Open-records chief pleads for more money
June 30, 2009 Office of Open Records | Terry Mutchler
BY CHARLES THOMPSON
The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News
The director of the state's Office of Open Records is trying to keep the office that was last year's legislative prize from suffering a painful budget cut.
Gov. Ed Rendell's revised spending plan for the budget year starting Wednesday, released Friday, included a 25 percent cut to his earlier proposal of $1.34 million for Open Records.
Rendell now proposes $1 million for the office, the same as this year's budget, which, is a lot better than many other state institutions have fared this year, proponents of the cut say.
But to Terry Mutchler, the office's executive director, that feels like a loss, given that the office was created last fall and only hit its full staffing complement of nine in May.
Without more money, Mutchler said Monday, she might be forced to cut personnel. That would significantly harm the office's ability to handle appeals under the Right-to-Know Law and cause some to be automatically dismissed for lack of action by the 30-day deadline, she said.
In addition, the office might not be able to defend some of those decisions that get appealed to court, she said.
"None of these things will be able to happen at an appropriate level if these numbers stick," said Mutchler, who is taking her case to lawmakers. "Lawmakers and the governor have repeatedly said they want open government in the commonwealth. ... The money doesn't fully support that mission."
The tough part for Mutchler's battle is that some of the office's top patrons appear to back the cut.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware County, a prime sponsor of the open-records law, voted for the Senate Republicans' budget bill, which would keep the Open Records funding at $1 million.
"In an ideal world, we would be able to increase funding," Pileggi said. "Unfortunately, addressing the $3.2 billion revenue shortfall requires many difficult choices. I have confidence in the office's ability to stretch available funding as far as possible."
Rendell, who signed last year's bill into law, essentially adopted the Senate's proposal in his revised plan.
"Those who view this reduction as undermining this administration's commitment to openness and transparency could not be more mistaken," said Rendell's spokesman Chuck Ardo. "It is a recognition of the need to share the pain and nothing more than that."
The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News
The director of the state's Office of Open Records is trying to keep the office that was last year's legislative prize from suffering a painful budget cut.
Gov. Ed Rendell's revised spending plan for the budget year starting Wednesday, released Friday, included a 25 percent cut to his earlier proposal of $1.34 million for Open Records.
Rendell now proposes $1 million for the office, the same as this year's budget, which, is a lot better than many other state institutions have fared this year, proponents of the cut say.
But to Terry Mutchler, the office's executive director, that feels like a loss, given that the office was created last fall and only hit its full staffing complement of nine in May.
Without more money, Mutchler said Monday, she might be forced to cut personnel. That would significantly harm the office's ability to handle appeals under the Right-to-Know Law and cause some to be automatically dismissed for lack of action by the 30-day deadline, she said.
In addition, the office might not be able to defend some of those decisions that get appealed to court, she said.
"None of these things will be able to happen at an appropriate level if these numbers stick," said Mutchler, who is taking her case to lawmakers. "Lawmakers and the governor have repeatedly said they want open government in the commonwealth. ... The money doesn't fully support that mission."
The tough part for Mutchler's battle is that some of the office's top patrons appear to back the cut.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware County, a prime sponsor of the open-records law, voted for the Senate Republicans' budget bill, which would keep the Open Records funding at $1 million.
"In an ideal world, we would be able to increase funding," Pileggi said. "Unfortunately, addressing the $3.2 billion revenue shortfall requires many difficult choices. I have confidence in the office's ability to stretch available funding as far as possible."
Rendell, who signed last year's bill into law, essentially adopted the Senate's proposal in his revised plan.
"Those who view this reduction as undermining this administration's commitment to openness and transparency could not be more mistaken," said Rendell's spokesman Chuck Ardo. "It is a recognition of the need to share the pain and nothing more than that."
