Plugged loophole

Public universities need to disclose top salaries

The salaries of top earners at Pitt, Penn State and Temple universities would be disclosed to the dollar, again, in an updated open records bill before the Legislature. That’s only right — the state-related schools get half a billion dollars every year from state taxpayers.

Confronted with a loophole that would have limited public disclosure to only a salary range, senators rewrote the bill to ensure it guarantees Pennsylvanians the Right to Know, not the Right to Know What the Universities Want Them to Know. As they say in soccer, good save.

The Post-Gazette’s Bill Schackner noticed the loophole earlier this year when reporting on proposed changes to the Right to Know law enacted in 2009. The law is important because it allows Pennsylvanians to examine public records such as contracts, meeting minutes, financial audits and salaries — as is their right, since they pay the bills.

But too-specific wording caused a problem. It would have shielded many highly paid faculty members from release of their exact salaries because their positions are not specifically mentioned in federal reporting laws.

An amendment offered by Sen. Anthony Williams, a Philadelphia Democrat, fixes that and ensures that taxpayers know exactly how much the 25 top earners at Pitt, Penn State and Temple universities make. That’s good news for citizen watchdogs, as are other proposed changes to Pennsylvania’s Right to Know law that could affect the schools. They include the creation of an online database with easily accessible budget information and a requirement that the universities disclose vendor contracts of more than $5,000.

Penn State president Eric Barron, among others, has argued that releasing exact salaries makes it easier for other schools to poach talent, and that reporting a pay range would suffice. But a competing school can still lure academics away with an offer at the top of a range. And, most important, as the law clearly states, the public has the right to know. Game over. With the loophole closed, let’s get this bill passed.