Rep. Dawkins takes oath of office to start legislative session

Returns to lead busy House Labor and Industry Committee

Philadelphia House Delegation    January 8, 2025 | 2:33 PM

HARRISBURG, Jan. 8 – Looking to build upon last session’s aggressive labor agenda, state Rep. Jason Dawkins, D-Phila., yesterday took the oath of office along with his colleagues in Harrisburg and was reaffirmed as the chairman of the busy House Labor and Industry Committee.

Last session under Dawkins’ leadership the committee moved more than 35 bills and resolutions to the House for consideration, the most active it has been in more than a decade. Dawkins said he looks to build upon that work in the year ahead and continue to work with labor organizations and businesses to grow the commonwealth’s economy and create good, family-sustaining jobs for the people of Pennsylvania. Among the committee’s chief goals for 2025 is passing an update to the state’s minimum-wage law. Last year the committee passed a bill, H.B. 1500, which was approved by the House but died in the state Senate.

“In many ways labor built our state and by extension, America. By working together with businesses and labor organizations we can create the opportunity for our economy to continue to grow while protecting workers and the rights they have fought and died for,” Dawkins said. “I am committed to working with every member of my committee – Democrat or Republican – to make sure we are putting forward the policies our commonwealth needs to remain competitive and create good, family-sustaining jobs.”

Among the bills reported out of the Labor Committee last session include Act 60 of 2023, the Heart and Lung Act, which expands coverage to additional categories of law enforcement officers and investigators; Act 126 of 2024, which requires workers’ compensation benefits to be paid via direct deposit; Act 143 of 2024, which modernizes the Sign Language Interpreter and Transliterator State Registration Act; and Dawkins’ Act 30 of 2024, which allows for the use of recycled materials in stuffed toys manufactured in Pennsylvania.