Pennsylvania transparency legislation
Transparency legislation in Pennsylvania.
- See sample transparency legislation at the Sunshine Standard
2011
Here is a list of transparency legislation for Pennsylvania in 2011:
 | House Bill 108 | Current Status: (Referred to State Government Committee) | 
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House Bill 108, introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Richard Geist which would increase public access to procurement information through public records law. The governing body would be required to post on their website any written determination made by the contracting officer five business days prior to executing the contract.
[1]
 | House Bill 215 | Current Status: (Referred to Judiciary Committee) | 
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House Bill 215, introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Matthew Baker which would prohibit the disclosure of birth dates under the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law. It would also allow parties to seek redress if their birth date was shared under the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law. [2]
| House Bill 364 | Current Status: (Referred to State Government Committee) |
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House Bill 364, introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Rosemarie Swanger which would add the home address of a law enforcement agency employee to the list of records that cannot be obtained under public records law. [3]
| House Bill 485 | Current Status: (Referred to State Government Committee) |
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House Bill 485, introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Rob Kauffman which would prohibit any person who has been convicted of a felony offense from requesting records from the Department of Corrections. It would also extended the period of time allowed for a records request that falls under this qualification to allow for research. [4]
| Senate Bill 123 | Current Status: (Referred to State Government Committee) | 
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Senate Bill 123, introduced to the Senate by Senator Anthony Williams which would require state higher education institutions to create a report to be submitted annually to the Governor's Office, the General Assembly, the Auditor General and the State Library. This report would also be made available on the university website. [5]
| Senate Bill 247 | Current Status: (Referred to State Government Committee) |
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Senate Bill 247, introduced to the Senate by Senator Dominic Pileggi which would create open records rules for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, allow for redaction of any agency's banking information, and adjusts the time periods allowed for public agencies to respond to requests based on the form of submission. [6]
| Senate Bill 323 | Current Status: (Referred to Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure Committee) |
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Senate Bill 323, introduced to the Senate by Senator Robert "Tommy" Tomlinson which would provide punishment and prohibit the unlawful procurement, sale or receipt of telephone records. It would allow for law enforcement and other government agencies to utilize phone records in emergency situations but otherwise forbid phone companies from giving information out without the consent of the customer. It would also require telephone companies to set up systems to protect customer information from being shared. [7]
| Senate Bill 361 | Current Status: (Referred to Public Health & Welfare Committee) |
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Senate Bill 361, introduced to the Senate by Senator Bob Robbins which would make birth records public after 100 years and death records public after 50 years. These records would be maintained by the state archives. [8]
| Senate Bill 551 | Current Status: (Referred to State Government Committee) |
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Senate Bill 551, introduced to the Senate by Senator Edwin Erickson which would create rules for "commercial purpose" of obtaining records, but would disclude scholarly, scientific or other non-profit research. This bill would also make a minor change to the fees allowed under public records requests which would be a quarter hourly rate plus 20% for commercial records requests. [9]
| Senate Bill 625 | Current Status: (Referred to State Government Committee) |
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Senate Bill 625, introduced to the Senate by Senator Edwin Erickson which would establish the Pennsylvania Public Integrity Commission whose duties would include investigating corruption in all levels of government. The commission would then be required submit reports of corruption to a joint commission of the House and Senate Judiciary committees in an open session. The commission's opinions would be a matter of public record and could be published periodically but may be requested to have identifying information redacted by involved parties. These opinions would be published and sent free of charge to each county's law library. The commission would be required to hold two public meetings a year, at least one of which would be outside Harrisburg. Economic Interest forms created by the commission would be considered public records open to inspection. [10]
| Senate Bill 864 | Current Status: (Referred to State Government Committee) |
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Senate Bill 864, introduced to the Senate by Senator Jay Costa which would add birth date to the list of redacted or exempted records. [11]
2010
We do not currently have any legislation from Pennsylvania in 2010. To add some, please see WikiProject Proposed state sunshine legislation.
2009-2010
- Pennsylvania House Bill 1460 (aka "PennWatch") would create an online spending database. It was introduced in May 2009.[1]
- Pennsylvania Senate Bill 105 (the "Pennsylvania Taxpayer Transparency Act") would create an online spending database. It was passed by the Pennsylvania Senate June 1, 2009.[2]
- SB 107 Pennsylvania Governmental Salary Information Act This bill would require the state Treasurer to post salary information for all state employees on a public website.
- SB 101 Increasing Penalties for Sunshine Laws violations
- SB 109 Taxpayer-funded advertising disclosure
- SB 110 Improving Information in state plane logs
Legislative Cost Reduction Package includes House Bill's 1056, 1057, 1058, 1059, and 1061 was introduced on March 24th, 2009 by PA State Representative Schroder.
- Pennsylvania House Bill 1056 would essentially return Pennsylvania back to a part-time legislature, saving taxpayers $12.8 million.
- Pennsylvania House Bill 1057 would would achieve additional savings through the elimination of cost of living increases, meritorious raises or other salary increases for members of the General Assembly. Reprsentative Schroder says the wage freeze would save the state as much as $3.5 million this year alone.
- Pennsylvania House Bill 1058 would annually transfer unspent or uncommitted funding contained in legislative accounts to the state Treasury. These accounts currently contain surpluses of about $200 million.
- Pennsylvania House Bill 1059 would eliminate discretionary grants, also known as walking around money or WAMs. It is estimated this move would save taxpayers up to $600 million annually.
- Pennsylvania House Bill 1061 would change the pension system for state legislators who take office after Dec. 1, 2010, to a defined contribution plan. This investment plan would be structured to provide cost savings over the long term for lawmakers.
See also
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State of Pennsylvania Harrisburg (capital) |
|---|---|
| Transparency |
Right to Know Law | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | Transparency blogs | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations | |
| Divisions |
State |
List of Counties |
List of Cities |
List of School Districts | |
| Government |
Pennsylvania State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate | |
| Judiciary |
Pennsylvania Supreme Court | Commonwealth Court | Superior Court | Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas | Judicial news | Judicial selection in Pennsylvania | |
| Ballot Measures |
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