Transparency by public officials and government agencies is of paramount importance.

The Right-to-Know Law (Act 3 of 2008) ensures that transparency by allowing citizens access to government records.

Under the law, agencies’ initial response deadline is five business days after the receipt of a request. Many of these requests involve information that can be somewhat voluminous, and review is virtually impossible for an agency to achieve within that time frame.

The Intergovernmental Affairs and Operations Committee recently held an informational meeting on the Right-to-Know Law and participants suggested, the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs in particular, that extending this initial request timeline would assist the smaller agencies with responding to these requests. 

Therefore, I am introducing legislation to amend the Right-to-Know Law to extend the initial deadline for agencies to respond to requests from five to 10 business days. That way agencies would have more time to review the request and generate the needed response.  

Such a change can only allow better adherence to the law and ensure its ultimate goal: transparency.

Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation.