Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: In Committee Bipartisan · 2 R · 1 D cosponsors

HB 1597 — An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in terms and courses of study, providing for after-school reading program.

Last action — Referred to Education

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced June 11, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Advancing 36% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 3 sponsors

    1 primary, 2 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (2 R · 1 D) — cross-party backing.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

This bill establishes an after-school reading program for students in kindergarten through grade two.

The bill allows school entities to create after-school and summer reading programs using teen leaders for tutoring. It mandates guidance from the Department of Education by December 31, 2025, and schools must report student and program data each year starting in the 2027 school year.

What this means for you
  • Workers: This may provide paid tutoring opportunities for high school students in their communities.
  • Families: Families of younger students may benefit from enhanced reading support through structured tutoring programs.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

1 change Share ↗

AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

The bill establishes a new after-school reading program for students in kindergarten through grade two, utilizing teen leaders for tutoring based on an evidence-based phonics curriculum.

  • Public School Code of 1949

    Section 1529. After-school Reading Program.--(a) Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year and continuing with each school year thereafter, a school entity may establish an after-school or summer-peer tutoring program that employs teen leaders from the school entity's community to deliver one-to-one structured literacy tutoring and uses an evidence-based phonics curriculum to students enrolled in kindergarten through grade two at the school entity to help improve reading proficiency.

    This adds a framework for after-school and summer tutoring programs focused on improving reading skills for young students.

Action History

  1. Referred to Education

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 2 co-sponsors · 250 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (2)

Not signed on (250)

250 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors HB 1597?
HB 1597 is sponsored by Jason Ortitay (Republican), Bud Cook (Republican), and Ed Neilson (Democratic).
What is the current status of HB 1597?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced June 11, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 1597?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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