The Pennsylvania House voted 122-81 on Monday, Oct. 19, to pass a bill that would pause evictions during life-threatening weather.

State Rep. Greg Scott, D-Montgomery, sponsored House Bill 2023. His district includes Conshohocken, Norristown and Plymouth Township, according to the Times Herald.

Under the bill, judges would be required to halt the execution of an eviction order on a day-by-day basis when dangerous weather is forecast. Qualifying conditions include below-freezing temperatures, winter storm or blizzard warnings, excessive heat warnings and hurricane or tropical storm warnings, according to Scott's office. Once the weather emergency ends, the eviction order would resume within a defined period.

The protections would not cover all renters. H.B. 2023 would apply to people already enrolled in income-based programs such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

"What this bill does is ask us to approach eviction with an element of humanity," Scott said in a statement after the vote. "Families failing to pay their rent are already struggling and may not have a safe place to go during deadly weather."

Scott acknowledged landlords' rights in the same statement, saying they "absolutely have the right to evict tenants who fail to pay."

Carolyn Johnson, chief counsel for Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said the bill recognizes that many households facing eviction already struggle with limited resources, unstable employment, health challenges or barriers to accessing emergency shelter. Being forced from a home during a blizzard or extreme heat, Johnson said, can put tenants at immediate risk of illness, injury or homelessness.

The House Housing and Community Development Committee, chaired by state Rep. Brandon Markosek, approved the bill in February before it reached the full House floor.

The bill now moves to the state Senate. Scott said he hopes his Senate colleagues will advance H.B. 2023 to the governor's desk.