Jun. 28, 2016
HARRISBURG – Raising the bar of transparency and accountability at all levels of government, the House State Government Committee today voted to approve legislation, authored by Rep. Jim Christiana (R-Beaver/Washington), which would expand Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act.
The Pennsylvania Sunshine Act requires state and local agencies to deliberate and take official action on agency business in an open and public meeting. While agencies are required to give notice when a meeting will be held, they are not required to include the purpose of a meeting.
House Bill 1155 would require all government bodies to post an agenda 24 hours before a voting meeting that includes a list of each matter of agency business that would be the subject of official action and/or deliberation.
“All government officials have a responsibility to conduct the taxpayers’ business openly and transparently,” Christiana said. “Our school districts, along with state and local governments, are spending billions of taxpayer dollars every year. It’s unacceptable to not have a public agenda in place at least 24 hours in advance.”
The bill would prevent an agency from acting on any matter not listed on the agenda, with an included exception for emergency situations and de minimis actions.
Christiana added that he drafted the legislation after hearing from multiple citizens and members of the media who felt deliberately left out of the government process or believed some elected officials operated within gray areas or loopholes in the Sunshine Act.
“There have been cases in which some have manipulated the rules or used a weak agenda to hide controversial decisions from the public and the media,” Christiana said.
House Bill 1155 now awaits action by the full House.
Representative Jim Christiana
15th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Abbey Haslam
717.260.6222
ahaslam@pahousegop.com
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