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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Tony Payton |
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Payton votes to open records of legislature,
bring more transparency to government
HARRISBURG, Dec. 12 – The House today passed a revamped version of Senate open records legislation, state Rep. Tony Payton said, that would make the state legislature subject to the state’s open records law for the first time.
The House version also would give the public access to more records. It would flip the current presumption in state law that records are private unless specifically indicated to a presumption that records from all branches of state and local government are public, unless specifically exempted.
“It’s pretty simple: taxpayers paid for those records and they should be able to see them,” said Payton, D-Phila. “I think that by giving citizens access to these documents, some trust in the government will be restored. That was my goal when I ran for the legislature and I am very happy we were able to send this over to the Senate today and move on with other important reforms including health care and education.
“We’re here to serve the public and help them obtain whatever information we rightfully can. Citizens who did not have the resources or the time to pursue a claim that information was public are now in a much better position to check in on their government’s doings.”
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. It would create a state office to assist residents seeking public records and streamline the appeals process for people denied access to records.
Payton explained the intent behind creating an independent Public Records Office was to ensure public record access will be upheld and the law be interpreted uniformly throughout the state.
The bill (S.B. 1) now goes back to the Senate for agreement.
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CONTACT: Ann Collis |