Pennsylvania poised to overhaul maligned open records law
Feb. 12, 2008
By MARK SCOLFORO
Associated Press Writer
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The state Senate on Tuesday gave final legislative approval to a drastic overhaul of Pennsylvania's public access law, which critics have often dismissed as one of the nation's most anemic.
Changing the Right-to-Know Law became a central element of the reform agenda that lawmakers embraced after two dozen of their colleagues were ousted in the wake of the 2005 pay raise debacle.
The bill, which passed the House on Monday and the Senate on Tuesday, aims to provide people with far greater information about the actions of their state and local governments. Gov. Ed Rendell's office said he will sign it.
"What this proves is when House and Senate, Democrat and Republican get together and put their heads together instead of banging their heads against one another, anything is possible," said Sen. Mike O'Pake, D-Berks. "We hope that this bodes well for other major pieces of legislation."
The bill that emerged — after numerous revisions over 13 months — would force agencies to disclose all records beyond a list of exceptions, instead of the current law's narrow list of public records that are available.
It also would require agencies to prove records they do not want to release can be secret, where current law puts that legal burden on the public to prove why a record must be disclosed.
"We set out to replace an old, antiquated law with a law that everybody can work with that reverses the presumption, and we met that goal," said Pennsylvania Newspaper Association lobbyist Deb Musselman.
A central office would set policies and deal with disputes about what should be released. Penalties would be stiffer for agencies that violate the law. And it would require state agencies to respond faster when people request records.
The revisions would improve access to 911 tapes and transcripts, mandate access to many of the General Assembly's records and expand the law to the "state-related" universities: Penn State, Pitt, Lincoln and Temple.
The current law defines public records so narrowly that officials have been able to turn down requests for everything from lists of dangerous intersections to packets that are distributed to school board members before meetings.
Critics say current law has a cumbersome and costly system of appealing when requests are rejected and comparatively weak penalties for officials who violate it.
The legislation emerged as a major reform element after about two dozen lawmakers were voted out in the wake of a huge legislative pay raise rushed through the General Assembly in the middle of one summer night in 2005. The lawmakers' pay raise was later repealed.
Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition, said the bill was a "huge step forward" but contains shortcomings that include a provision setting market-rate prices for most people to obtain complex databases while waiving that cost for reporters and nonprofit educational organizations.
"There's a problem when a law tries to set up some citizens for separate entitlements," she said.
Common Cause of Pennsylvania also had qualified praise, calling the legislature a sweeping change but with weak enforcement provisions.
A late addition to the bill passed this week was a provision that drew objections from the state newspaper association, allowing agencies to withhold the names, ages and addresses of people 17 years old and younger.
The amendment's sponsor, Rep. Chris King, D-Bucks, said he wanted to address "unforeseen circumstances."
"As a class, we have protected both the elderly and the disabled elsewhere in the bill," King wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Tuesday. "We felt it appropriate to do the same for children."
Before the final vote, Sen. Jane Orie, R-Allegheny, asked whether that would prevent school districts from publishing lists of honor roll students in newspapers.
The bill's prime sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said it would not, because the law "does not control what an agency may provide to the public — it only governs what an agency is mandated to provide."
Key provisions of Pa. open records bill
By The Associated Press
Major elements of the revisions to the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law that the Senate approved unanimously on Tuesday and sent to the governor:
• Accomplishes the "flip of presumption" long sought by access advocates by making all records available beyond a set of exceptions.
• Requires agencies to prove a record they are not producing is not required to be made public.
• Establishes the Office of Open Records, run by a governor-appointed executive director with a six-year term. It would be housed in the Department of Community and Economic Development and establish photocopying fees and standard request forms.
• Bars access to executive branch and local government records on a detailed list that includes Social Security numbers, criminal investigative materials, personal bank account information and someone's medical records.
•Makes available financial records of the court system.
•Enumerates which legislative records have to be disclosed.
• Mandates that the four "state related" universities — Penn State, Pitt, Lincoln and Temple — provide a list of their 25 largest salaries and certain IRS records.
•Reduces from 10 days to five days the time state government and legislative offices can take to respond to requests.
•Increases fines for officials who violate the law and permits the awarding of legal fees for bad faith actions by officials.
Source: Senate Majority Leader's Office
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