The “Mother of all reform”
Sep 26th, 2007 by dani_k
Kind of has a ring to it, doesn’t it? That’s what Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, called open records reform in his speech to the PA Press Club yesterday. The full text of his speech is available at Capitolwire.com, which is a subscriber service, but you can sign up for a free trial subscription here. The Uniontown Herald-Standard also filed a story on Shapiro’s Press Club speech, where he also said he “will not support any bill that will not include the Legislature under the new law.”
Shapiro called for the House to “get open records done.” We applaud him for his encouraging words, but can’t reiterate enough to Pennsylvanians that we need you to contact your elected officials about open records!
It’s sad, but open records aren’t a particularly ’sexy’ issue. Unless you’re an accountant, budgets probably don’t get you going. There’s no poster child, no blood and guts, no single unifying call - it’s not even about the “right” or the “left”. Sadly, when most citizens think about open records, they think of boring, innocuous files - in other words, documents that would only appeal to those who regularly attend township meetings. And in many instances, public records are boring and innocuous.
But there are other instances that blow the plain-jane, everyday records out of the water.
Think a little deeper, then, about recent PA news: The pay raise, PHEAA retreats and bonuses, (initial) failure to release bridge safety information - all stories based on public records which made Pennsylvanians stand up and say, “We have a right to know!”
So spread the word - to your friends, neighbors and your public officials - that open records are important to you, Pennsylvania, and the future of reform. As the Williamsport Sun-Gazette pointed out, open records reform is “embarassingly overdue.”