Legislation proposed in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives aims to more than quadruple what jurors earn in a day, raising the over rate of $9 a day, which has been in place for six decades, to $40 a day. 

The goal of House Bill 2165 is to prevent financial hardship from getting in the way of potential jurors serving, according to a memo bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Jason Dawkins, D-Philadelphia. Individuals and groups that study juries say that the pay boost would be a step toward creating more representative jury pools.