Despite 'RTK' Law, some records hard to find
By Jim Parsons
WTAE TV, Pittsburgh
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Why is it still so difficult for citizens to get public documents from the Legislature a year after lawmakers passed a new law and promised a new day?
"It's going to be about money. Show me the money," Rep. Bill DeWeese said on the House floor last year. "We have been very, very slothful historically in showing our records, but that's not going to be the case any more."
A year later, Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons reports that no one knows how the Legislature is doing under the new Right To Know Law.
In the executive branch, an online database discloses hundreds of decisions made by the state Office of Open Records, where citizens appealed a records request denial.
"You can pull them up online," said lawyer Craig Staudenmaier, a right-to-know expert. "They're called 'final determinations,' and there is a link on their Web site where you can find them."
"Does the Legislature do that with its appeals?" Parsons asked.
"Not that I'm aware of, no," Staudenmaier said.
The Legislature also doesn't post online all of its leases for lawmakers' district offices, despite a promise to do so.
Team 4 went to Harrisburg to ask the House clerk's office for copies of state lawmakers' leases of their district offices. They said we could see those records, but we'd have to pay $900 for the privilege. (Read That Team 4 Investigative Report)
"The House of Representatives follows the letter of the law. That should be made very clear. The law was followed here," House Democratic Spokesman Brett Marcy said.
Staudenmaier disagrees.
"That's the first I've ever heard of someone wanting to redact a signature," he said.
The House clerk's office claimed they needed to black out -- or redact -- signatures from the district office leases in order to protect individuals' personal security would and charge Team 4 a $900 copy fee.
"It's the idea that they're telling you that because of a signature -- which isn't exempt under the law anyway -- that they have to redact an entire lease," Staudenmaier said. "Then it's just ridiculous to say you're going to have to pay $900 to get a public record."
Anyone who is denied access to government records can appeal it to the Office of Open Records, which is independent.
But that's not the case if you try to get documents from the Legislature. Appeals there go to a Legislature employee -- the same people who denied the request for records in the first place.
Jim Parsons is a founding member of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition's board of directors. Craig Staudenmaier is the PaFOIC's general counsel.