“Fair Share Act” Slated for Final Passage Monday

The latest attempt to reform Pennsylvania’s legal liability system will be up for a vote on final passage Monday, April 11^th, according to House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny). The House considered the legislation, House Bill 1, for a second day Wednesday, and then rereferred it to the House Appropriations Committee, where it awaits a fiscal note.

 

Known as the “Fair Share Act,” House Bill 1, introduced by Rep. Curt Schroder (R-Chester), would replace the state’s current system of joint and several liability with one of proportional liability – i.e. a system in which a defendant found negligent, or strictly liable, for an injury in a lawsuit would be responsible only for that individual defendant’s share of the total damages awarded to compensate the plaintiff. There are certain exceptions, however, including cases in which the defendant in question is held liable for more than 60% of the liability apportioned to all parties.

 

Under the current system of joint and several liability, defendant(s) in a multi-defendant civil liability lawsuit may be required to pay damages associated with the actions of its/their co-defendants, if said co-defendants are unable to cover the cost, themselves. This would mean, for example, that a defendant found liable for 5% of the damages in a multi-defendant lawsuit could theoretically be required by the courts to pay 100% of the damages awarded.

 

The scant handful of amendments that were deliberated on the floor Wednesday were defeated by the GOP majority, failing by twenty votes along party lines. This included an amendment offered by fellow Republican Kate Harper (R-Montgomery), which failed after hours of debate. Following that amendment's 109-89 defeat, the House similarly voted to adjourn until Monday, when HB 1 will be taken up for consideration on third and final passage. This came despite the numerous additional amendments filed to the bill by primarily Democratic members.

 

The Fair Share Act has been made a public priority for both chambers’ majority caucus leaders, as well as for the administration, in discussions surrounding ways in which the state could be made more competitive. The Act, originally passed in 2002, was found to be unconstitutional in 2005 on the grounds that it violated the Pennsylvania Constitution’s single subject rule. Champions of reinstituting the law include Turzai and Senate Majority Appropriations Chair Jake Corman (R-Centre), who have introduced legislation that would accomplish this in the sessions succeeding that court decision.