Opinion: Update on public notice, open records bills
September 03, 2009 | Filed in: Opinion
| Government
transparency | Public notice
law | HB 677
| SB 419
Public Notice Act | Open
records | New RTK
Law | HB1876
| HB 795
Legal Notices Act
OPINION
Update from the Capitol
By Deb Musselman
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association
Director of Government Affairs
In case you’ve been keeping score, there was movement on two damaging public notice bills last session, both of which died in the Senate – one in Appropriations and the other tabled on the floor calendar. So far this year, there has been activity in both the House and the Senate, with local government organizations pushing five virtually identical bills this session.
Just to recap, here’s a run-down of the status of each:
As you know, the Rules Committee is chaired by House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, so we’re monitoring the situation carefully. We have conveyed PNA’s support for House Bill 1876, as amended – and only in its current form: No amendments to permit the Internet ‘option’ for boroughs that think their own website provides public access to their spending plans, please.
What’s happening elsewhere on open government issues – public meetings and open records?
It’s starting to look as though the legislature is engaging in one step forward, two steps back. For example:
In this current session that’s only lasted eight months so far (yes, it does seem longer!) at least a dozen bills have been introduced to reduce access under Act 3 or other laws.
One such bill, Senate Bill 851, sponsored by RTK sponsor Sen. Dominic Pileggi, has already made it over to the second chamber, to close the records of volunteer fire companies under the EMS Law. It’s still under review by the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs and Emergency Preparedness.
Other efforts include bills to protect home addresses of anyone employed in public education, based on theoretical potential threats. Senate Bill 993 and House Bill 1944 are sponsored by Education Committee Chairmen Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin) and Rep. James Roebuck (DPhiladelphia), so stay tuned.
Wait, there’s more: Six House bills to protect birth dates or various public employee addresses are pending, four of which would amend the new Right to Know Law itself. One such bill was reported from the House State Government Committee in July with virtually no debate, other than a brief discussion of adding ‘teacher addresses’ to the bill’s original purpose, birth dates. That bill, too, is before the House Rules Committee.
The fact is, access to home addresses and dates of birth were two of the most discussed and debated issues when the Right to Know Law was in the legislature – with a strong majority voting in favor of access. At that time, they understood that these identifiers are used every day by members of the media, to accurately identify persons charged with crimes and otherwise in the news.
If legislators are really interested in opening up the Right to Know Law, we have our list of fixes, too, including ones that would grant clearer access to "board packet" materials and noncriminal investigative records.
It's no surprise that some of the exemptions in the Act have already turned into an invitation for abuse. Back when Act 3 was signed into law we – and legislators – talked about how much better it was than the old 1958 law. And it is better. We are disappointed, though, to see such a rush to retreat from improved access by adding to the already-long list of exceptions.
These piecemeal efforts to overturn the new Law and second-guess the Office of Open Records undermines the new Law, threatens the Office’s authority and ability to do its job, and increases confusion for everyone as to what the Law really means (or whether government really is committed to increased access). If they follow through on these bills and keep this up, citizens will need annotated case notes just to read the new law.
And now Labor Day approaches, and still no budget. Don’t forget – there’s been some talk of an ad tax or a circulation tax, so we’ve been fighting those ideas as well. The House needs to return to Harrisburg fairly soon in order to sign off on the Senate’s changes to the latest effort to tackle Philadelphia’s fiscal problems. When they do, we might see movement on any number of bills, which could include public notices, Right to Know, or taxes.
We’ll be keeping close tabs on what’s up at the Capitol and continuing to carry our messages.
Update from the Capitol
By Deb Musselman
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association
Director of Government Affairs
In case you’ve been keeping score, there was movement on two damaging public notice bills last session, both of which died in the Senate – one in Appropriations and the other tabled on the floor calendar. So far this year, there has been activity in both the House and the Senate, with local government organizations pushing five virtually identical bills this session.
Just to recap, here’s a run-down of the status of each:
- Senate Bill 419
– puts public notice advertising on local
government Web sites: in Senate
Appropriations Committee, reported from
Local Government Committee
▪ House Bill 677 – puts public notice advertising in shoppers: in House Judiciary Committee
▪ House Bill 795 – puts public notice advertising on local government Web sites: in House Commerce Committee – received committee hearing and work discussions
▪ House Bill 1756 – puts public notice advertising on Dept. of State Web site, Title 15 – in House Commerce Committee
▪ House Bill 1757 – puts public notice advertising on local government Web sites: in House Rules Committee, reported from Judiciary Committee
▪ House Bill 1876 – in House Rules, as amended by Judiciary Committee on August 4 with PNA-negotiated language as follows:
- eliminates local government website ‘option;’
- replaces original bill with PNA language that maintains newspaper publication of public notices, subject to a 25 percent rate cut and 3-year freeze, after which rates could be raised based on Consumer Price Index; and
- requires newspapers to put public notices online - on their Web sites or an aggregated, searchable Web site - where technologically feasible.
As you know, the Rules Committee is chaired by House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, so we’re monitoring the situation carefully. We have conveyed PNA’s support for House Bill 1876, as amended – and only in its current form: No amendments to permit the Internet ‘option’ for boroughs that think their own website provides public access to their spending plans, please.
What’s happening elsewhere on open government issues – public meetings and open records?
It’s starting to look as though the legislature is engaging in one step forward, two steps back. For example:
In this current session that’s only lasted eight months so far (yes, it does seem longer!) at least a dozen bills have been introduced to reduce access under Act 3 or other laws.
One such bill, Senate Bill 851, sponsored by RTK sponsor Sen. Dominic Pileggi, has already made it over to the second chamber, to close the records of volunteer fire companies under the EMS Law. It’s still under review by the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs and Emergency Preparedness.
Other efforts include bills to protect home addresses of anyone employed in public education, based on theoretical potential threats. Senate Bill 993 and House Bill 1944 are sponsored by Education Committee Chairmen Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin) and Rep. James Roebuck (DPhiladelphia), so stay tuned.
Wait, there’s more: Six House bills to protect birth dates or various public employee addresses are pending, four of which would amend the new Right to Know Law itself. One such bill was reported from the House State Government Committee in July with virtually no debate, other than a brief discussion of adding ‘teacher addresses’ to the bill’s original purpose, birth dates. That bill, too, is before the House Rules Committee.
The fact is, access to home addresses and dates of birth were two of the most discussed and debated issues when the Right to Know Law was in the legislature – with a strong majority voting in favor of access. At that time, they understood that these identifiers are used every day by members of the media, to accurately identify persons charged with crimes and otherwise in the news.
If legislators are really interested in opening up the Right to Know Law, we have our list of fixes, too, including ones that would grant clearer access to "board packet" materials and noncriminal investigative records.
It's no surprise that some of the exemptions in the Act have already turned into an invitation for abuse. Back when Act 3 was signed into law we – and legislators – talked about how much better it was than the old 1958 law. And it is better. We are disappointed, though, to see such a rush to retreat from improved access by adding to the already-long list of exceptions.
These piecemeal efforts to overturn the new Law and second-guess the Office of Open Records undermines the new Law, threatens the Office’s authority and ability to do its job, and increases confusion for everyone as to what the Law really means (or whether government really is committed to increased access). If they follow through on these bills and keep this up, citizens will need annotated case notes just to read the new law.
And now Labor Day approaches, and still no budget. Don’t forget – there’s been some talk of an ad tax or a circulation tax, so we’ve been fighting those ideas as well. The House needs to return to Harrisburg fairly soon in order to sign off on the Senate’s changes to the latest effort to tackle Philadelphia’s fiscal problems. When they do, we might see movement on any number of bills, which could include public notices, Right to Know, or taxes.
We’ll be keeping close tabs on what’s up at the Capitol and continuing to carry our messages.