ALBANY — While Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law is widely considered a major change for the better, a longtime New York open-government expert claims it is fraught with potential problems. Read More...

Final installment in a five-part series of Associated Press stories on Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — It was a dubious distinction that may have done more than any other factor to produce a new Right-to-Know Law: Pennsylvania's long-standing reputation as one of the worst states when it comes to letting people know what their government is doing. Read More...

Q: What if the public record I want is in electronic form, but I don't have access to a computer? Read More...

Fourth in a five-part series of Associated Press stories on Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law.HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In many government offices, records requests made under the state's new Right-to-Know Law may take longer than necessary to process because officials have not policed their files over the years and disposed of outdated records. Read More...

Q: Can I be denied a public record under Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law because I am not a Pennsylvania resident? Read More...

Third in a five-part series of Associated Press stories on Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Private businesses that do business with state and local governments in Pennsylvania are about to find themselves having to make some of their records available to the public. Read More...

Q: Will Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law make it easier for someone to steal my identity? Read More...

Q: What is the Pennsylvania Office of Open  Records? Read More...

First in a five-part series of Associated Press stories on Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Public-access advocates hope that widely shared frustration will subside after Jan. 1, when an overhaul of the state's Right-to-Know Law takes effect. The changes are expected to dramatically expand what people can find out about what goes on behind the scenes of the state and local governments. Read More...

Q: What is the major difference between Pennsylvania's old and new Right-to-Know laws? Read More...

Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law contains exceptions for 30 categories of records. Most do not apply to financial records or aggregated data, such as spreadsheets and databases. A summary of the exceptions: Read More...

Common questions and answers about how to file a request under Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law. Read More...

Examples of information that the government must make available to the public under Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know Law, and examples of government information that will remain private: Read More...

Citizens, researchers, reporters and just plain inquisitive folks will get a belated Christmas gift when a new law takes effect Jan. 1 opening more government information to public eyes. The state's revised Right-to-Know law forces more agencies, plus state lawmakers and judges, to release records. It brings Pennsylvania in line with many other states. Read More...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Weeks before the state Office of Open  Records  opens for business, it's clear that office director Terry Mutchler is not going to simply carry the water for Gov. Ed Rendell — the man who appointed her and is technically her boss. Read More...

Gov. Ed Rendell, who enacted the state's expanded open-records law with his signature, might be one of the first to violate it if state agencies follow a directive his office has issued. Read More...

Those municipalities and school districts that habitually make it difficult for citizens to obtain information about their taxpayer-supported enterprises face a day of reckoning on Jan. 1. That's when a new Right-to-Know Law takes effect, with this fundamental change: All records will be considered public documents unless specifically exempted. Read More...

HARRISBURG — People seeking most government records will soon pay no more than 25 cents a page under a new state policy. The fee system, set by the newly created Office of Open Records, will apply to all state agencies and municipal governments when the state's Right to Know Law takes effect Jan. 1. Read More...

HARRISBURG (AP) — Starting next year, citizens seeking copies of most public records in Pennsylvania won't be charged more than a quarter a page, under an order that the state's open-records chief plans to issue Monday.
Read More...

Open government and transparency are the types of issues that people from all areas of the political spectrum can unite behind and support. Because when a governmental body like the Radnor Township School Board makes a decision, as many of my great elementary school teachers from Radnor stressed to me when I was a student, it is critical that they show their work. Read More...

As state officials prepare to oversee a new open records law, senators sought assurances Monday that the law will not burden local governments or lead to more identity theft. Read More...

By SEAN ADKINS
[York] Daily Record/Sunday News

A revamped Pennsylvania Right to Know Law does not call for a state agency to be penalized should it opt not to hand over contracts that would have otherwise been included in a new online public database.

State agencies are responsible for providing the information for the online database maintained by the Pennsylvania Treasury Department.

However, the department would not take any action against a state agency that does not file a contract.

And the Right to Know Law doesn't allow for a fine or any action against the state agency for not submitting most contracts to the database.

But, the Right to Know Law does state that most contracts need to be filed with the treasury department within 10 days of a document's execution date to be posted online.

"It's almost like a self-policing type of thing," Elizabeth Kupchinsky, a treasury spokeswoman, said. "If an agency does fail to submit a contract, a member of the public can file a Right to Know request with that agency (to acquire a contract)."

A method of challenge should exist if an agency ignores the law and doesn't submit a contract to be posted online, said Melissa Melewsky, media law council with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

"I certainly think we would have liked to have seen some teeth with this provision," she said. "But this is a law, and the law has to be followed."

New information online

On July 22, the treasury department unveiled the searchable online database that allows a public search through state contracts by entering criteria such as the name of the agency, grant amount or topic.

The database is not novel in that residents suddenly have access to never-before-released data, but rather now the public can view those contracts more quickly.

The money used to fund these state contracts comes from state taxes, fees and other charges, said Pennsylvania Treasurer Robin L. Weissmann.

"The whole point (for the Web site) is for people to know how their tax dollars are being spent," said Don Houser, chief of staff for Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre County.

Corman drafted a Senate bill in June 2007 that called for an online contracts database.

Before the creation of the online database, individuals needed to make a formal request with an agency to gain access to a specific contract, Houser said.

"It was a cumbersome process," he said.

Now, each agency is bound by the updated Right to Know Law to submit most contracts worth $5,000 or more to the treasury department, where legal documents executed on or after July 1 are posted to its Web site.

For example, the query "Northwest Triangle" turns up an Aug. 22 contract in which the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has agreed to give York's redevelopment authority a $1.05 million grant to remediate the downtown site.

The money will be used to clean up the Keystone Color Works building and the soil in York's Northwest Triangle.

About the updated law

On Feb. 14, Gov. Ed Rendell inked a revamped Right-to-Know Law that favors public access to records.

Under this law, state agencies must prove that a record is non-public or that an exemption forbids access.

While most of the provisions in the law take effect on Jan. 1, 2009, the online database went into action last month.

For the most part, the contracts are between state agencies and outside parties, Weissmann said.

Not every contract worth more than $5,000 will find its way to the site.

For example, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts will create a separate Web site for its contracts, Kupchinsky said.

Also, contracts that contain information protected by certain legal principles such as attorney-client privilege are exempt.

Submissions after six weeks

So far, more than 4,600 contracts have been uploaded, Kupchinsky said.

As of Aug. 22, 67 state agencies had submitted contracts while 47 had not, she said.

Houser said to have nearly 60 percent of agencies submitting contracts only six weeks after the launch of the site is a good sign.

"My understanding is that all agencies are moving to comply," said Terry Mutchler, executive director of Pennsylvania's new Office of Open Records.

"It is incumbent for public bodies to comply with this (law)," Mutchler said.

Agencies that have not submitted contracts might have not done so because that bureau might not have executed a deal on or after July 1, Kupchinsky said.

Melewsky said she believes state agencies will submit their contracts to be posted to the treasury department's Web site.

"There is no way to know for sure if all the contracts are up there," she said. "I think there has to be some level of trust in the government. I hope it won't be an issue. I think the state agencies will follow suit. I don't predict a problem," Melewsky said.

Houser said it's in the best interest of the state for the agencies to comply.

"We are in a nature of open records here in Pennsylvania," Houser said. "If agencies are not going to comply with this, shame on them."

AT A GLANCE

• The database: On July 22, the Pennsylvania Treasury Department launched a free online database of state contracts that allows site visitors to review the documents that had been previously available through formal requests.
• The contracts: According to Pennsylvania's updated Right to Know Law, state agencies have 10 days to file their contracts with treasury department. The department then posts the information to its site. Contracts uploaded to the treasury department's site are worth more than $5,000 and have been executed on or after July 1. So far, state agencies have posted more than 4,600 contracts to the site.
• What we found: The Right to Know Law doesn't include a provision to penalize an agency for not filing a contract with the treasury department to be posted online.
• On the Web: To use the database, go to http://contracts.patreasury.org/search.aspx. Once at the site, you can search by agency, contracting party, date or the amount of the contract.