HARRISBURG – A bill to bring PA’s Right to-Know-Law up to date was approved by the state House. House Bill 2524 provides numerous updates, such as requiring agencies to register open records officer contact information with the state’s Office of Open Records, permitting agencies to ask requesters whether records will be used for commercial purposes, and a new penalty for false certification relating to commercial requests. The measure also provides updates to comply with recent court rulings and permission to assess reasonable fees for commercial requests, with an exception for media requests. It also calls for the Office of Open Records to provide online training throughout the year. The bill also states that volunteer ambulance, fire, and rescue services are not subject to the law. However, records of the organizations when contracting with a state or local agency to provide governmental functions are public record. The bill goes to the state Senate.
