Penn. FOI director says state is in 'new era of openness'

The York Daily Record spoke with Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition, in honor of Sunshine Week. In regards to the state's 2-year-old right-to-know law, De Bourbon said, "For the first time, government agencies are being told they have not followed the law in denying access to records." For example, the Office of Open Records ruled that "a secretary's tape recording of a public meeting -- even if made only for the purposes of writing up the minutes -- is a public record and accessible to the public." She hopes that fees will be addressed in the future and that agencies will start providing records online via PDFs.

As part of Sunshine Week, a national effort to raise awareness of public records, the York Daily Record/Sunday News asked Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition, some questions about the state's new open records law, which is 21/2 months old.

More here.