Apr 5, 2007 3 min read

State Rep. H. William DeWeese, the Waynesburg Democrat who serves as House majority leader, has finally come around and signed on as a consponsor of much-needed open records reform legislation crafted by state Rep. Timothy S. Mahoney. To that we say, “Better late than never.” While it’s not immediately clear what prompted DeWeese’s change in thinking since late February, when Mahoney introduced his bill with 46 cosponsors, there is no doubt that adding his clout to the effort could have a very positive effect. We suspect that Mahoney and DeWeese have had some interesting and perhaps intense conversations in this regard, but the end result is what really matters.

For a one-time staunch supporter of the 2005 pay raise, who reveled for far too long in way too many taxpayer-subsidized perquisites – including a paid driver – DeWeese continues to show us glimpses that he’s gotten the reform message. In words once unfathomable to imagine coming from his lips, DeWeese in a Tuesday press release said, “It’s time that we revisit Pennsylvania’s open records law so that the public has easier access to state information.

“Part of my job as the House majority leader is to garner bipartisan support for legislation that our chamber intends to move forward. To that end, I already have asked senior members of the House Democratic Caucus and senior staffers in my office to work with Rep. Mahoney on refining his proposal.”

After the state budget is passed, DeWeese plans to set aside an entire day for House Democrats to discuss Mahoney’s bill and competing proposals, including one from Gov. Ed Rendell and one from state Sen. Dominic Pileggi. However, the jury remains out on this consensus-garnering effort, as no one knows at this point what kind of consensus will develop.

For example, Mahoney and Rendell support legislation that would make a presumption that a record is public, defining certain narrow exceptions. That’s clearly the favored way to go, removing from the public the need to take a matter to court to get a favorable ruling on records that new legislation does not specifically enumerate as open. Pileggi, who serves as Senate Republican leader, would keep an existing legal presumption that records are private unless they are specifically deemed open by legislation. That’s a bad idea.

The work’s not over, not by a long shot. We’ll be watching and assessing all key provisions of all proposed open records legislation, to make sure that any new law is crafted in such a way that it does the maximum good for the public that it’s intended to serve. We’ll be looking for – and pointing out – loopholes and barriers, and attempts to water down effectiveness in the name of compromise.

That said, we are pleased to see that DeWeese has philosophically joined the battle led by Mahoney and those consponsors he’d already lined up. We expect DeWeese to wield the clout of his leadership position to do maximum good on this important issue. For now, we commend his change of heart, keeping in mind that deeds always speak louder than words.