17607_PMAA_Authority_June_2024

60 The Authority | June 2024 Pennsylvania Local Government Conference testimony. See page 25 for Government Relations report. April 29, 2024 Dear Senator, On behalf of our organizations’ collective memberships, we are writing to request your support of Senate Bill 525 which would provide school districts, local governments, and municipal authorities with relief from individuals who would seek to use the rights and processes in the Right-to-Know (RtK) law in a way which is vexatious to local agencies. School district, local government, and municipal authority officials fully support the rights of their taxpayers, constituents, and communities to have access to information related to governmental activities and operations, knowing that transparency is essential to good government. However, our collective memberships have not only experienced instances where a requester has submitted RtK requests in order to punish or harass the agency for a decision they did not like or to elicit a response from the agency on an unrelated matter, but also instances where the sheer volume of requests (or information requested) from a single requester has substantially disrupted operations or placed an unreasonable administrative and financial burden on the agency and therefore our taxpayers. This bill would provide school district, local government, and municipal authority officials with critically needed relief from requesters who weaponize the RtK law by permitting the agency to appeal to the Office of Open Records. If successful in the appeal, the agency would not be required to comply with the request. It is important to note that the bill would require an agency alleging vexatiousness to produce evidence and justification for their claim so as to not diminish governmental transparency, but rather ensure that allegations are based on facts. On behalf of our members, we thank Senator Dush for his leadership on this issue, and we urge you to support this bill. Thank you, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association Pennsylvania Municipal League Pennsylvania School Boards Association Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs Pennsylvania State Association of Township Commissioners Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors