passopenrecords.org

The following letter from Rep. Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) appeared in Friday’s Delaware County Daily Times and Philadelphia Inquirer:

When I was a prosecutor in Philadelphia, I followed a simple formula when it came to sharing information with the defense: Whether the information hurt my case or not, I turned it over. In our system of public justice, the district attorney’s case file had to be an open book.

The same is true of our state government. With more than $26 billion in public money being spent every year, it is important that our public records be truly public. For years in Pennsylvania, accessing public records - particularly the legislature’s expenditures - has been difficult. In most cases, citizens had to prove to the government why they had a right to see a public record. The result has been an increasing distrust of our government and skepticism of the motives of our political leaders.

Recently, the state House of Representatives took a major step toward opening up our government. In late November, the Senate sent to the House an open-records bill (S.B. 1) that contained numerous exceptions and loopholes. The Democratic majority in the House strengthened this bill and passed a measure that could make Pennsylvania a leader in open government.

Here are some highlights of what the House bill would do:

• Open our own doors. The legislature - for the first time - would be subject to the open-records law. Legislative exceptions are common across the United States. In fact, Congress is exempt from the federal Freedom of Information Act.

• Lift the burden. Currently in Pennsylvania, the burden is on the requester to establish that a record is “public.” Under this bill, the reverse would be true: The presumption would be that records held by state and local agencies are accessible to the public. From there, we would identify specific categories of records that would be “nonpublic.” The Pennsylvania Newspapers Association, Common Cause and the American Civil Liberties Union endorse this approach.

• Unify the process. The legislation would apply to public information held by the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government, as well as government boards, agencies and authorities at the local level. The legislation would set up a Public Records Office in the State Ethics Commission to assist residents seeking public records and create a uniform appeals process for people who are denied access to records.

Financial accountability pertains to all branches of state government. When people know what is going on in government - when they can see what is being spent and where it is being spent, they will have more faith that their tax dollars are being invested wisely.