HARRISBURG - An effort to rewrite the state Right to Know law started well before the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal at Penn State University, but fallout from the case is providing momentum to tackle the issue this fall.
The Senate plans to take the lead in moving legislation to revise the 3-year-old law, which establishes a legal presumption that government records are public unless officials can prove it should be withheld.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, Chester, said negotiations this summer have led to agreement on a number of open records issues and talks continue. He has sponsored an open records bill that has already been the subject of several Senate committee hearings.
The timetable for action to get a bill to Gov. Tom Corbett's desk is short. The Senate and House are in session to vote on bills during the weeks between Sept. 24 and Oct. 18 and no voting on bills after the Nov. 6 election is planned. The session officially ends Nov. 30.
"At the top of concerns is treatment of the state-relateds," said Mr. Pileggi, referring to calls to bring Penn State and the three other state-related universities (Temple University, University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University) under the law. The four universities enjoy broad exemptions from meeting Right to Know requests under the current law. Penn State cited those exemptions in turning down Right to Know requests for information following the arrest of Mr. Sandusky last November on child sex abuse charges. He was subsequently convicted. Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, was one of the first lawmakers to introduce a bill to end this exemption following Mr. Sandusky's arrest. His measure would require state-related schools to file an annual state report listing salaries of officers and directors, the highest 25 salaries paid to other employees and information required by the federal government. Mr. Blake's bill would exempt information relating to individual university donors.
Other issues being worked on are the need to safeguard personal information in public documents relating to credit cards and tax records, said Mr. Pileggi. The senator wants to address problems with local governments being overwhelmed with frequent requests for records from commercial firms.
"I don't think it's fair the taxpayers should bear those costs," he said.
One organization hopes that any rewrite broadens the scope of the law and clarifies gray areas.
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association is seeking language declaring that police incident reports are public documents and requiring that 911 call response logs include an address or other geographic location.
PNA also wants lawmakers to address what it describes as abuses of a current provision allowing agencies to seek a 30-day extension on a records request beyond the five-day period. Some agencies invoke the 30-day request as a matter of course and requestors should have an opportunity to file an appeal, PNA said. House Republican leaders are setting their priority issues for the fall, said Stephen Miskin, spokesman for House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-28, Pittsburgh.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com