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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 2, 2021 11:55 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Cris Dush |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Vexatious Requestors |
| Numerous entities such as state agencies, municipalities and school boards frequently report that they are overwhelmed by burdensome Right-To-Know Law requests. While most of these requests come from valid requestors, some of these requestors have been identified as having vexatious intent with their requests. This issue is a top legislative priority of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, and Pennsylvania Municipal League, Pennsylvania State Association to Township Commissioners, Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, whose members regularly grapple with such requests on a regular basis. This legislation will allow an agency to petition the Office of Open Records (OOR) for relief from a requestor that the agency alleges is a vexatious requestor. If the Executive Director (ED) of the OOR determines that further proceedings are warranted, the ED must pursue a resolution through mediation or a hearing. The ED must put out a final opinion with appropriate relief that includes, but is not limited to, an order that the agency does not need to comply with future requests from the vexatious requestor for no more than one year. Please join me in sponsoring common sense legislation that will assist numerous entities by alleviating some of these burdensome vexatious requests that hinder our Right-To-Know request system thus making it harder for the citizens of this Commonwealth to receive the information that they seek. |
Introduced as SB552