News roundup
Nov 8th, 2007 by dani_k
We aren’t the only ones declaring HB 443 a mess. This week, papers all over the state were abuzz over HB 443 and other open records issues.
On Saturday, the Lewistown Sentinel said that HB 443 “will make it harder than ever to hold public officials and agencies accountable for their decisions and spending.”
On Sunday, the Carlisle Sentinel’s Hope Stephan wrote that lawmakers need to clean up their open-records mess. That same day, the Chambersburg Public Opinion said 443 is worse than the current law.
On Monday, the Sunbury Daily Item editorialized that HB 443 is a “Right-to-Hide-Law,” calling it “a flop of exemptions.”
That same day, the Easton Express Times spoofed an email from a lawmaker to a casino backer that illustrates why emails shouldn’t be exempted from the open records bill:
From: icanbebought@yourlawmaker.com
To: deeppockets@casinopusher.com
Dear Deep:
It took some arm-twisting but the slots bill has been approved. Somehow we managed to convince enough gullible property owners that gambling will generate loads of dough for tax relief when you and I both know it will do little more than line the pockets of big corporations like you and crooked politicians like me.
If you’re wondering why I’m writing about our cozy little arrangement so openly it’s because we plan, eventually, to approve a new open records law that officially shields all of our e-mails from public review.
Now that’s an open records law I will support. Openly.
HA. HA. HA.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agrees, saying the botching of HB 443 is business as usual in Harrisburg, and the Pottsville Republican & Herald says the House gutted HB 443.
Finally, if you haven’t seen it already, Angela Couloumbis of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about the e-mail exemption in HB 443 - which would make Pennsylvania the only state in the nation to do so.
“To have a blanket exemption based on the form of a document, like e-mail, that’s just outright lunacy,” said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, an open-records advocacy group that has compiled information on all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“That kind of all-or-nothing exemption just opens the door to abuse,” she said.
Our efforts have started to gain momentum around the blogosphere outside of Pennsylvania, as well.
Besides Pittsburgh’s The Busman’s Holiday, Massachusetts’ Death by Email Blog (Nov. 8 item) and Family Tree Magazine’s Genealogy Insider blog have all noticed the glaring email exemption in HB 443.