Mahoney keeping his word
When he was running for the state legislature last year, Timothy S. Mahoney pledged to be a champion of open government and a strong catalyst for reforming the state Legislature. That’s one of the main reasons we endorsed his candidacy. In a Wednesday press conference in Harrisburg, surrounded by several of his 46 cosponsors, Mahoney unveiled his 34-page open records bill. That the Fayette County Democrat would take such an important step in only his second month in office- and that his bill leaves the starting blocks with nearly one-quarter of the Legislature, Republicans and Democrats, on board – speaks volumes about the appetite for reform and Mahoney’s ability to enlist the help of others to get something done. Each and every one of those cosponsors – including state Reps. Peter J. Daley II, Deberah Kula and Ted Harhai, who represent parts of Fayette County – deserve commendation for stepping up to the proverbial plate.
While the Speaker’s Reform Commission currently formulates proposed changes to internal House rules, work that’s supposed to conclude with a set of recommendations by March 12, Mahoney’s bill provides an excellent blueprint for the commission’s next task, which is updating and expanding the state’s notoriously weak open records law.
Citizens should be aware of an important distinction between the two: House rules are more readily subject to change and are comparatively informal. A new state law would be far more binding and meaningful in the long run, especially within the framework laid out by Mahoney, which starts with the critical assumption that all records are public. Current law presumes that they are private, with exceptions made for those considered public.
Mahoney’s bill would also create a “Commonwealth Office of Public Records” to serve as a clearinghouse for records requests involving state agencies and the Legislature, the latter of which would be subject to the open records law for the first time.
A third key element, among many others, is that Mahoney’s bill would make information available in electronic format, eliminating a big barrier that exists today because the House and Senate only make paper records available. For instance, when House Speaker Dennis O’Brien made public the full list of 1,800 House employees and their salaries, it was on paper. Reporters who want to break down that information for you have to do loads of unnecessary work by hand in order to list who works for whom.
The bill isn’t perfect, and quite frankly a provision restricting access to public records for “commercial purposes” with the public agency able to seek damages for “misuse of public records” makes no sense. Who would get to determine whether a public record was used for an improper purpose?
But on balance, the bill has infinitely more good than bad. It’s worth using as a template for whatever bill is eventually enacted in Harrisburg. Mahoney has so far followed through on his word, and we should be proud that a Fayette Countian is leading the charge on this important issue.