During Senate Session, Senator Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster) offered floor
remarks on
Senate Bill 101, which was passed by the Senate. The leading bill of a Senate Republican reform package,
Senate Bill 101 increases the penalties for intentional violations of the state
Sunshine Law, providing for a fine of up to $1,000 for the first offense and up
to $2,000 for a subsequent offense. The bill prohibits the use of tax dollars
for paying such fines. Strengthening the penalties is a long-time goal of good
government groups.
No law works all that well when it contains nominal
penalties rarely applied. But when the subject is the Sunshine Law, which
guarantees the public the right to attend and comment at open meetings held by
state and local government entities, the problem becomes more acute.
What is otherwise a fairly strong Sunshine Law has been
undermined by the weak penalty provisions. Too easy for officials to sidestep
requirements, and too hard to convince busy DAs of the merits of enforcing it.
Penalties matter because the law depends on good faith
compliance. It is impossible to police the thousands of jurisdictions to which
it applies, and to monitor the tens of thousands of meetings those entities
hold. With enforceable penalties in place, public officials will be more
careful about complying, less inclined to ask solicitors to craft creative
opinions, and more wary of the potential for prosecution of intentional
violations.
The impetus for this measure came from a Lancaster County
grand jury, who reviewed wrongdoing arising from months of secret meetings
involving the then county commissioners. This was a notorious situation, but it
was not an orphan. Each year, we learn about secret meetings, denial of public
comment opportunities, and major decisions suddenly sprung on taxpayers. The
concern is about intentional actions, not the inadvertent slipup. The need for
meaningful penalties is apparent.
Having served for several years as a township supervisor, I
saw in practice the virtues of the Sunshine Law. Granted, it did not always
seem the most convenient thing, but it was clearly in the public interest and
promoted more trustworthy government.
2011 is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the passage of the
modern Sunshine Law, and it is well past time for us to make it a complete and
fully functioning law.
Two sessions in a row, the Senate has passed similar bills
by huge margins. Each time, the bills died in the House without a floor vote. With new reform-minded management over there, the prospects for this measure
becoming law are much improved.
During a time when the words "reform" and "accountability" are commonly
expressed as taxpayer priorities, this bill delivers both.
