PRINTER'S NO. 1670
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1379
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY RIGBY, SCHMITT, POLINCHOCK, ULLMAN, RYAN, REESE,
JAMES, JOZWIAK, BERNSTINE, GROVE, MILLARD, NEILSON, OWLETT,
ZIMMERMAN, OBERLANDER AND KEEFER, MAY 1, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MAY 1, 2019
AN ACT
Repealing the act of June 22, 1935 (P.L.446, No.187), entitled
"An act relating to the playing of certain sports on Sunday;
prohibiting such sports on Sunday before certain hours, and
also after certain hours where the electors of a municipality
or township vote against the same; providing for referendums
to ascertain the will of the electors; changing the hours
during which certain sports may be conducted, staged, and
played, where the electors are in favor of the same;
providing penalties; and repealing inconsistent laws."
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of June 22, 1935 (P.L.446, No.187),
referred to as the Sunday Polo Act, is repealed:
[AN ACT
Relating to the playing of certain sports on Sunday; prohibiting
such sports on Sunday before certain hours, and also after
certain hours where the electors of a municipality or
township vote against the same; providing for referendums to
ascertain the will of the electors; changing the hours during
which certain sports may be conducted, staged, and played,
where the electors are in favor of the same; providing
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
penalties; and repealing inconsistent laws.
Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That the word "municipality,"
as used in this act, shall be construed to include every city,
borough, town, and township of this Commonwealth.
Section 2. It shall be unlawful for any person,
copartnership, association, or corporation to stage or engage in
the playing of the game of polo, regardless whether a charge or
admission thereto is made, or whether labor or business is
necessary to conduct or stage the same, on the first day of the
week, commonly called Sunday, before the hour of one o'clock
postmeridian and after the hour of seven o'clock postmeridian.
It shall not be unlawful for any person, copartnership,
association, or corporation to stage or engage in playing the
game of polo, regardless whether a charge or an admission
thereto or incidental thereto is made, or whether labor or
business is necessary to conduct or stage the same, on the first
day of the week, commonly called Sunday, after the hour of one
o'clock postmeridian and before the hour of seven o'clock
postmeridian, unless the voters in the municipality have first
voted against the playing of polo on Sunday during such hours.
In any municipality wherein the voters have voted against the
playing of polo on Sunday, it shall be unlawful thereafter to
stage or engage in the playing of said game on Sunday between
the hours of one o'clock postmeridian and seven o'clock
postmeridian.
Any person, copartnership, association, or corporation
violating any of the provisions of this section shall, upon
conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay
a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100), and, in default
of the payment of such fine and costs of prosecution, such
20190HB1379PN1670 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
person, or any member or agent of any copartnership or
association, or any officer or agent of any corporation,
responsible for such violation, shall be imprisoned for a period
of not more than ten days.
Section 3. At any general or municipal election, there may
be submitted, in the manner hereinafter provided, a question to
determine the will of the electors of any municipality in this
Commonwealth with respect to the playing of polo on Sunday
between the hours of one o'clock postmeridian and seven o'clock
postmeridian. Whenever electors, equal in number to at least
five per centum of the highest vote cast for any office in the
municipality at the last preceding general or municipal
election, shall, in writing, petition the corporate authorities
of any municipality to cause a question to be submitted to the
electors of such municipality at any general or municipal
election occurring at least sixty days after the filing of such
petition, the corporate authorities shall, if the petition is
sufficiently signed, certify the same to the county
commissioners, who shall cause such question to be submitted to
the electors of said municipality at said general or municipal
election. Such question shall be in the following form--
Do you oppose the playing of polo
on Sunday between the hours of one
o'clock postmeridian and seven o'clock
postmeridian?
YES
NO
The said question shall be printed on separate official
ballots, in bound form, by the county commissioners of each
county, and sufficient number of ballots shall be furnished to
the election officers in each election district of the county so
that one ballot may be supplied to each voter at such election.
20190HB1379PN1670 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
In districts where voting machines are used, such question shall
appear on the face of the machine where the machine is properly
equipped for such purposes.
Section 4. The votes cast on such question shall be counted
by the election officers and returns thereof made by them, and
by election officers where voting machines are used, to the
prothonotary of the county, who shall lay the same before the
return board for computation at the same time and in the same
manner as other returns. The return board shall compute the said
returns and certify the results of the vote cast on the question
to the corporate authorities of the municipality.
Any such election shall be governed by the election laws of
the Commonwealth, and all penalties provided by said laws shall
apply to such elections.
Section 5. In any municipality the will of the electors with
respect to the playing of the game of polo on Sunday between the
hours of one o'clock postmeridian and seven o'clock postmeridian
may, after a prior referendum, but not oftener than once in
three years, be ascertained at a general or municipal election,
and the question, as provided in this act, shall be submitted to
the electors of any municipality upon demand, in writing, of
petitioners in the manner provided in section three hereof.
After any such vote, the playing of the game of polo on Sunday,
after the hour of one o'clock postmeridian and before the hour
of seven o'clock postmeridian, shall be lawful or unlawful under
section two of this act in accordance with the findings as
expressed by the voters at such election.
Section 6. Where, by the provisions of existing law, it is
lawful to conduct, stage, and play any sport other than polo on
Sunday between the hours of two o'clock postmeridian and six
20190HB1379PN1670 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
o'clock postmeridian, it shall hereafter be lawful to conduct,
stage, and play such sports between the hours of one o'clock
postmeridian and seven o'clock postmeridian, but only in a
municipality wherein the electors have heretofore voted in favor
of the conducting, staging, and playing of such sports on Sunday
between the hours of two o'clock postmeridian and six o'clock
postmeridian, or wherein the electors shall hereafter vote in
favor of the conducting, staging, and playing of such sports on
Sunday between the hours of one o'clock postmeridian and seven
o'clock postmeridian.
Section 7. Whenever in this act time is referred to the same
shall be construed to mean "eastern standard time," except
during the period commencing the last Sunday in April and ending
with the last Sunday of September of each year, during which
period such reference shall be construed to mean "eastern
daylight saving time," in those municipalities where daylight
saving time is the customary time in common use during such
period.
Section 8. Section one of the act, approved the twenty-
second day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four
(Three Smith Laws, one hundred seventy-seven), entitled "An act
for the prevention of vice and immorality, and of unlawful
gaming, and to restrain disorderly sports and dissipation," be
and the same is hereby repealed, insofar as it prohibits the
playing of the game of polo on Sunday between the hours of two
o'clock postmeridian and seven o'clock postmeridian.
All other acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act
are hereby repealed.
Section 9. This act shall become effective immediately upon
final enactment.]
20190HB1379PN1670 - 5 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
20190HB1379PN1670 - 6 -
1