Wolf veto threat of transparency bill was mistake

House Bill 2463 unanimously passed the state Legislature last week and will become law. Gov. Tom Wolf had threatened to veto the legislation known as the transparency bill but announced on Sunday that he would neither veto nor sign it.

This was a course of events strange to Pennsylvania.

The law proposed by York County Republican Rep. Seth Grove requires state agencies to answer the public’s questions submitted through Rightto-Know requests, as prescribed by law, during state of emergency declarations. It did not expand the rights of access to information nor did it add restrictions; it ensures that those rights would be followed during a time of public crisis, such as the current pandemic devastating Pennsylvania’s public health, education and economy.

Then things got strange: The bill was passed unanimously by the state Legislature, a group known for its inability to agree on anything and for its recalcitrant habits of not getting much accomplished. And then Wolf —who has campaigned on and urged support for transparency in government — threatened to veto it.

The bill had a simple goal, according to Grove. “To ensure the public has a route to hold its government accountable, even in times when a state of emergency declaration has been declared. A crisis is no reason for elected officials to ignore questions from the public.”

We couldn’t agree more. Our support for HB2463 echoes that of other newspapers and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, who raised concerns about Wolf’s threat to veto. Killing HB2463 would have allowed the administration and state agencies to ignore valid questions from the public and the press citing the exception of a public emergency.

The governor’s objections were that complying with the law could potentially pose a risk to public safety or health care privacy. But Melissa Melewsky, an attorney for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, told PA Post the existing law has in place the exceptions necessary to prevent the release of information that would create harm.

They include: exemptions for trade secrets, confidential and proprietary information, individuals’ medical information, investigation exemptions, and exemptions related to safety and security of individuals, buildings, and critical infrastructure, Melewsky said.

The genesis of the bill stems from the strange times we find ourselves in. Grove said that agencies which had to close physical locations must follow procedures by the Office of Open Records. “These procedures will take into consideration the difficulties faced by commonwealth agencies due to COVID-19 and any potential future emergency declarations and establish fair policies for responding to an RTK request,” he said.

In Sunday’s announcement, Wolf expressed “deep concerns” about having employees come to offices to fulfill public records requests under dangerous conditions, calling the bill “ill-conceived and poorly drafted” on protections for security and infrastructure during an emergency.

But the very fact of his threatened veto gave the impression that perhaps Wolf’s administration had something to hide.

The bill does not expand right-to-know laws in Pennsylvania; it merely ensures that those rights are not abused or squashed during a public emergency. Any official who supports transparency in government dealings would be hard-pressed to explain why an emergency, with the aforementioned safeguards in place, trumps the public’s right to know.

“… Emergencies are exactly when laws like Right-to-Know have their greatest value. Emergencies are the times that people most need to be fully informed and to understand why decisions are being made,” wrote PennLive in an editorial last week supporting HB2463.

“Arguments against openness are always feeble and are themselves transparent,” wrote PennLive.

As a practical matter, the veto threat suggested Wolf’s lack of confidence in his own administration and wasted energy fighting the rare instance of non-partisan agreement in Harrisburg.

At a time when confidence in public officials is critical, especially on the state level where responsibility lies for reopening schools, businesses and setting health guidelines to combat the coronavirus, this was an opportunity to reinforce that confidence. The governor failed to do that.

We are pleased that HB2463 will become law, but it comes with disappointment. Wolf’s support would have capped a unanimous nonpartisan action in Harrisburg. Instead, the threat to veto added a layer of bickering that seemed like business as usual. What a shame.