open-records

COMMENTARY

The unseen cost of healthcare transparency bill: Partner notifications would be public | Opinion

BY: - October 20, 2021

Making that information public will discourage people from getting tested for HIV, other STIs, making it harder to stop the spread of these infections.

Egged on by pandemic-closed offices, lawmakers and media mull changes to Pa.’s open records law

BY: - March 9, 2021

Increased demand for information, combined with closed offices, also exposed deficiencies in the state’s decade old transparency, officials were told Tuesday.

COMMENTARY
A state liquor store front in Harrisburg (Capital-Star photo by Elizabeth Hardison).

Johnstown lawmaker scores big win in fight with Pa. liquor board. But the fight continues | Mark O’Keefe

BY: - January 26, 2021

The real losers, noted Burns, were taxpayers who paid for the futile legal battle.

COMMENTARY

Wolf lets GOP-authored open records bill lapse into law without his signature | Monday Morning Coffee

BY: - July 27, 2020

The unanimous vote represented a rare rebuke from legislative Democrats, who are usually loathe to break with the administration on Republican-authored proposals.

Wolf says he opposes open records bill, despite unanimous support

BY: - July 16, 2020

Despite winning the support of all 253 members of the General Assembly, Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday he would not sign a bill requiring the state to process open records during a state of emergency.

COMMENTARY

Pa. Senate panel to consider motion to subpoena Wolf waiver documents | Thursday Morning Coffee

BY: - April 30, 2020

Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers. Frustrated by what they say is a lack of transparency in the way the Wolf administration awarded waivers that have allowed non-essential businesses to keep operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, a state Senate panel is slated to vote today on subpoenas to force the release of those documents. In a statement released […]

Levine: ‘I don’t know’ when Pa. Health Dept. will respond to public records requests

BY: - April 25, 2020

Pennsylvania's top public health official said other legal work related to the global pandemic is taking precedence over public records requests.

Citing shuttered offices, Wolf admin. says it can’t process news outlets’ requests for COVID-19 waivers

BY: - March 31, 2020

The Capital-Star filed an open records request seeking a list of businesses that had applied for a waiver to Wolf's order closing nonessential businesses.

Pennsylvanians believe access is key to gov’t transparency; F&M poll shows | The Numbers Racket

BY: - January 30, 2020

A majority of Pennsylvanians believe it is their right as citizens to obtain government information with few restrictions, a new Franklin & Marshall poll concluded.

COMMENTARY

Should the state help volunteer fire companies? Yes. Let them shield their records from the public? No | Mark O’Keefe

BY: - October 31, 2019

The proposal now goes to the state Senate. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf hasn't decided if he's going to sign the measure, a spokesman said.