This piece from the York Daily Record is too good — and too important — not to publish in its entirety.
The feds should reveal the nature of a security violation at TMI.
Last week, when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported a security violation at [...]
• Wagner calls school district’s confidential agreement a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
State Auditor General Jack Wagner took issue last week with Peters Township School District’s separation agreement with its superintendent, saying such agreements are a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
The school board recently approved an agreement with Superintendent Timm Mackley, [...]
Just a reminder that the workshop, “The Open Records Act: What is New and What has Stayed the Same,” is in full swing across Pennsylvania.
The workshop is designed to help elected and appointed municipal and county officials gain a better understanding of how the Open Records Law has changed due [...]
WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh has won a “Peabody,” broadcasting’s most prestigious award, for its series on the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Association and the fight for open records reform in Pennsylvania.
WTAE-TV was one of the 35 winners of the 67th annual award. The station was cited for “’Fight for [...]
For all the bad stuff that went on behind its closed doors, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Association has proved a treasure trove for award-winning journalists, who persevered through thick stonewalling to open the state-run student loan agency to public scrutiny . . . and in the process helped change [...]
… We want to know what our politicians are doing and, of equal import, why they are doing it. That’s why journalists and community activists alike remain ever vigilant on the lookout for attempts to revise state laws to allow more secrecy and for [...]
• Thomas Jefferson once said that if he had to choose between a nation with government and no newspapers, or one with newspapers and no government, he’d always choose the latter.
Jefferson was no fan of intrusive Revolutionary War era media. He was a constant target of scurrilous coverage. But [...]
Beginning this Wednesday, March 26, Teri Henning, general counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, will lead a series of workshops around the state. The indefatigable Ms. Henning has set a schedule of two-a-days for herself that would exhaust both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers and makes the Nittany [...]
This is “Sunshine Week” across the United States – a time to reflect on and discuss the importance of open government and the freedom of information. It is the critical flip side of the Right-to-Know efforts that resulted in a new open records law earlier this year.
The Sunshine Act refers [...]
Saying that West Virginia University “has engaged in a constant and consistent practice of delay, evasion and concealment” in violation of West Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will sue the university for failing to comply with the state’s open records law. Excerpts from the article follow:
The [...]
Two powerful and high-profile politicians announce their intention to leave office on the same day. Although their stories are completely unrelated, each is leaving under a cloud. And that cloud may also be taken as a symbol of the secrecy under which they both operated. Is there a connection to [...]
• The Pittsburgh Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is hosting the Region 4 Conference – “Digital Democracy” tomorrow and Saturday (March 14 & 15) at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh.
One of the panel discussions will be on “Open Records Laws: Forum & Update,” which [...]
Some officials need a change of attitude
So recently opined the Reading Eagle, noting that bringing real transparency to state and local governments in Pennsylvania will require not just opening public records but changing official attitudes as well.
The example, as reported initially by the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, involved the [...]
I know that everyone wants to focus on the feel-good news. We have a new open records bill, passed unanimously by the Senate and the House and signed with some – not a lot, but some – fanfare by the governor. And that’s fine.
But it doesn’t hurt to remember why [...]
Just a coincidence, no doubt, but PennFuture, the environmental advocacy organization, last week issued a press release headlined “Give us the Splendid Sun,” which called for the passage of SHB 1 . . . .No, not Senate Bill 1, the open records bill that Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi [...]
Stop me if this sounds familiar, but ">an editorial in the March 4th edition of the Nashua, New Hampshire, Telegraph, discusses that state’s efforts to get a better right-to-know bill passed. In New Hampshire they appear to combine our state’s Right-to-Know (which covers open records) and Sunshine (which covers [...]
Organizations that will be affected by the new open records terrain in Pennsylvania are moving to make sure their members understand the coming rules.
This is a good sign.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association announced a couple of days ago that it will present a series of Web conferences on: ‘Open [...]
As big a victory [the] enactment of a new Pennsylvania open records law is for the media, wrote the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in an editorial, the biggest winner is the public.
The new law ensures greater and easier access to public records, which means the public will be better able to [...]
Thomas Hylton, who won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for his editorials in the Pottstown Mercury, recently wrote a piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer in which he argues that one critical – and relatively simple – next step in government transparency is to put public information on the web in [...]
Several people and organizations have asked questions and made suggestions about what happens now – that the opens record law as passed but will not go into effect until January 1, 2009. This is a very important question – both in term of making sure that a law it took [...]
. . . For Open Records Law
Much attention has focused on the difference Pennsylvania’s new open records statute will make in the conduct of state politics, but local governments will have to make adjustments as well.
“The complexities of the newly revised law raises numerous issues for virtually every governmental [...]
A ">s a taxpaying citizen, and more importantly, as a newspaper editor, I have always believed that any business by public agencies – after all, it’s our money that they’re spending – should be conducted in an open forum without restraint.
I really could care less whether it’s negotiations with teachers, [...]
In its comprehensive article on the new open records law last week, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg listed some of the major exemptions under SB 1 as passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by Governor Rendell:
• Records that likely would result in physical harm or jeopardize someone’s [...]
Last week the Patriot-News in Harrisburg published some “scenarios” intended to help readers understand some of the implications of the new open records law:
How could it affect you? Here’s a look at several scenarios in which a business or resident might have a problem that can be solved using [...]
The concept is simple – it’s our government and our records.
There will continue to be, as there should, safeguards against release of records that might disclose medical or other personal information that doesn’t belong in the public realm.
But the public will be able, as it also should, to find [...]
On February 14, 2008, Governor Rendell signed Act 3 of 2008 into law, which is a complete overhaul of the Right to Know Law. Although some provisions take effect immediately (those establishing an Open Records Office) and others take effect on July 1, 2008 (requiring state-related institutions to make certain [...]
On February 14, 2008, Governor Rendell signed Act 3 of 2008 into law, which is a complete overhaul of the Right to Know Law. Although some provisions take effect immediately (those establishing an Open Records Office) and others take effect on July 1, 2008 (requiring state-related institutions to make certain [...]
A smattering of what some folks are saying in the wake of the new open records law.
“I just believe it brings us out of the Dark Ages. We are finally not a secret government. We’re not hiding anything. All the accounts are open.” Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Uniontown).
Reminders of why we needed open records reform and fought so long and hard to get it . . .
• Judge Doris Smith-Ribner put an exclamation point on the extraordinary hubris of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency when she ordered it to pay $48,000 in legal fees for [...]
Now that the long trek is over and Pennsylvania has a new open records law – or will have after January 1, 2009 – the original intent of this blog is coming to a close. We have not decided what 00 if anything – to do with it in the [...]
Here are pictures from the press conference. Click on a shot to see the full sized image. Use your browser’s “back” button to return.
Governor Ed Rendell, flanked by Rep. Tim [...]
Gov. Ed Rendell will sign Senate Bill 1 today at 2 p.m. in the Governor’s Reception Room.
Below is the press release issued late yesterday by the Pennsyvania Newspaper Association in response to the bill’s passage by both houses of the legislature:
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association (PNA) recognizes the significant achievement [...]
In a comment posted earlier today, Left of Centre refers to Adam Smeltz’s discussion in the Centre Daily Times of “the weakness of [SB 1] with respect to Penn State and the Commonwealth’s other state-related universities.”
Here is the link to the column. Smeltz writes in part:
New open-records [...]
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill 1 once again and sent it on to Gov. Rendell, whose spokesman said he would sign it into law.
Last May we published the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association’s six minimum requirements for meaningful open records reform. While there are some significant holes in the [...]
• It’s unanimous in the House as it was in the Senate. House members voted 199-0 to pass open records legislation just five days after GOP members halted debate amid concerns that expanding access to government records would aid identity thieves, put domestic violence victims and senior citizens at [...]
While newspapers around the state have expressed differences of opinion about how good Senate Bill 1 really is – and whether and how it can be improved – they are coalescing around one simple notion: this process has gone on for over a year, and each day it lingers in [...]
The headline in the Bucks County Courier-Times makes your blood run cold: “Caller put on hold, dies in house fire.”
Christina Kristofic’s story tells of a woman, Brenda Orr, who called 911 the morning of January 29, saying her bed was on fire and she could not get out. She [...]
We continue our series on opinions from around Pennsylvania about Senate Bill 1 with excerpts from recent editorials in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Centre Daily Times and Lewistown Sentinel. Please join the conversation.
• Public access is good government
Pass open records law
The latest Senate-backed version of a new [...]
Even as the House engaged in partisan bickering of the kind that makes you wonder whether they will get anything done this session, the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition called for passage of Senate Bill 1 without either amendment or further ado.
And that, Deputy House Speaker Josh Shapiro (D-Montgomery) [...]
Today we continue with our look at different points of view on Senate Bill 1 with excerpts from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Lancaster New Era and Democracy Rising Pa. As you will see over the next few days, the debate has not abated with the unanimous passage of Senate Bill [...]
Leslie Graves interviewed Tim Potts of Democracy Rising PA as part of her series of interviews with “Sunshine Activists” from around the nation.
Excerpts below. To read the entire interview, visit Leslie’s site.
• Charles Davis of the National Freedom of Information Coalition has talked about having “a FOI moment”. Have [...]
Over the next couple of days, unless events overtake us — which well they might — we will run some different takes on the current state of the open-records debate as it is playing out in the legislature on the shifting sands beneath Senate Bill 1.
Please join in the [...]
1. Politics makes strange bedfellows. The Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association are both publicly calling for the enactment of the version Senate Bill 1 that the Senate unanimously approved on January 30th. That seemed highly unlikely during the past year, as the open-records bill [...]
You can get a heck of a ride just trying to keep up with the open records bill. In fact, just when we thought we were almost home – with the Senate having passed Senate Bill 1 by a vote of 50 yeas and nays and House set to vote [...]
No, that’s not my Super Bowl prediction. That was the final vote in the Senate yesterday in favor of Senate Bill 1, the overhaul of Pennsylvania’s antiquated open records law. It has been a long haul as well as an overhaul, and the process, which began a year ago, [...]
From Jan Murphy at the Patriot-News:
Senate passes open records legislation
by Jan Murphy,Of The Patriot-News
Wednesday January 30, 2008, 12:03 PM
With a unanimous vote, the state Senate approved a measure to strengthen the state’s 51-year-old open records law.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware County, the bill’s sponsor, said, [...]
Here’s the body of a press release just issued by the PNA. I have removed contact information to help avoid spamming, but the if you’d like to download the release, click here.
PNA Urges Passage of Senate Bill 1
HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 30, 2008 — The Pennsylvania Newspaper [...]
The Associated Press reports that yesterday the Senate made several technical changes to the House version of Senate Bill 1, so the full body did not vote on the legislation as many had hoped. That vote is expected to take place today.
According to the AP: “While the chambers have [...]
The Senate on Monday readied a rewrite of Pennsylvania’s open records law for a vote as senators look for ways to compromise with a House version that passed six weeks ago.
The Senate Rules Committee approved an amended bill, 14-1, and set it up for a potential vote today by [...]
This is the week, and as we wait for the verdict on open records from our elected representatives, we sill have a lot of questions.
Here’s one: If almost everyone – at least publicly – now accepts that public records are presumed to be open unless they are subject to a [...]
With the new legislative year just beginning, there have been a lot of questions raised about how much “progress” was made in the last legislative year. Fittingly, that conversation often turns to open records. And there are encouraging signs that we are getting there . . .
• Legislative leaders have [...]
It is true that I am not a lawyer, but I was once an English teacher, and I am having a hard time parsing the language of Senate Bill 1, the pending open-records bill. Take, for example, Chapter 17, on pages 54-57, which deals with state contracts.
Below are [...]
As the end of January approaches — and with it the promise of an open records bill on Gov. Ed Rendell’s desk — there appears to be broad agreement in the legislature on the fundamental principles of reform, but there are still some important differences over the details. We need [...]
We continue with the discussion of our concerns with specific items in the current version of Senate Bill 1, which the House amended and sent back last December, and which the Senate (we hope) is planning to vote on by the end of this month.
As you might expect, Section [...]
Here are some of the concerns recently raised about the pending open records bill by Tim Potts of Democracy Rising Pa.
• Enforcement. There are two concerns: 1) the penalties for violating the law, and 2) the costs when citizens must go to court to obtain public records.
The best [...]
“PassOpenRecords.org asks if letters from Governor Rendell promising state funds to a variety of projects would be considered open records. They are looking for readers to comment on that question….”
• Here’s what Gov. Ed Rendell said: “I have no problem if these become open records [...]
Rendell Reveals Secret Funding Letters; Proposed Open Records Bill May Be Misnamed
Peter L. DeCoursey of Capitolwire.com broke the intriguing story headlined above this week about a series of letters that Gov. Ed Rendell has sent to various organizations in which he promised money for projects . . [...]
Let’s continue our discussion of some specific concerns about Senate Bill 1. As always, please weigh in with your thoughts. In the three provisions below, anything in capital letter was added by the House just before the Christmas break.
• Section 301 (b) (page 12, lines 25-6). Prohibition – A [...]
and other reasons we need open records reform.
• From the Herald-Standard in Uniontown
“If we had had an open records law (covering the legislature), this [bonusgate] probably would not have happened.” Those words come, not from a good government or media advocacy group, but from the House majority leader [Rep. [...]
…And, ironically, the content? According to WTAE reporter Bob Mayo, the memo is advice from the city’s legal counsel on how the ethics board should comply with the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act.
Honestly, I’m not making it up. Check out the report on WTAE’s website, or read about the debacle [...]
Yesterday, we shared a letter from Michael Berry, an attorney with Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, L.L.P. in Philadelphia, about why 911 tapes should fall under the presumption of openness in Senate Bill 1.
Berry’s three main points — (1) that 911 tapes are a critical and powerful way for [...]
The Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment at Penn State has launched the “Open Records Clearinghouse Project” to help reporters across the state with public information and access challenges. The project will compile information from reporters and track the performance of state agencies in regard to Right-to-Know requests.
• Meanwhile, [...]
For many people, the idea of making 911 tapes accessible to the general public is repugnant. After all, many of these tapes are made when people are at their most exposed and most vulnerable. They often record scenes that are heartbreakingly sad, horrifically scary or deeply personal.
Without question, the [...]
The following letter from Rep. Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) appeared in Friday’s Delaware County Daily Times and Philadelphia Inquirer:
When I was a prosecutor in Philadelphia, I followed a simple formula when it came to sharing information with the defense: Whether the information hurt my case or not, I turned [...]
Over the last two days we have discussed some concerns that the amended version of Senate Bill 1 raises with regard to (1) the definition of a public record and (2) the blanket exemption of dates of birth and telephone numbers. Ernie Schreiber posted a compelling comment on the [...]
The 10th Edition of the Carnival of Open Records, hosted by Leslie Graves over at State Sunshine and Open Records, just keeps growing. Who knew that there are so many people out there concerned with open records in their local, state and federal government? It’s amazing how many [...]
Yesterday we discussed the House’s addition of the word “legal” to the definition of a record in Senate Bill 1. Today, let’s look briefly at the additions of “dates of birth” and “telephone numbers” to the blanket exemptions.
Here is how SB 1 reads now (capital letters indicate additions made [...]
Over the next few days, as we wait for the Senate to reconvene on Jan. 14th and take up the House-amended version of Senate Bill 1, we will look at some provisions of the pending bill that we think need to change. Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester), the Senate Majority Leader and [...]
As the old year drew to a close and the new year dawned, here is what some newspapers across the state were thinking about the days ahead:
In 1957, a loaf of bread cost 19 cents, a gallon of milk $1, gasoline averaged 30 cents per gallon. Computers were [...]
If the national government, whose current leadership is hardly known for its commitment to open government can do it, so can Pennsylvania.
What is it?
Pass open-records reform legislation and get it signed into law.
No one knew for sure whether President Bush would sign the Open Government Act of 2007 [...]
Both Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester) have pledged to have a new open records bill on Gov. Ed Rendell’s desk by the end of this month.
“We have to continue to restore the public’s respect and trust in the [House and Senate] [...]
Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome back to www.passopenrecords.org, a blog devoted to open records reform and government transparency in Pennsylvania.
The legislature is scheduled to reconvene Monday, January 14, and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester) has said that open records reform is his top issue, that he will [...]
Like many of you, passopenrecords.org is going to take a holiday break until the New Year.
You can still post on the blog, and Dani will be watching for any important news to post. But we will take a week’s rest from the feverish pace of the fall . . [...]
Several years ago, never mind how many, I ran for public office. We’ll skip the details of why I ran, what office I sought, and what party I represented. But as something of an (undoubtedly naïve) idealist, I tried to run on issues . . . public issues. Not for [...]
From the Erie Times:
Public accountability starts at the top. It’s not always a Summit Township official, an Erie County executive or even a Pennsylvania governor who forgets who they’re working for and the fact that public documents belong to you. Even President Bush and his administration must be constantly [...]
At the risk of sounding like the grinch so closed to Christmas, I have to share this story from Kori Walter of the Herald-Standard.
The moral of his story is twofold:
(1) Emails are already the communication of choice for those who seek to fly under the radar. Walter reports that [...]
The Altoona Mirror sent letters to all 501 of Pennsylvania’s school districts in August asking for superintendents’ employment contracts.
Most school districts complied with the request in a reasonable time frame; those who did not were asked again. Eventually, according to the paper, “Columbia Borough School District [...]
As the legislature heads into its holiday break, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester) has promised that his Senate Bill 1, as amended by the House last week, will be the first item on the upper house’s agenda when it reconvenes in the middle of January.
Here are some thoughts about [...]
Newspapers from around the state have had plenty to say about unfinished open-records business.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazete says it’s no wonder that “the public…remains angry, two years after their middle-of-the-night pay raise was rescinded. They just don’t seem to understand that it’s not about the raise anymore — it’s about [...]
While we wait a month for the Senate to return to Harrisburg after the holiday break and take up the House-modified version of Senate Bill 1, we need to:
1. Keep the pressure on. There is a good deal of momentum now to get something done in the reform realm, and [...]
Once again, we have a plethora of news stories from around the state which demonstrate just how bad our current open records law is.
In Lower Macungie Township, according to the Morning Call , an activist group is calling on “township supervisors to publicly release independent audit reports of township [...]
By a combined vote of 239-1, the Pennsylvania legislature has approved Senate Bill 1, which will significantly change the state’s open-records law. But, while the House voted unanimously yesterday on third and final passage of SB1, its members made 19 changes to the bill they received from the upper house, [...]
• Where things stand: It’s wait till next year after all. Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D-Greene) announced yesterday evening that the House will take up the final passage vote on Senate Bill 1 as the first order of business this morning at 10. Sen. Dominic Pileggi R-Chester), that body’s majority [...]
Wait till next year.
“Somebody once said when the legislative process is really geared up it’s an awesome thing to behold,” Pennsylvania Newspaper Association lobbyist Deb Musselman told the AP’s Mark Scolforo yesterday. “With two days left, and both chambers in town, we’re still optimistic.”
But a press release [...]
Dan Moul (R-Adams) recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Evening Sun in Hanover. Mr. Moul, who was elected to the House as part of the 2006 reform wave that led to the replacement of 50 state legislators after the 2005 pay-raise scandal, explained why he [...]
It may pale in comparison to D-Day, and they will certainly never make a movie about it, but today is the beginning of W-Week, the last chance we have to get open records reform legislation passed this year.
All year we have been told that a new open records law [...]
Having been out of state for a while, I am scrambling to figure out what is going on with reform efforts in general and the open-records fight in particular. So I turned to the folks who have been following this “process” all along, and they are as bewildered as I [...]
What are they doing? What are they saying? Who is saying what? Why are they saying what they are saying and doing what they are doing?
I don’t know, but with Bill DeWeese and Vince Fumo beating the drum for open records reform, with the Black Caucus walking out just before [...]
Several members of the Legislature have walked out of the House session just before the open records vote. From the AP:
[...]Black lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House walked off the floor Wednesday to force action on gun legislation and some threatened to boycott the remainder of the year’s session.
The Pottstown Mercury likes HB 2072 better than SB 1. The Allentown Morning Call agrees, but thinks that both versions of the law lack teeth to enforce the more stringent regulations, while The Erie Times-News suggests that Pennsylvanians “cross their fingers” and hope for reform.
The [...]
The House Appropriations Committee voted along party lines yesterday to send SB 1 to the house floor for debate today. Republicans on the committee voted against the bill because of procedural issues, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
“This is outrageous,” said Rep. Scott Petri, R-Bucks. “Senate Bill 1 is 47 pages [...]
From township, cities, counties, and the state, there are lots of PA government entities creating records hurdles for the media.
The Pocono Record reports that on a “settlement agreement Tunkhannock Township supervisors made with a former employee and tried to keep quiet” that is “about 2½ times more expensive [...]
I received this notice from our friends at the WikiFOIA…If you’re interested, please comment or send a message through the “send us your story” portion of the blog.
The WikiFOIA is starting a year-long project to publish once-weekly interviews with regular folks (”Sunshine Activists”) who file open records requests [...]
The Uniontown Herald Standard published an interview with Rep. David Steil of Bucks County, who recently announced his intention to retire when his term is up. He’s served eight terms in the House.
From the interview:
He says the reform movement in Harrisburg still lacks widespread support among lawmakers, [...]
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that the final open records bill should be undertaken carefully:
“After each chamber passes its version of open-records legislation, a conference committee likely will produce a joint bill. By all means, this matter should move along. But there must be sufficient public scrutiny before a [...]
On Thursday, the State Employees Retirement System revealed Joe Paterno’s salary: $512,664 according to the Patriot News, and after taking a look at what some other coaches make, he is an absolute bargain whose contributions to the school are numerous. Paterno seems to take a pretty low-key stance [...]
The Chambersburg Public Opinion says that local government should be more open, citing two examples - one of an unlicensed-drive-since-1986 Shippensburg borough employee who regularly drove borough vehicles, and another where a Waynesboro School District student who was suspended a with district officials refusing to disclose why or for [...]
