galloway, Kirkland, Malagari, Solomon, Wheatley, Zabel

Contact Information for Pa. Legislators 
You can download this spreadsheet for the phone numbers and email addresses of all Pa. state representatives. 
Download this spreadsheet for the phone numbers and email addresses of all Pa. state senators.

How do I find out who my legislator is?
You can find out your legislator(s) at this link.