Governor signs bill revamping Pennsylvania's open-records law
By The Associated Press,
freedomforum.org staff
07.03.02
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Mark S. Schweiker signed into law a bill intended to improve the public's access to state and local government records a day after the measure won final approval of the state House of Representatives.
"This legislation makes one thing perfectly clear: Every Pennsylvanian has a right to monitor the public officials they elect to serve the public interest," Schweiker said.
The measure approved June 28 and signed into law the next day overhauls Pennsylvania's 44-year-old public-records law by setting deadlines for agencies to respond to requests for records, requiring government offices to provide reasons for denying access in writing, and imposing fines on individuals and agencies that violate the law. It passed 199-1.
"Pennsylvania's open-records law is going to have greater sunshine on our government than we've had before," said the bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. John A. Maher.
Open-records advocates consider Pennsylvania's current Right to Know Law one of the weakest. It assumes that a government record can be kept from public view unless specifically designated by law as open for inspection.
The law applies to records ranging from police logs to minutes of government meetings.
Maher's bill, which also covers electronic records, had the support of groups representing county and local officials, law-enforcement agencies and the state's newspaper publishers and broadcasters.
The bill, H.B. 2100, requires local governments to respond to requests for records within five business days, and state agencies to respond within 10 business days. It provides exceptions, however, if the record is in storage, if the agency determines that it must be edited before it can be released, or if there is insufficient staff to process the request.
Violations of the law would be considered summary offenses, subject to a $300 fine. Additionally, agencies or individuals who violated court orders to provide access to records would be fined $300 a day until they complied.
Democratic Rep. Gregory S. Vitali voted against the measure, saying it does not define what records are open to the public and allows Pennsylvania residents to request only government documents.
"Like too many things we do up here with regard to reform, this has the appearance of reform but will not change politics as usual," Vitali said.