Oct 31, 2023 By Ap 3 min read

HARRISBURG (AP) – Three bills seeking to expand and strengthen Pennsylvania’s anti-hate crime statutes were passed Tuesday by the state House of Representatives.

All members of the chamber’s Democratic majority supported the proposals along with a handful of Republicans, voting amid national concerns about a spike in hate crimes during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Hate crimes One bill would change the state’s ethnic intimidation statute to a “hate-based intimidation” law and extend its protections to include victims targeted because of their race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age and disability, including autism. The measure, which passed 116-86, would provide a way for victims to sue.

A third measure, which passed 111-91, would have higher education institutions expand their online and anonymous reporting options to include hate crime for students and employees. It also encourages training for K-12 school employees in identifying and addressing hate incidents. The attorney general’s office, which oversees a youth violence prevention program, will be required to incorporate training on how to recognize and report hate-based intimidation.

“The conflict in Israel has Jewish and Muslim Pennsylvanians feeling afraid – afraid to leave home, afraid to practice their faith, afraid to gather with their communities at a time when such events would bring them the most comfort,” the bills’ sponsor, Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, said in a statement.

The measures were sent to the state Senate for its consideration.