HR 162 — A Resolution urging all agencies of the Commonwealth to have the ability to use diacritical marks on names on all Commonwealth-issued documents by July 1, 2027.

PRINTER'S NO.    1218

                  THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



           HOUSE RESOLUTION
              No. 162
                                              Session of
                                                2025

     INTRODUCED BY CEPEDA-FREYTIZ, CERRATO, WAXMAN, GIRAL, KHAN,
        SCHLOSSBERG, VENKAT, KENYATTA, SANCHEZ, MAYES, HOHENSTEIN,
        RIVERA, D. WILLIAMS, GREEN AND K.HARRIS, APRIL 1, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 1, 2025


                               A RESOLUTION
 1   Urging all agencies of the Commonwealth to have the ability to
 2      use diacritical marks on names on all Commonwealth-issued
 3      documents by July 1, 2027.
 4      WHEREAS, Diacritical marks are accent marks that are used in
 5   writing to place stress on a letter to change its sound; and
 6      WHEREAS, Diacritical marks are commonly used in names, but
 7   currently Pennsylvania still lacks the capability to place
 8   diacritical marks on some Commonwealth-issued documents, such as
 9   driver's licenses; and
10      WHEREAS, A mismatch of names on documents and identification
11   can lead to a host of problems, such as confirming identity,
12   completing rental applications and applying for services such as
13   the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and
14      WHEREAS, The Commonwealth creates and perpetuates these
15   issues when technology is not compatible with allowing
16   diacritical marks on letters; and
17      WHEREAS, To respect the human dignity of every individual, a
18   person's name should be spelled correctly on official documents;
 1   and
 2         WHEREAS, Most State agencies, such as the Department of
 3   Health, already have the ability to use diacritical marks, but
 4   the Department of Transportation (PennDOT) cannot due to its
 5   current struggles with old legacy mainframes for motor vehicles
 6   and driver's licenses, which are built on the same outdated
 7   programming language that cannot accommodate the use of
 8   diacritical marks; and
 9         WHEREAS, PennDOT has begun the process to replace the
10   mainframes in two phases, first implementing the new mainframe
11   for the motor vehicle system and transferring all data into it
12   before doing the same for the driver's license system, which may
13   not be complete until late 2025; and
14         WHEREAS, This is far too long to wait to call Pennsylvanians
15   by their exact names; and
16         WHEREAS, The House of Representatives stands ready to assist
17   in providing the resources necessary to speed up the process of
18   replacing old mainframes; and
19         WHEREAS, All Pennsylvanians deserve their names to be
20   acknowledged and accurately reflected; and
21         WHEREAS, Making certain that we call people by their names is
22   the least that our Commonwealth can do to respect the dignity of
23   all Pennsylvanians; therefore be it
24         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge all agencies
25   of the Commonwealth to have the ability to use diacritical marks
26   on names on all Commonwealth-issued documents by July 1, 2027.




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