Emergency Responders Legislation Clears General Assembly

The Sgt. Michael Weigand Act was recently passed by the Pennsylvania House and Senate and is on its way to the governor’s office. The bill is extremely popular in the state because of its origins and recognition of emergency responders. The bill is named after a police officer who was struck and killed by a pickup truck while escorting a charity benefit ride. It will give the court system an option to increase the sentence for those who kill emergency responders by up to five years. Also included in the bill is stricter penalties for traffic related homicides in work zones.