Charging fees would limit citizens' access to information
By Brad Bumsted
(Pittsburgh) TRIBUNE-REVIEW
HARRISBURG -- Jennifer Hara, a mother of four who drives a school bus, worries about bills pending before the General Assembly that would make it harder to access government records at a time when many Pennsylvanians are challenging gas drilling.
"Any degradation of the Right to Know laws would hurt efforts to get more information on Marcellus shale," said Hara of Enola, during a recent gathering about property owners' rights on the huge natural gas formation in Pennsylvania.
A Senate-passed bill would allow governments to charge people for reviewing records, even if they do not request copies. The Senate bill allows local governments to charge up to half of the 25-cents per page copying fee for records people request but do not copy.
A 2009 report by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records found that citizens filed 90 percent of open records requests.
"I'm going to run up a million-dollar bill and see if someone wants to try and collect that," said government watchdog Gene Stilp of Harrisburg.
The Senate bill and a separate House bill, which would delete birth dates and addresses from public records, appear to be dormant for the remainder of this legislative session.
"I think it is an issue for next session," said Senate Republican spokesman Erik Arneson. The Senate is scheduled to adjourn Thursday, and House members remain "on call."
Hara believes people increasingly will seek records from the state and local governments on gas drilling, as it picks up in Pennsylvania. Taxpayers cover state and local government officials' salaries and don't need to pay for records they don't copy, Hara said.
Arneson's boss, Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester County, the majority leader, sponsored 2008 revisions to the Right to Know law. In September, Pileggi filed proposed revisions to the law, based on comments from groups such as local government officials, Arneson said.
First Amendment activists agree there are some positive provisions in Pileggi's new bill. Requiring government agencies to provide records in a specific computer format, such as an Excel spreadsheet, is a needed change, said Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition.
But the proposed fee to look at records is a step backward, DeBourbon said, noting, "I believe the intent of this is to deter people from making requests to look at voluminous amounts of records."
Arneson said many agencies wanted to be able to charge a fee for locating records. The Senate opted not to do that and, as an alternative, proposed the half-rate fee for reviewing records, he said.
Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair, said he didn't give the Right to Know bills much consideration this session because they appeared to be "show-and-tell legislation."
"I believe the beginning of our new legislative session with our new governor (in January) is a perfect time to do a complete evaluation on lessons learned since the law was enacted," Maher said.
(Pittsburgh) TRIBUNE-REVIEW
HARRISBURG -- Jennifer Hara, a mother of four who drives a school bus, worries about bills pending before the General Assembly that would make it harder to access government records at a time when many Pennsylvanians are challenging gas drilling.
"Any degradation of the Right to Know laws would hurt efforts to get more information on Marcellus shale," said Hara of Enola, during a recent gathering about property owners' rights on the huge natural gas formation in Pennsylvania.
A Senate-passed bill would allow governments to charge people for reviewing records, even if they do not request copies. The Senate bill allows local governments to charge up to half of the 25-cents per page copying fee for records people request but do not copy.
A 2009 report by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records found that citizens filed 90 percent of open records requests.
"I'm going to run up a million-dollar bill and see if someone wants to try and collect that," said government watchdog Gene Stilp of Harrisburg.
The Senate bill and a separate House bill, which would delete birth dates and addresses from public records, appear to be dormant for the remainder of this legislative session.
"I think it is an issue for next session," said Senate Republican spokesman Erik Arneson. The Senate is scheduled to adjourn Thursday, and House members remain "on call."
Hara believes people increasingly will seek records from the state and local governments on gas drilling, as it picks up in Pennsylvania. Taxpayers cover state and local government officials' salaries and don't need to pay for records they don't copy, Hara said.
Arneson's boss, Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester County, the majority leader, sponsored 2008 revisions to the Right to Know law. In September, Pileggi filed proposed revisions to the law, based on comments from groups such as local government officials, Arneson said.
First Amendment activists agree there are some positive provisions in Pileggi's new bill. Requiring government agencies to provide records in a specific computer format, such as an Excel spreadsheet, is a needed change, said Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition.
But the proposed fee to look at records is a step backward, DeBourbon said, noting, "I believe the intent of this is to deter people from making requests to look at voluminous amounts of records."
Arneson said many agencies wanted to be able to charge a fee for locating records. The Senate opted not to do that and, as an alternative, proposed the half-rate fee for reviewing records, he said.
Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair, said he didn't give the Right to Know bills much consideration this session because they appeared to be "show-and-tell legislation."
"I believe the beginning of our new legislative session with our new governor (in January) is a perfect time to do a complete evaluation on lessons learned since the law was enacted," Maher said.
