passopenrecords.org

Sen. Pileggi editorialized on open records in the Allentown Morning Call, saying strengthening open records laws is his “top legislative priority.” We hope that the Senate will push his, or Sen. Ferlo’s, yet-to-be-amended bills through. An interesting point, though, is that Sen. Ferlo said last Saturday that he hasn’t received any calls or emails from his constituents - and we can’t reiterate enough how important it is to let your legislators know how important this issue is to you. In fact, it’s probably the best thing that you, as an open records supporter, can do to help reform efforts. To find your legislator, enter your ZIP code in the box on the top right side on this site.

Last Friday, the Philadelphia Daily News ran a story on the Penn-Delco school district. Apparently, the district is in a little bit of turmoil - and the paper has “uncovered evidence this week of falsified public records maintained by the district’s business office - a violation of the state ethics act that could result in criminal charges.”

Jim Parsons of WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, who I wrote about earlier this week, ran a story detailing WTAE’s struggles with the State’s Right-to-Know law. It’s encouraging that six of the local government entities they approached got a “gold star” for compliance, but nearly as many agencies refused to cooperate. Many people see the PHEAA stories or the pay raise stories and get upset, but never connect the dots and realize that these are open records issues.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Washington County’s online records system. “We have had no complaints,” said Washington County Prothonotary Phyllis Ranko Matheny. “We are really happy with it.”

In Chambersburg, the Public Opinion obtained expense reports from the House and Senate Chiefs’ Clerk Office to tally expenses for local lawmakers. They also editorialized, once again, that Chambersburg Borough’s restaurant inspections should be public.

In a “what’s to come in the fall session” preview by the Sunbury Daily Item, they cite open records reform as one of the most important items on the legislative agenda.