4 for the 4th
Jul 4th, 2007 by JamieB
Independence Day seems like a good time to pause and see where we are with regard to a change in Pennsylvania’s open records law. This blog has pushed for getting broad legislative acceptance of the core principles as a first step; and that seems to be happening. Don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day, the devil will be in the details of wording, exceptions. I agree with Veblen that it is all too easy to pay lip service to proclamations of principle – which will ultimately be meaningless mouthings unless they are followed by concrete and substantive changes. But I also believe that having public leaders on record in support of essential change is a prerequisite to negotiations because those principles are the foundation on which open records reform must be built. The four issues on which we have focused have not changed (and we welcome additions to the list).
1. They’re our records. It seems redundant to point out that the public owns the public records – and yet the people who enacted Pennsylvania’s original “Right to Know Law” in 1957 and those who amended it in 2002 didn’t seem to think so. In fact, the presumption is that looking at these records is a privilege not a right. That is why “flipping the presumption” has been the focus of so much effort.
2. This is a public issue. This is not a fight between the nosey press and public servants. Reporters don’t have any more – or less – right to see public records than anyone else, and it’s worth remembering that the reason they want the information is, not to keep it secret, but to make it public.
3. The legislature’s records are public records. The current law does not cover the records of Pennsylvania’s representatives and senators – the people we elect to do the public business on our behalf. That needs to change.
4. Show us the money. So often the issue comes down to money because too often that’s what people are trying to hide.
If we can get agreement on those principles, and we are vigilant in ensuring that they become the firm basis for the negotiation of specifics, I believe we can get a good right-to-know law in Pennsylvania. We certainly have nowhere to go but up.