Published: October 11, 2007 11:21 pm      

Lawmakers mull amendments to right-to-know law

UNIONTOWN — Aiming for a more progressive and open law, a group of state legislators gathered Thursday for a public hearing on two proposed amendments to the state’s right-to-know law.

Pennsylvania is one of only a handful of states where the law presumes that information is not public until a person requesting information proves otherwise.

“The net result of this is very little access in Pennsylvania,” said Teri Henning, general counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

One recent example of the need for amended legislation is the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, which has fallen under scrutiny for spending more than $800,000 on board retreats in the past few years.

The agency has refused to grant access to the invoices that would detail how the money was spent.

State Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Democrat from Uniontown who campaigned on a proposed revision of the law in 2006, said the law affects more than newspapers.

“This is probably the most important legislation we will be doing this year. It is about the taxpayers’ money,” he said at the hearing before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, held by state Sen. Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar, committee chairman.

Mahoney, who has introduced one of three pieces of legislation, said a more open law would provide better checks on the state’s $27 million budget.

State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Pittsburgh, has introduced a similar but more detailed amendment.

Major changes include: Acknowledging that records belong to the public, placing the burden of proof on government to show that access to a record should be denied, creating an administrative office to hear appeals and imposing harsher penalties for violations.

Doug Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said the group would support the amendments, with conditions that it permit local governments to “strike a balance” between protecting individuals’ right to privacy and the public’s right to know.

He told lawmakers that most requests for information are honored in a timely manner.

But Henning said the state’s law is problematic.

It needs to begin with a presumption of access to information and clearly list exemptions without giving too much subjective discretion to agencies. An administrative appeals office has proven successful in states such as New York, she added.

Kasunic agreed that reform is needed and said some form of the proposed amendments may be passed this year.

State Sen. John Wozniak, D-Johnstown, said greater access to government records would help state legislators regain public trust.

“What we need to do is get that credibility,” Wozniak said.