2025–2026 Regular Session · House of Representatives bill

HB 888

An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses), 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and 61 (Prisons and Parole) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in authorized disposition of offenders, further providing for sentence for murder, murder of unborn child and murder of law enforcement officer; in arson, criminal mischief and other property destruction, further providing for the offense of arson and related offenses; in jurisdiction of appellate courts, further providing for direct appeals from courts of common pleas; in post-trial matters, further providing for postconviction DNA testing and for disposition and appeal; in sentencing, further providing for sentencing procedure for murder of the first degree; and, in execution procedure and method, repealing provisions relating to issuance of warrant.

Out of committee Last action April 27, 2026: Laid on the table

Official bill page and text: palegis.us

Sponsors 15

Prime sponsor

Russ Diamond

Cosponsors (14)

Arvind Venkat, Ben Waxman, Dan Frankel, Ismail Smith-Wade-El, John Inglis Iii, Joseph D'Orsie, Liz Hanbidge, Marla Brown, Mary Jo Daley, Nancy Guenst, Nathan Davidson, Rick Krajewski, Tarik Khan, Valerie Gaydos

Status

Out of committee as of April 27, 2026. Session ends November 30, 2026; the 2027–2028 session begins in January 2027.

Roll-call votes 1

April 27, 2026House of RepresentativesCommittee vote (Judiciary): Report Bill As CommittedPassed14–12

yes (14) Aerion Abney, Andre Carroll, Benjamin Sanchez, Chris Pielli, Christopher Rabb, Emily Kinkead, Joseph Hohenstein, Kristine Howard, Kyle Donahue, La'Tasha Mayes, Liz Hanbidge, Malcolm Kenyatta, Melissa Shusterman, Tim Briggs

no (12) Andrew Kuzma, Brenda Pugh, Charity Krupa, Jim Rigby, Joe Hamm, Joe Kerwin, Joshua Kail, Kate Klunk, Rob Kauffman, Robert Leadbeter, Stephanie Borowicz, Timothy Bonner

Official roll call

Timeline 4

Date	Chamber	Action
April 27, 2026	House	Laid on the table
April 27, 2026	House	First consideration
April 27, 2026	House	Reported as committed
March 17, 2025	House	Referred to Judiciary

Data: Open States (API v3; public data, attribution appreciated), updated November 5, 2026. Official record: palegis.us. Bill pages link to the official text, not copied.