Aaron Bernstine

The Pennsylvania State House Rules Committee voted unanimously Tuesday, Nov. 10 to introduce a resolution that would censure Rep. Aaron Bernstine over alleged homophobic remarks -- accusations that Bernstine denies.

The committee voted unanimously in favor of House Resolution 676, with 15 Republicans and 18 Democrats voting in support. A censure is a formal statement of disapproval, which is largely symbolic.

The resolution referenced reports of multiple incidents between 2020 and September 2026 where Bernstine is accused of inappropriate behavior.

“Since 2020 and as recently as September 2026, there have been multiple public reports of conduct allegedly engaged in by Representative Aaron Bernstine which would fall below that standard,” the resolution said.

The resolution could require a final vote at a later date, but Bernstine said the final vote will not occur due to the limited time remaining in the legislative session.

“In summary, they ran it out of the rules committee, which is not like the health committee or a judiciary committee,” Bernstine said. “A rules committee is just something that is a process in place that says if a bill is written correctly or not, and the votes are almost always unanimous.”

He added this is even the case for bills that have every Republican vote against them on the floor, but the rules committee only determines if the bill abides by legislative rules.

He also explained rules committees meet every day at the House of Representatives.

“Every bill needs to go through the rules committee, and this one is done. They are not voting on it,” Bernstine said. “There will be one session next week to sign a bill that is coming from the Senate, but nobody is going to be there because there are no (other) bills to vote on. The House will be in session to sign a bill from the Senate.”

The most recent allegation against Bernstine stems from Sept. 29 when he allegedly went on a homophobic tirade against one of his colleagues, Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-181, in Harrisburg.

In a report by PennLive, Bernstine was accused of being overheard in a crowded bar calling the gay Democratic lawmaker an anti-gay slur and falsely claiming that Kenyatta had lost weight because of AIDS. The report cites Michael Ford, the secretary and treasurer of the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council, as its source.

Bernstine has denied the allegations and called them a “political attack.” Following the backlash, Bernstine resigned from all of committees a week later Oct. 6.

“With just three legislative days remaining, my focus is on delivering results on the issues that matter most to Pennsylvanians,” he said at the time. “My attention is squarely on the priorities that still have a chance to become law before we adjourn: eliminating the gas tax, lowering Pennsylvania’s income tax and passing skill games legislation to support small businesses.”

On Nov. 3, Bernstine defeated Democratic challenger Rick Telesz to represent Pennsylvania’s 8th state House District for the next two years. Bernstine won with 18,453 votes, or 62.94% of the vote, to Telesz’s 10,864 votes, or 37.06%, according to unofficial results from Pennsylvania’s election returns website. Butler County Bureau of Elections officials told the Eagle they expect the county vote totals to be certified by about Tuesday, Nov. 17.

The Butler County portion of the district includes Brady, Center, Clay, Connoquenessing, Forward, Franklin, Lancaster, Middlesex, Muddy Creek, Penn and Worth townships; as well as Connoquenessing, Portersville, Prospect, West Liberty and West Sunbury boroughs.

The Nov. 10 resolution said public officials in the Commonwealth are expected to maintain a standard of conduct commensurate with the office they hold. According to the resolution, the proposed censure would not violate the Pennsylvania Constitution.

“A legislative body has the right to regulate the conduct of its members and may discipline a member as it deems appropriate, including reprimand, censure or expulsion, or the denial or limitation of any right, power or privilege of the member granted by the Rules of the House of Representatives,” the resolution said.

Bernstine has been a state representative for five terms. First elected to the 10th state House District, he now represents the 8th district after redistricting.