Overhaul of open-records law ready for House vote
Dec. 11, 2007
By CHARLES THOMPSON
and JAN MURPHY
Of The Patriot-News
HARRISBURG — The House appears set to vote today on legislation that would increase public access to state government records.
If the House passes the bill aimed at strengthening the state's 50-year-old open records law, it will return to the Senate for consideration. Leaders in both chambers have stated their goal is to get the bill to Gov. Ed Rendell before the holidays.
Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said the chances of that happening are "iffy" with the changes the House made.
The House spent more than seven hours Monday considering changes to a bill the Senate passed two weeks ago that would presume government records are open unless specifically exempt.
An amendment offered by Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Fayette, would extend a limited presumption of openness to various "legislative records" and state courts' financial records. The Senate bill simply listed those records as subject to disclosure.
Mahoney's proposal also would put the burden on legislative and judicial agencies to prove a record should be kept secret, making disclosure rules on those branches consistent with local government and executive branch agencies.
Other House-approved amendments would:
• Allow a government agency to require prepayment with a certified check or money order for responses to record requests that exceed $100.
• Prohibit government agencies from charging excessive fees for records.
A proposal by Rep. John Maher, R-Allegheny, to allow appeals of record request denials to be taken to a local judge in addition to the state-level open records clearinghouse included in both Senate and House bills failed by a 100-102 vote.
Another, offered by Rep. John Yudichak, D-Luzerne, to make communication between legislators and lobbyists accessible to the public, failed by a wide margin.
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