Pennsylvania residents may soon be able to get some financial relief from two specific natural disasters thanks to a bipartisan legislative effort.
As Allegheny Front reported, the state's House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill in October that would create a state-run insurance program for damages caused by landslides and sinkholes.
If the bill becomes law, policyholders would receive up to $150,000 in case of such a disaster.
"It's not a huge payout, but it will enable folks to at least move on and cut the costs," state Rep. Valerie Gaydos, R-Moon Township, told Allegheny Front. "The people paying the premiums then will be putting some money into it, so it's a good approach."
Critics say the bill isn't necessary and that private insurance companies should instead operate this type of program. But supporters say some companies refuse to offer landslide and sinkhole insurance, and even if required to do so by law, they may just pull out of the state instead.
The bill would establish a $10 million insurance fund within the state's Department of Community and Economic Development, which would then be repaid by policyholders' premium payments.
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"It truly is the way that government should operate," Gaydos said.
Pennsylvania is particularly susceptible to both of these disasters. Experts told Allegheny Front that the state ranks second to Florida for its number of sinkholes, and a U.S. Geological Survey map shows that landslides are likely to occur across much of Pennsylvania.
Both events are exacerbated by extreme weather, which is occurring with more severity and for longer periods of time as heat-trapping pollution causes global temperatures to increase.
A 2020 study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that increased precipitation, which is a direct result of warmer temperatures, can increase the risk of landslides.
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Meanwhile, 2025 research, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, noted that those rising temperatures have also increased the likelihood of sinkholes, which can be created when droughts lower the water table, removing underground support for the land above, and then heavy rain washes that ground away.
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