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Pennsylvania · 2025-2026 Regular Session · Bill

HB 1853: An Act amending the act of July 9, 1987 (P.L.220, No.39), known as the Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors Act, further providing for legislative intent, for definitions, for license required, for State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors, for powers and functions of board, for qualifications for license, for procedures for licensing, for reciprocity, for endorsement of out-of-State licenses and for reinstatement of license; providing for restrictions on use of title "Licensed Recreational Therapist"; and further providing for penalties, for license renewal and records and fees and for unlawful practice.

In committee Official data

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Enacted

Last official action: ·Record last updated:

Plain-language summary

HB 1853 is a bill introduced in the Pennsylvania House on September 9, 2025. According to its official title, it concerns: An Act amending the act of July 9, 1987 (P.L.220, No.39), known as the Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors Act, further providing for legislative intent, for definitions, for license required, for State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors, for powers and functions of board, for qualifications for license, for procedures for licensing, for reciprocity, for endorsement of out-of-State licenses and for reinstatement of license; providing for restrictions on use of title "Licensed Recreational Therapist"; and further providing for penalties, for license renewal and records and fees and for unlawful practice. Primary sponsor: Melissa Shusterman (Democratic). It lists 12 additional sponsors. Most recent recorded action (September 9, 2025): Referred to Professional Licensure.

Generated automatically from the official title, sponsor list, and status record only. It does not characterize the bill’s purpose or effects. How summaries are written

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 13

NameRolePartyChamberDistrict
Melissa ShustermanPrimary sponsorDemocraticHouse157
Lisa BorowskiCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse168
Heather BoydCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse163
Mary Jo DaleyCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse148
Kyle DonahueCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse113
Roni GreenCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse190
Nancy GuenstCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse152
Carol Hill-EvansCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse95
Malcolm KenyattaCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse181
Chris PielliCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse156
Nikki RiveraCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse96
Ben SanchezCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse153
Dan WilliamsCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse74

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

  1. Referred to Professional Licensure

Sources

  1. Open States / Plural (data from the official legislature website)
  2. Official legislature source