This is National Sunshine Week.
In the following piece, the repeal of the secrecy laws that kept government records out of the public eye for so long, is championed by the Executive Director of Pennsylvania’s new Office of Open Records.
He is charged with making sure taxpayers can appeal when denied access to records they have requested.
He says “The mission of my office is to apply the law fairly and evenly, without regard for who asked for the records or who holds the records. Simply put, the law is our client.”
Also, he says that “Very few states in the nation have an entity with binding authority to review record disputes: Connecticut and Pennsylvania are among the leaders. Binding authority by an independent arbiter is the key to a vault of previously hidden records. Without binding authority, the deck is stacked against citizens.”
And we agree. Without enforcement, the Right to Know laws have no ‘teeth’, which has been our complaint here in New Hampshire.