The most interesting thing about recent public hearings reforming state government, was that there was a lot of agreement about just one thing.
It was not about reducing (or enlarging) the size of the General Assembly. It was not about term limits.
It was about right to know.
As reported by The Associated Press, the Speaker's Commission on Legislative Reform has held three hearings on the topic of reform.
All kinds of issues have been brought up. Some are extreme (like shrinking the Legislature to 80 members from its current 253.) Some are ridiculous (like increasing the size of the Legislature to 500.)
But one theme keeps coming up: The Right to Know Law.
As it has involved in Pennsylvania, the Right to Know Law has been misnamed. Among the weakest such laws in the country, it should be called the Government's Right to Hide Law. It has yet, through many reiterations and reform efforts, to fully and finally clarify that government documents and meetings belong to the public. There are reasonable exceptions to open records -- like when they involve private data the government keeps on regular people. But there should be no exceptions regarding data the government keeps on itself.
The public seems to be realizing this problem, and is beginning to speak up.
Whether they are finally heard by the people with potentially the most to hide is another matter.
Opinion
The secret's out
- Opinion
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Good-paying jobs
I am writing in response to comments made by several lawmakers and certain media regarding people receiving unemployment compensation not searching for employment but only wanting extensions.
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Economy is tough but still pay rises
It was my first time attending a Lewisburg School Board meeting last night. I went to hear public comment on the Boards recent decision to extend the Superintendents contract, which included a 20-plus percent pay raise.
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Sunbury has a lot to offer
I would like to respond to the letter writer that inferred that Sunbury was a pretty package with nothing inside.
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Mutual aid is necessary
Mutual aid agreements in local law enforcement strike at the heart of basic small-town decency. When a neighbor is in need, those equipped to help ought to drop everything and spring to aid.
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Lifting me higher
I am not a winner of a Pulitzer Prize, nor am I an author of best selling novels, I'm just a human being attempting to live life here on earth with purpose and I can find no greater way to do that than through my faith and my belief in God.
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Understaffing
I read with interest your article regarding police mutual aid in Northumberland County.
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Carney, Marino ought to get focused on issues
U.S. Rep. Chris Carney and Tom Marino ought to focus on the issues in the upcoming campaign for Congress.
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Blatantly unfair
The Pennsylvania Republican Party is supporting an effort to strike third-party candidates from the general election ballot in November.
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Fiscal responsibility
This editorial letter is only the second such letter I have been moved to pen in my lifetime.
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Schools need a little help from home
Milton High School failed to meet its adequate yearly progress under Pennsylvania's version of the federal No Child Left Behind because one student did not show up for the standardized test.
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Good-paying jobs
