Striking workers would be eligible to collect unemployment benefits under legislation that passed the state House on Tuesday.

Republicans blasted the measure as a misuse of the unemployment compensation system to help labor organizations prolong work stoppages.

“This bill is a strike starter’s dream. It guarantees that every union in Pennsylvania will have a reason to walk off the job. Seriously, who wouldn’t strike if you could get paid not to work? This proposal isn’t unemployment, it’s a taxpayer funded vacation for people choosing to shut down their workplace,” said state Rep. Charity Krupa, R-Fayette. “This bill doesn’t protect workers, it punishes everyone who keeps working. It’s reckless, it’s unfair, and it’s begging for abuse.”

But Democrats assert the measure is needed to help workers survive when employers fail to negotiate in good faith to end strikes.

“When our nation has created the wealthiest men in history, while workers still struggle to put food on the table, providing unemployment compensation for workers who are taking the courageous step of withholding their labor is a necessary intervention,” said the bill’s prime sponsor state Rep. Rick Krajewski, D-Philadelphia. “We are on the precipice of a return to the era of robber barons. The only path forward is behind the leadership of workers agitating for their rights.”

The legislation was approved by a 106-94 vote with four Republicans — state Rep. Andrew Kuzma, R-Allegheny, state Rep. Thomas Mehaffie, R-Dauphin, state Rep. Kathleen Tomlinson, R-Bucks, state Rep. Martina White, R-Philadelphia — joining with all Democrats in voting in favor of the bill.

The Department of Labor and Industry estimates that if the legislation had been in effect from 2021 to 2024, it would have cost the state an additional $6 million a year in unemployment compensation payments, according to a fiscal note completed by the House Appropriations Committee. The unemployment compensation trust fund is projected to receive about $2 billion in payments in 2025-26.

However, the appropriations committee’s analysis notes that the legislation “may lead to more strikes.”

The state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund balance increased by $426 million in 2024, from a beginning balance of $934 million to the year-end balance of $1.36 billion, according to an actuarial analysis released by the Department of Labor and Industry.

The trust fund’s solvency percentage stood at 104% on June 30, 2024. The actuarial analysis projected that the solvency percentage is on track to increase to 109% in 2025 then drop to 103% in 2026 and to 97% in 2027.

Currently, only New Jersey and New York allow striking workers to collect unemployment though laws that go into effect Jan. 1, 2026, will extend the same right to workers in Oregon and Washington.

Similar laws came close to passing in other blue states only to be vetoed by the governor. HB 145 now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate for consideration.