HARRISBURG – Two bills to update Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law, the key statute governing transparency in state government, were passed by the Senate State Government Committee today, according to committee chairman Senator David G. Argall (R-29).
“Every Pennsylvanian should be able to easily access information about how their state government is operating,” said Senator Argall. “The committee has been working all summer to find a bipartisan compromise to strengthen the Right-to-Know Law, and today’s votes are the result of those efforts.”
Senate Bill 492, sponsored by Senator Doug Mastriano (R-33), and House Bill 2524, sponsored by Rep. Louis Schmitt (R-79), now head to the Senate for its consideration.
The Senate State Government Committee held a public hearing in June on updates to the Right-to-Know law that featured testimony from a variety of groups that would be affected by the changes including the Pennsylvania News Media Association, local government groups, school boards, and the Office of Open Records.
The committee also advanced Senate Bill 1292 by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 11-0. This bill would ban a member of a county board of elections from serving as state chair of a political party. Senator Wayne Langerholc (R-35), the prime sponsor of the bill, introduced this proposal to eliminate a clear conflict of interest from our elections.
Contact: Jim Brugger
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