In the near future I will re-introduce legislation (HB 1342 of the 2023-24 Session) that is designed to prevent misinterpretation and misapplication of the Right-to-Know Law (RTKL).  This legislation is primarily a technical change that clarifies the language of the RTKL to further safeguard both personal financial information and public funds.
 
Regarding personal financial information, currently under the RTKL, the definition of “personal financial information” excludes an individual’s personal information as it relates to credit, charge and debit cards, bank accounts and statements, and account numbers.  A legal challenge ensued over the question of whether an individual employee’s payroll deductions and W-2’s were public documents or protected personal information.  The Office of Open Records consistently ruled that this information was public until the courts finally ruled that employee deductions and W-2 information were private tax records and not open to public disclosure. This bill will essentially put the court’s ruling into the statute.
 
Regarding a public agency’s financial records, the RTKL does rightly define this type of information as public documents, but the law is silent on whether an agency’s highly sensitive financial information such as bank account numbers, routing numbers, credit card numbers and passwords, are exempt from disclosure.  With the prevalence of cyber-attacks and cyber theft, such information should not be publicly disseminated.  Therefore, this bill clarifies that this information is not a public record. 
 
Last session, this bill was referred to the State Government Committee, but did not receive further consideration before the end of session.
 
Co-sponsors from last session include B. MILLER, GREINER, IRVIN, KAUFFMAN, CIRESI, FREEMAN, ROWE, ZIMMERMAN, LEADBETER, DIAMOND and SCHLEGEL
 
Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation.