Capitolwire:
Senate sends open records bill to governor;
Rendell planning to sign it.
Feb. 12, 2008
By Christopher Lilienthal
Staff reporter Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Feb. 12) — After more than a year crafting, debating and amending an overhaul of the state's Right to Know Law, the bill now heads to Gov. Ed Rendell, who plans to sign it.
The state Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1 Tuesday afternoon, after the House amended it Monday evening to address several concerns raised by House Republicans.
Among other changes, the amendment bans the release of information risking the safety of a person, shields identifying information of minors and allows realtors to use government land records for commercial purposes.
CLICK HERE for a story on the House amendment and vote on the bill.
Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for Rendell, wrote in an e-mail shortly after Senate passage: "The governor will sign the bill soon after it reaches his desk."
Before the vote in the Senate, Sen. Jane Orie, R-Allegheny, noted the new section withholding disclosure of the names, home addresses and birthdays of minors. She asked bill sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, whether that section would prevent school districts from releasing honor rolls to local newspapers.
Pileggi said it would not because the bill only tells agencies and school districts what they do and don't have to release. In some cases, those agencies or districts may deem it in the public interest to release additional information, such as an honor roll.
"The open records bill does not control what an agency may provide to the public; it only governs what agencies are mandated to provide," Pileggi said. "There are many reasons an agency might want to go beyond the mandates contained in Senate Bill 1, and I believe that many agencies will do that regularly."
Sen. Vince Fumo, D-Philadelphia, also questioned whether any protections in the bill would result in the withholding of information now released related to a governmental agency adjudication. Again, Pileggi said: "This bill only covers what must be made available upon request to a member of the public. It does not alter the introduction of evidence in any administrative proceedings."
He did note that other state or federal laws, or privileges such as those between someone and their attorney or doctor, could require certain sensitive information to be kept secret.
The Senate first passed an earlier version of the open records bill on Nov. 28, then approved a revised version of it on Jan. 30, Pileggi said.
While Pileggi asked House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, to run the bill in the House last week without amendment, House Republicans succeeded in delaying the vote until this week.
Then yesterday afternoon, DeWeese, working with Pileggi and House Republicans, agreed to run an amendment and send the bill back to the Senate. It passed the House unanimously, 199-0.
The legislation presumes that the records of all branches of state and local governments, as well as court records, are public. Records would be open unless they fall within an exception or are protected by another law.
Under the bill, the broader access to government records would apply to past, present and future records.
The bill also creates a central office within the Department of Community and Economic Development to mediate access disputes.
It reduces from 10 days to five days the time government agencies have to respond to record requests. And it increases fines for officials who violate the law and permits the awarding of legal fees for bad faith actions by officials.
The House amendment clarified that 911 recordings can be released only when a 911 officer or a court agrees to it, House GOP staff said. It also requires 911 centers to release call logs but leaves it to their discretion how much information will be released.
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