Thirty-five Pennsylvania Republicans voted against a bill that guaranteed daily recess for children in the state.
It was unclear whether the Republicans who voted against House Bill 1505 did so specifically because of the recess provision or for other reasons.
In September 2026, a claim (archived) circulated online that 35 Pennsylvania Republicans voted against a bill that guaranteed daily recess for children in the state.
For example, the pro-Democratic X account @DemzDeliver wrote, “Democrats pass bill guaranteeing recess everyday to Pennsylvania students. 35 Republicans voted no.”
The account further spread the claim on Threads and Instagram (archived, archived). It also circulated on another left-leaning Facebook page.
The claim was true. Thirty Pennsylvania Republicans in the House and five in the Senate voted against House Bill 1505, which, alongside other measures, included a section that made recess mandatory from kindergarten through fifth grade.
It was unclear whether the Republicans who voted against House Bill 1505 did so specifically because of the recess provision or for other reasons.
Rep. Scott Barger, who was the only representative to vote against the bill twice, told Snopes via a spokesperson that he voted against the bill because “the overall spending amount of the state budget was too high to be palatable to me, plus the 80 pages don’t actually contain meaningful reforms.”
House Bill 1505, which Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced (archived) that he had signed into law on Sept. 6, 2026, contained a number of changes to the state’s Public School Code of 1949.
Shapiro wrote:
Before this year, schools in Pennsylvania weren’t required to give students dedicated recess time so they could take a break from learning, get outside, and just be kids. Our latest state budget changes that.
The act added a new section about recess that read, in part (page 49):
Section 1512.2. Recess periods.–(a) a school entity shall provide at least thirty minutes of recess during each school day in full-day kindergarten through grade five and at least fifteen minutes of recess during each school day in half-day kindergarten
The bill went on to say that recess time should be separate from lunch time or physical education. It also specified that recess should be “provided outside” and should not “involve the use of electronic devices.”
History of the votes
The Pennsylvania House and Senate voted on the bill three times before it became law.
On July 7, 2026, 202 out of 203 representatives in the state House voted in favor of the bill, sending it on to the state Senate. The lone “nay” vote came from Republican Rep. Scott Barger.
The Senate voted to pass the bill on July 12, 2026. During this vote, five Republicans voted against the bill.
The bill then returned for a concurrence vote in the House on amendments made in the Senate. The House voted, also on July 12, to send the bill to Shapiro for his signature with the amendments from the Senate. Thirty Republicans, including Barger, voted against the bill at this vote, meaning a total of 35 Republicans had voted against the bill in both the House and Senate.
For further reading, Snopes has investigated a series of other rumors about public schools.
