Change to ‘legal ad’ rule may cloud sunshine, public advocates say
By Steve McConnell
Wayne Independent
A bill that some say will undermine transparency in government throughout the Commonwealth’s towns and school districts is under consideration at the State Capitol.
Sponsored by state Sen. Robert D. Robbins, a western Pa. legislator, the bill would allow local governments to post meeting notices, budgets, construction bids, contract offers, zoning changes and proposed new laws on government-maintained websites, rather than in a newspaper as required by law.
According to the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, this would disenfranchise 30 percent of Pennsylvania residents who lack Internet access, yet have the right-to-know about property tax increases or government meetings that could alter the face of a community.
“It’s just wrong,” said Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel with the association. “It’s poor public policy - period.”
The Wayne Independent’s Tuesday edition, for example, contained two upcoming government meeting notices and a township’s request for an expensive contract, among others.
If passed by state legislators, Senate Bill 419 could erase all future public notices - legal ads - from newspapers, allowing governments to opt for online posts instead.
Robbins, R-50, did not return a call seeking comment by press time.
The bill would, in effect, create a scattered array of separate public notice websites, maintained by each government.
State law currently requires governments to publish public notices in newspapers. Failure to do so can nullify certain agreements.
Melewsky said newspapers act as an independent party that verifies that notices are published in a timely fashion and in accordance with public right-to-know laws.
“I am opposed to this change because it removes independent oversight of the information from the process,” said Steve Fountain, publisher of The Wayne Independent. “If the government is able to post legal notices to a website on its own, it controls the entire distribution and dissemination of information."
Additionally, some newspapers already publish public notices on their websites and also on www.MyPublicNotices.com, a collaboration of participating newspapers.
Proponents of the bill say it will save local governments money, since newspapers charge a fee for publishing the notices.
A Pennsylvania Newspaper Association search of public records discovered that newspaper-based public notices amount to less than half-of-one-percent of a government’s annual expenditures.
The Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, a local government advocacy group based in Harrisburg, did not return a message seeking comment about how much governments would save each year by operating - or contracting out - its own public notice website.
The loss of revenue could impact the state newspaper industry.
“Robbins’ bill, if it passes, will hurt newspapers, certainly. More people will lose their jobs and those people pay taxes and live in the municipalities that pay for public notices,” wrote The Herald, a newspaper based in that legislator’s district.
State Sen. Lisa Baker, who represents Wayne County and serves on a senate committee that will soon decide the merits of the bill before it goes to a full Senate vote, did not return a call for comment by press time.
The bill was introduced in previous legislative sessions, but it has been repeatedly struck down.
In January, state lawmakers heralded a new right-to-know law that eased citizen access to government information.
State newspaper editorials are calling this bill a reversal of that law’s intent, since pinching public notices out of newspapers limits a citizen’s right-to-know about government proceedings from a reliable source.
Wayne Independent
A bill that some say will undermine transparency in government throughout the Commonwealth’s towns and school districts is under consideration at the State Capitol.
Sponsored by state Sen. Robert D. Robbins, a western Pa. legislator, the bill would allow local governments to post meeting notices, budgets, construction bids, contract offers, zoning changes and proposed new laws on government-maintained websites, rather than in a newspaper as required by law.
According to the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, this would disenfranchise 30 percent of Pennsylvania residents who lack Internet access, yet have the right-to-know about property tax increases or government meetings that could alter the face of a community.
“It’s just wrong,” said Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel with the association. “It’s poor public policy - period.”
The Wayne Independent’s Tuesday edition, for example, contained two upcoming government meeting notices and a township’s request for an expensive contract, among others.
If passed by state legislators, Senate Bill 419 could erase all future public notices - legal ads - from newspapers, allowing governments to opt for online posts instead.
Robbins, R-50, did not return a call seeking comment by press time.
The bill would, in effect, create a scattered array of separate public notice websites, maintained by each government.
State law currently requires governments to publish public notices in newspapers. Failure to do so can nullify certain agreements.
Melewsky said newspapers act as an independent party that verifies that notices are published in a timely fashion and in accordance with public right-to-know laws.
“I am opposed to this change because it removes independent oversight of the information from the process,” said Steve Fountain, publisher of The Wayne Independent. “If the government is able to post legal notices to a website on its own, it controls the entire distribution and dissemination of information."
Additionally, some newspapers already publish public notices on their websites and also on www.MyPublicNotices.com, a collaboration of participating newspapers.
Proponents of the bill say it will save local governments money, since newspapers charge a fee for publishing the notices.
A Pennsylvania Newspaper Association search of public records discovered that newspaper-based public notices amount to less than half-of-one-percent of a government’s annual expenditures.
The Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, a local government advocacy group based in Harrisburg, did not return a message seeking comment about how much governments would save each year by operating - or contracting out - its own public notice website.
The loss of revenue could impact the state newspaper industry.
“Robbins’ bill, if it passes, will hurt newspapers, certainly. More people will lose their jobs and those people pay taxes and live in the municipalities that pay for public notices,” wrote The Herald, a newspaper based in that legislator’s district.
State Sen. Lisa Baker, who represents Wayne County and serves on a senate committee that will soon decide the merits of the bill before it goes to a full Senate vote, did not return a call for comment by press time.
The bill was introduced in previous legislative sessions, but it has been repeatedly struck down.
In January, state lawmakers heralded a new right-to-know law that eased citizen access to government information.
State newspaper editorials are calling this bill a reversal of that law’s intent, since pinching public notices out of newspapers limits a citizen’s right-to-know about government proceedings from a reliable source.
