Capitolwire: Rendell signs open records bill,
puts his agenda ahead of other reforms.
Feb. 14, 2008
By Christopher Lilienthal
Staff reporter Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Feb. 14) — Shortly before signing a bill Thursday overhauling the state's open records law, Gov. Ed Rendell said he'd like to see the Legislature impose limits on campaign contributions and take redistricting powers away from elected lawmakers.
But when asked if he would put any political capital behind those issues, he responded: "Well, I certainly will continue to talk to the leaders about it, but my instant agenda was in my budget speech."
Rendell specifically noted his economic stimulus, energy and healthcare proposals, and his plan to increase public education funding by 6 percent.
"To me," Rendell said, "the most important facet of the budget is education and taking that first giant step down the road of effectuating the Legislature's Costing-Out Study," which found that the state's school districts are under-funded to the tune of $4 billion a year. Rendell wants to see the state close $2 billion of that gap over the next six years.
In the area of reform, Rendell said he would like to see the Legislature take up a bill to give legislative redistricting powers to a citizens' commission, rather than elected lawmakers.
"I think that can do more to open up our political process than any single thing," Rendell said of redistricting reform.
That plan, however, could face some political opposition in the Senate. Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, told reporters at a year-end briefing in December that he saw little support in the Senate for changing the current legislative redistricting process.
Rendell also said he would like to see the Legislature adopt a plan setting campaign finance limits in state races.
"Obviously, I'd like to see those issues get done some time before the end of the year, as well," Rendell said. "… I think this Legislature, because of the influence of so many young members, is really stepping up its efforts to not only be responsive to the public but to get things done."
House Deputy Speaker Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, said, after the House approved the final version of the open records bill on Monday, that a campaign finance limits bill was the next reform piece he'd like to see enacted.
But Shapiro, like Rendell, alluded to healthcare, energy and other matters at the bill signing, saying the bipartisan collaboration on the open records bill should be emulated when lawmakers take up those other more divisive issues.
Before signing the open records bill, Rendell hailed it for cutting down the wait time on record requests from 10 days to five; putting more records and state contracts online; fining government officials who wrongfully withhold public records; and giving citizens strong appeal rights.
The new law, which will take effect next January, rewrites Pennsylvania's 51-year-old Right to Know Law, regarded by many experts as the worst in the country.
The new law presumes that all state and local government and court records are public, unless they fall within a list of 30 exceptions. They include identifying information about minors, personal or employment information, working papers of lawmakers and other officials, and information that could risk the safety or security of people or buildings.
Even if agencies aren't required by the law to disclose information, agencies can decide to do so, unless the records contain information specifically protected by another law, Pileggi said. That means that, for instance, schools can release honor rolls to the local newspaper, even though they do not have to release identifying information about students.
The law also will apply open records procedures to the Legislature for the first time. Current law applies to state and local agencies but exempts the Legislature.
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.
"Is it a perfect bill? No," Rendell said. "Is it a good bill? Absolutely. Is it a step on the road to reform? Without a doubt."
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, the bill sponsor, called it a "landmark" measure that "changes the dynamic between citizens and their government."
Pileggi also defended the delayed effective date of the new law – January 2009 – noting that it will take time for the state to form the new open records office to handle appeals and otherwise implement the law.
But Rendell and Pileggi said state government and the Legislature would do its best to live up to the "spirit of the law," even before it formally goes into effect.
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association came out strongly in favor of the final bill. Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania, also praised the bill, even though he and other good-government advocates have been critical of the bill.
Kauffman said he was concerned about the enforcement of the law, including the placement of the new open records office in the Department of Community and Economic Development, an agency under the governor's purview. Kauffman and others favored placing that office within the more independent State Ethics Commission.
"We wanted to fight till the last wind blows because there was a chance we could get more for the citizens," Kauffman said.
In a letter to Rendell, the newspaper association wrote that the bill "fundamentally changes the structure of Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law. It begins with the presumption that state and local agency records are open for public inspection, and places the burden on any agency denying access."
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