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PRINTER'S NO. 1361
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No. 204
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY HAYWOOD, HUGHES, FONTANA, KANE, CAPPELLETTI,
COSTA, VOGEL, COMITTA AND STREET, DECEMBER 22, 2025
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, DECEMBER 22, 2025
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.
WHEREAS, Diacritical marks are accent marks that are used in
writing to place stress on a letter to change its sound; and
WHEREAS, Diacritical marks are commonly used in names, but
currently Pennsylvania still lacks the capability to place
diacritical marks on some Commonwealth-issued documents, such as
driver's licenses; and
WHEREAS, A mismatch of names on documents and identification
can lead to a host of problems, such as confirming identity,
completing rental applications and applying for services such as
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth creates and perpetuates these
issues when technology is not compatible with allowing
diacritical marks on letters; and
WHEREAS, To respect the human dignity of every individual, a
person's name should be spelled correctly on official documents;
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and
WHEREAS, Most State agencies, such as the Department of
Health, already have the ability to use diacritical marks, but
the Department of Transportation (PennDOT) cannot due to its
current struggles with old legacy mainframes for motor vehicles
and driver's licenses, which are built on the same outdated
programming language that cannot accommodate the use of
diacritical marks; and
WHEREAS, PennDOT has begun the process to replace the
mainframes in two phases, first implementing the new mainframe
for the motor vehicle system and transferring all data into it
before doing the same for the driver's license system, which may
not be complete until late 2025; and
WHEREAS, This is far too long to wait to call Pennsylvanians
by their exact names; and
WHEREAS, The Senate stands ready to assist in providing the
resources necessary to speed up the process of replacing old
mainframes; and
WHEREAS, All Pennsylvanians deserve their names to be
acknowledged and accurately reflected; and
WHEREAS, Making certain that we call people by their names is
the least that our Commonwealth can do to respect the dignity of
all Pennsylvanians; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate urge all agencies of the
Commonwealth to have the ability to use diacritical marks on
names on all Commonwealth-issued documents by July 1, 2027.
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