This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here.
HARRISBURG — Under a little-noticed provision in the new state budget, Pennsylvania municipalities will be forced to allow rodeo events to take place in their borders even if local lawmakers have voted to restrict them.
Only one place in the commonwealth appears to fit this description: Pittsburgh, which more than 30 years ago banned the use of some tools to control animals, including electric prods and spurs.
The language is tucked into the nearly 140-page fiscal code, an omnibus piece of legislation that authorizes the state to spend money. The code passed with wide bipartisan support and was signed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in mid-July.
No elected official approached by Spotlight PA was willing to speak on the record about the measure, and none took credit for its inclusion. Because of how it passed, no one had to put their name to it.
Code bills are typically negotiated in secret by top leaders and unveiled shortly before lawmakers begin voting. This secrecy and speed make code bills an easy way for lawmakers to enact controversial policies that have nothing to do with the budget with little public notice. A 2020 code bill provision banned then-Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat, from hanging most flags off his Capitol balcony (he had displayed flags promoting LGBTQ pride and cannabis).
The new budget allows certain rodeo-hosting companies to pick up to 12 days per calendar year to host a “ticketed, public” rodeo or “rodeo-related event,” even if local rules ban or constrain the events. During those 12 days, any local rodeo regulations “shall not apply.” The law applies only to rodeos hosted by entities that operate in at least 10 states each year and in venues with capacities of at least 2,500.
The measure was backed by Professional Bull Riders, a Colorado-based organization that oversees hundreds of bull-riding competitions across the U.S. and internationally.
Spokesperson Andrew Giangola told Spotlight PA that the group is “very excited about the prospect of bringing our events to more fans and markets in Pennsylvania” and that the organization has “supported efforts to pave the way for PBR events in any city in the state.”
The group hired a powerful ally to work on its behalf in Harrisburg: Allegheny Strategy Partners. The lobbying firm’s partners include Joe Scarnati, the onetime president of the state Senate. Professional Bull Riders paid the firm more than $22,000 to bend legislators’ ears between May 2023 — when it registered to lobby — and March 2024, according to Pennsylvania Department of State records.
Pittsburgh is not the only U.S. jurisdiction to restrict rodeos. San Francisco has banned them, as has Baltimore County, Maryland. Los Angeles is considering a ban, according to the Los Angeles Times.
There’s little independent data on animal welfare within rodeos and rodeo-related sports. Older studies, done in conjunction with rodeo organizations, have found low injury rates for animals. But advocates for animals point to poor conditions for animals in transit between events, and anecdotal incidents of animals being maimed or killed during competitions.
Pittsburgh’s anti-rodeo law was enacted in 1990, shortly after an event at which a bull broke its leg “and was destroyed,” the Pittsburgh Press reported at the time.
Giangola said PBR only organizes bull-riding events and not other rodeo sports such as steer wrestling. He also said its competitors are banned from using sharpened spurs, and that electric prods are used only in back pens to control animals before the competition.
He added that a bull in the ring with a rider on its back was better off than a bull that would “enter the food supply,” and that the organization’s bulls have “won the animal lottery.”
Mary Withrow, a Pittsburgh-based activist who has helped craft local and state animal welfare legislation, told Spotlight PA the budget is “just a step backwards, really.”
“Some of the injuries are bad — broken back, broken necks, punctured lungs, organs,” she said of the animals, adding: “What a horrible way to die.”
The rodeo provision was also considered during last year’s budget talks, but didn’t make it into the final deal, animal advocates including Withrow told Spotlight PA, citing discussions with lawmakers.
Withrow says she talked with state Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D., Allegheny) about the provision this month. Costa told her he negotiated the current language to allow Pittsburgh’s ordinance to stay on the books while making an exception for part of the year. A spokesperson for state Senate Democrats confirmed her account.
State lawmakers have broad authority to preempt local policies and ordinances in most of Pennsylvania. They’ve used that power to stop local governments from passing stricter gun laws and from creating a minimum wage higher than the state’s.
It’s not unusual for such preemption measures to show up in a code bill. In 2019, the budget deal included a temporary preemption on local plastic bag bans, pending a statewide study. The measure was extended before expiring in 2021.
Local governments have had mixed success challenging preemption in court. Withrow said she has asked a lawyer to look over the new rodeo measure before deciding on next steps.
“The other thing that really worries me is, if the state can do this to this ordinance, what's next?”