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Senate Bill 1 - Open Records
Floor Comments by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9)
November 28, 2007

Thank you, Madame President.

I rise to ask my colleagues to support Senate Bill 1.

Pennsylvania’s current Open Records Law was enacted in 1957. Although some improvements have been made through the years, most of the law remains the same today.

During my time in the Senate, I’ve seen an increasing degree of cynicism and distrust of state government. Part of that has been focused on the way the state conducts its business because it has not always been an open process, that people can easily access and follow.

Pennsylvania has implemented many important government reforms this year. For example, the state Senate now posts more information than ever online, giving the public easy access to all roll call votes and the full text of our debates. The Senate also approved legislation:

• To increase penalties for violating the Sunshine Law;
• To eliminate lame-duck voting sessions; and
• To prohibit bonuses for state employees.

All of this was done with strong bipartisan support.

But the true foundation of government reform is a strong Open Records Law. Today, we have the opportunity to establish that foundation.

Pennsylvania needs a stronger Open Records Law because transparency builds trust in government. Openness gives the public the ability to review government actions – to understand what government does, to see when government performs well and when government should be held accountable.

Since its introduction in January, Senate Bill 1 has been amended four times, reflecting input received from a wide range of interested parties, including the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, Common Cause, the County Commissioners Association and other organizations representing local governments, law enforcement, private individuals and businesses, members of the Senate, members of the House of Representatives, and the Governor’s office.

The current version of the bill makes many important changes to the process of obtaining public records in Pennsylvania:

• It creates an Open Records Clearinghouse in the Department of Community and Economic Development to provide information, training and advisory opinions on Open Records;
• It improves the appeals process, making it easier for a citizen to challenge an agency’s decision not to release a record.
• It reduces the time period for response by a Commonwealth agency from 10 to 5 days.
• It increases financial penalties for noncompliance.
• It requires the Clearinghouse to establish standard fees for photocopying records, and to create a standard form that can be used to request records.
• It gives the Open Records Clearinghouse a real foundation of independence, by requiring the governor to appoint an executive director who serves for six years.

Senate Bill 1 also makes dramatic changes in the records available from various government agencies.

• State-related universities are required to provide information from the federal 990 tax form and the highest 25 salaries of employees at the university.
• Judicial agencies are required to provide financial records.
• Legislative agencies are required to provide 17 categories of records.
• For executive agencies and local agencies, Senate Bill 1 reverses the presumption of access to records and puts the burden of proof on a government agency denying access to a record. This is the one change that many advocates of open government consider the most essential.
• It provides a list of 28 plainly stated exceptions for executive agencies and local agencies. These exceptions include such things as criminal investigations, Social Security Numbers, personal financial information, and individual medical records.

Senate Bill 1 also requires the posting of state contracts in a searchable online database. This will give citizens unprecedented access to the details of state spending. This provision comes from Senator Corman’s Senate Bill 914. 

By any objective measure, Senate Bill 1 is a vast improvement over Pennsylvania’s current Open Records Law. 

Despite the good that is being done, there will be critics of this legislation, as there are with almost every major bill. I would like to briefly address a few of the criticisms. 

First, the legislature and judiciary are treated differently than executive agencies and local agencies. 

Some think that the legislature and judiciary should be treated the same. I do not agree. Each branch of government has a unique set of constitutional responsibilities, and the structure of Senate Bill 1 respects those differences. 

Most other states give the legislature separate treatment in Open Records Laws. Even those states which, on the surface, treat the Legislature the same as other agencies often have one or more exceptions crafted to exempt a wide array of legislative records. 

Senate Bill 1’s language dealing with the legislature is based on New York law. The University of Florida’s “Citizen Access Project” ranks all 50 states on a wide variety of Open Records issues. Under the ranking of “legislature,” they have three states tied for the highest rank, including New York. 

This bill would make even more legislative records available to the public than New York’s law, and it includes access to the legislature’s financial records. 

Another criticism of Senate Bill 1 is the fact that it removes criminal penalties which have existed since the current law was adopted. This was done because we can find no evidence of a single prosecution under the 1957 law, and because the ACLU and the Attorney General agreed that it was an inappropriate remedy. 

Although Senate Bill 1 removes the criminal penalties, it also significantly strengthens civil penalties for noncompliance – and makes it easier for a plaintiff to recover attorneys’ fees if an agency acts in bad faith. I believe those are things that will have a practical, meaningful effect on people’s ability to obtain records. 

Madame President, the Senate of Pennsylvania can be proud of what we are doing today. 

“Reform” may very well have been the word uttered most often in this building over the past year. There is no other reform that comes close to matching the impact of a strong Open Records Law. 

I would like to thank several members for their efforts in improving this bill, including Senator Jeff Piccola, Senator Gib Armstrong, Senator Tony Williams, and Senator Bob Mellow. I would also like to thank Kathy Eakin and Erik Arneson of my staff for the countless hours they have spent working on this bill.

Madame President, I ask for an affirmative vote on Senate Bill 1.

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