Miss Penn sits on top of the dome at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Thursday, June 29, 2023. A senior adviser to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro who abruptly resigned Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, had been accused earlier this year of sexual harassment by a coworker who said his behavior forced her to quit her job in the governor's office. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Pennsylvania House Republicans criticized their colleagues across the aisle for once again sidelining three bills that would bar transgender girls and women from competing in sports during a Monday House Health Committee meeting.

State Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, the minority chairwoman, led her caucus in voicing their frustrations towards the House Democrats for re-referring House Bill 158, House Bill 1849 and Senate Bill 9 to the House Judiciary Committee.

“Whether you agree with the content of these bills or not, whether you think we should be focusing on other issues like a state budget that is due in about two weeks, you need to understand the time that has been expended to ensure that these bills never receive consideration by the House.

For all three bills, 1,016 days … of cumulative time was wasted to ensure these bills were never considered, rather than simply vote these bills now in the committee, which the majority party has had ample opportunity to do, and the votes to do so, they have decided to play Whack-A-Mole,” Rapp said.

Since passing the Senate in May 2025, SB 9 has been referred from the Education Committee to the Health Committee, then to the Judiciary Committee, then the Children and Youth Committee in March, which sent the bill to the Health Committee in early June. On Monday, that committee referred the bill back to the Judiciary Committee, where it is pending further approval. The two House bills have followed a similar path through the legislature.

State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, the majority chairman, decided to package the three bills for the re-referral vote due to the identical nature of the legislative measures. HB 158, the “Protect Women’s Sports Act,” was sponsored by state Rep. Barbara Gleim, R-Cumberland; HB 1849, the “Dads Defending Daughters Act,” was sponsored by state Rep. Clint Owlett, R-Tioga; SB 9, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” was sponsored by state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair.

The bills all provide for “sport activities in public institutions of higher education and public school entities to be expressly designated male, female or coed; and (create) causes of action for harm suffered by designation,” according to the bills’ language.

Several other Republican representatives commented during the meeting, citing reported cases of injuries and concerns about the preservation of female athletic achievements. The Republicans also emphasized the committee’s jurisdiction over health-related matters, including biological sex and athletic safety.

Frankel was the only Democrat to comment on the bills during the meeting, saying that the committee should refocus their energy on more pressing issues facing the Commonwealth.

“With the budget deadline just days away, I believe our focus must be on the millions of Pennsylvanians struggling to pay for their food, utilities and gasoline, and the hundreds of thousands who are losing their health care coverage in their local hospitals,” Frankel said.

Another identical bill, Senate Bill 1293, passed the Senate in April, with four Democratic senators voting in favor of the proposal. At that time, state Sen. Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, said on the Senate floor that Republicans in the chamber were wasting time passing another bill targeting transgender athletes, saying the bill “is not going anywhere” in the state House, just like the other three bills.

The heightened attention surrounding the bills comes ahead of a competitive midterm election later this year, giving legislators on both sides of the aisle an opportunity to showcase their legislative involvement.