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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Tim Mahoney |
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Mahoney’s historic open records bill voted out of House committee
HARRISBURG, Nov. 28 – The House State Government Committee today approved a bill sponsored by state Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Fayette, which would vastly expand and improve Pennsylvania’s Open Records law and provide state residents with easier access to more government records at both the state and municipal government levels.
Mahoney’s legislation (H.B. 2072) would exempt fewer documents from public scrutiny than a previous open records bill did, and would impose stricter enforcement provisions. It would set up an office in the Department of Community and Economic Development to assist residents in disputes over public records requests.
“This measure more closely reflects the legislation I originally introduced,” Mahoney said. “The people of Pennsylvania are entitled to have better access to public records. For far too long, taxpayers have been denied access when they try to find out where and how their tax dollars are being spent.”
Mahoney said the legislation would, for the first time, subject the legislature and judicial records to the state open records law. In doing so, it would go farther than a similar Senate open records bill by requiring the legislature to prove records are not public. The House bill would also streamline the process for residents to access state and local records and presume government records at all levels are open to public scrutiny with limited exceptions.
In June, the House Speaker’s Commission on Legislative Reform unanimously recommended 33 legislative reforms, including Mahoney’s proposal, included in this legislation, that all state and local government records, including those of the state legislature, should be considered open to the public review, except when exempted by law. Mahoney is the lone freshman Democrat on the reform commission.
Shortly after being sworn into office, Mahoney introduced open records legislation to give state residents more access to government records and to create an agency to help the public access those records. That legislation was significantly watered down by the amendment process. Mahoney said his new bill more closely reflects his original proposal.
The Fayette County legislator said he is confident that the new open records bill will be considered by the full House when the legislature returns to session in December.
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