Better Government Association

Law could open up state records

March 20, 2007 5:26 AM
By BRIAN SCHEID
phillyBurbs.com

Advocates hope a series of open-government bills that breezed through the House of Representatives last week could eventually lead to changes in Pennsylvania's notoriously exacting open-records laws.

“I don't think there's any question that there's momentum and there's a lot of hope that things could improve,” said newspaper editor Don Gilliland, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition. “Transparency is a good thing.”

One of the bills, which passed the House by a vote of 308-117 Wednesday, would make it easier for the public to access federal government documents through the Freedom of Information Act by creating a so-called presumption of disclosure to the public. Essentially, the bill would eradicate a practice established under the Bush administration that federal records should be withheld if there's a chance there could be a reason to do so.

That “presumption of secrecy” is the same in Pennsylvania's open- records laws and the reason this state has the third worst open-records laws in the country, according to a recent poll by the Better Government Association, a nonprofit watchdog group.

“In Pennsylvania, we have bad, unworkable and impractical open- records laws,” said Melissa Melewsky, a media law attorney with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, a trade group.

“The government has all the information and the public has all the burden.”

“If there's any way people in Harrisburg can keep something from the public, unfortunately, they do,” said Gilliland, managing editor of the Potter-Leader Enterprise in north-central Pennsylvania. “The knee-jerk reaction is to keep everything secret.”

Four new open-records laws are being bandied about Harrisburg, including one that Gov. Ed Rendell's staff is drafting and one that was introduced by state Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Fayette County.

Both would change Pennsylvania law by making the presumption that state records are public. Mahoney's bill also calls for setting up a statewide clearinghouse for records requests.

Along with changes easing rules in FOIA requests, members of the House of Representatives also approved bills making contributions to presidential libraries public; protecting whistleblowers; reversing a 2001 law allowing presidents to keep their records private; and requiring government agencies to give reasons for awarding no-bid contracts.

Melewsky said the federal bills, which still need Senate approval, are a “step in the right direction,” and could bode well for changes to Pennsylvania's records laws.

“The fact that they're even talking about this is good,” Melewsky said. “It's increasing the visibility and publicity of the issue.”

Improved open-records laws would end the lengthy and expensive legal battles the government faces defending its choices to keep some records secret, Melewsky said.

“In the end, this will save money and create a better, more effective government,” Gilliland said. “The bottom line is the community benefits.”

Brian Scheid can be reached at 215-949-4165 or bscheid@phillyBurbs.com.