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Josephs advances open records legislation, sends to House for consideration

HARRISBURG, Nov. 28 – State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Phila., today shepherded a bill out of the House State Government Committee, which would expand the state's Open Records law

"This legislation was approved by the committee unanimously," said Josephs, chairwoman of the House State Government Committee. "I believe this legislation better reflects our intentions in revising our antiquated Right to Know law, and we are moving the bill through the legislative process in a deliberative manner.

"This is an important bill and I am hopeful that the legislation will be considered by the full House soon."

Josephs said the legislation would, for the first time, subject the legislature to the state Open Records law. In doing so, it would go farther than a similar Senate open records bill by ensuring that legislative and financial records of the General Assembly are presumed open unless proven otherwise, and the burden of that proof would sit squarely with the legislature rather than the public.

The House bill also would streamline the process for residents to access state and local records, and presume government records at all levels are open to public scrutiny with limited, specified exceptions.

Such exceptions include records that contain private, financial information of Pennsylvanians, personnel records, 911 recordings, strategy or negotiation information relating to labor relations or collective bargaining, trade secrets, and autopsy reports.

"One of the other improvements included in this legislation is that any exemptions to the law focus on the content and substance of a record rather than its form. That means e-mail as a type of communication would not be exempted," Josephs said. "As there is really no way to keep e-mails private in today's electronic age, I felt this was an important change if the legislature were to truly give the public a right to know, and I'm pleased it's in there."

The bill also would set up a clearinghouse within the Department of Community and Economic Development to facilitate record requests by the public, and offer an appeals process if the request is denied. Requests also would be able to be made to each agency's open records officer, who would have to follow a specific timeframe and process for each request.