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July 18, 2007
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Senator Pileggi: Right-to-Know Law is Top Fall Priority

HARRISBURG – Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9) today said that improving Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law is his top priority for the fall session.

"We have made great progress this year by implementing many important government reforms," Sen. Pileggi said. "But the cornerstone of reform is strengthening our Right-to-Know Law."

Sen. Pileggi is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 1, which would strengthen Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law. Since introducing that bill, he has announced his support for changing the presumption in the current law so that all government records are presumed to be open unless they fall under a specific exception established in law.

"Changing the presumption on open records in Pennsylvania won't be a simple task," said Sen. Pileggi. "Everyone recognizes that some records should not be made public. We need to make the list of exceptions as narrow and as clear as possible, to give the public access while protecting legitimate interests."

Sen. Pileggi is also the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 729, which would require the posting of all governmental salaries online, and a co-sponsor of Sen. Jake Corman's legislation to post detailed state contract information online (Senate Bill 914). SB 729 passed the Senate unanimously on May 22.

Earlier this year, the Senate approved legislation to increase penalties for violating the Sunshine Law, to eliminate lame-duck voting sessions, and adopted a new rule to prohibit the use of Senate funds to pay for robo-calls. The Senate also approved posting Pennsylvania's Consolidated Statutes online and adopted strong new rules to give the public much greater access to legislative information, including posting roll call votes online, posting the full text of all Senate debates online, posting amendments online before a vote is taken, and waiting at least six hours before voting on legislation amended in the Senate.

"We have made remarkable progress this year in reforming state government," Sen. Pileggi said. "But our efforts must continue."

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