In January 2007, Senator Dominic Pileggi stood before the Pennsylvania Press Club and announced his plan to rewrite our state’s Right-to-Know Law. At the time, few people suspected just how successful that effort would be – in fact, there’s no question that many doubted it would go anywhere at all.
But, Senator Pileggi’s Senate Bill 1 was signed by Governor Ed Rendell just one year later, and Pennsylvania entered a new era of government transparency.
Under this new Right-to-Know Law, also known as the Open Records Law, all government records are presumed to be available for public inspection. If a government agency wants to withhold a record from the public, it must prove the record is exempt from disclosure.
When I worked with Senator Pileggi on SB1, we knew it would be a game-changer in terms of public access to records in Pennsylvania. I don’t think either of us understood exactly how successful it would be.
The Right-to-Know Law has been wildly successful on two fronts: First, getting government records into the hands of citizens. Second, serving as a catalyst for a dramatic transformation of government’s relationship with the public.
The creation of the Office of Open Records (OOR) was a centerpiece of the law. The OOR, an independent agency, hears appeals from citizens who have been denied access to government records. The process is simple by design – the vast majority of people appealing to our office do so without needing a lawyer.
It would be impractical to compile statistics showing every Right-to-Know request received by the thousands of agencies across the state. But we do have statistics from the OOR, where more than 11,000 appeals have been decided since the office opened on January 1, 2009.
Based on the OOR’s caseload of 11,000 appeals, it’s a short logical leap to estimate that more than 100,000 records have been released by government agencies since the new Right-to-Know Law went into effect.
That’s an incredible number worth repeating: More than 100,000 records have been released during the past seven years.
The OOR is also a place for agencies to turn when they have questions about the law. We get those questions every day, and I’m encouraged by what we’re hearing.
More and more agencies are asking questions like, “What’s the most efficient way to make these records available?” rather than looking for ways to withhold records. Agencies across the state are posting more and more records online, providing immediate access – and saving the agency time and money in the long run.
Senator Pileggi is currently working on amendments, in the form of Senate Bill 411, which will make the Right-to-Know Law even better for both requesters and agencies. As the Executive Director of the Office of Open Records, I fully support his efforts.
Judge Damon Keith, now a Senior Judge for the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, once said, “Democracies die behind closed doors.”
He’s right. Here in Pennsylvania, the Right-to-Know Law is doing its part to ensure that democracy is alive and well. I’m grateful to Senator Pileggi for his willingness to take up this important issue – and his determination to see it through.
Erik Arneson is the Executive Director of the Office of Open Records in Harrisburg. Previously, he was Communications & Policy Director for Senator Pileggi and helped write Senate Bill 1.
