Lawmakers Want Sunlight Put on State-Related Universities

By Caleb Taylor | PA Independent

Lawmakers want to strip state-related institutions' exemption from Pennsylvania's right-to-know law following the Penn State University child sexual abuse scandal.

State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, announced this month that he would introduce legislation making state-related institutions--the four independently controlled universities that receive some state funding--subject to Act 3 of 2008. 

Commonly referred to as the state’s right-to-know law, Act 3 requires all records of state and municipal governmental agencies to be open to public access, including financial documents, contracts and emails from university officials.

The four state-related institutions are Lincoln University, Penn State University, University of Pittsburgh and Temple University. 

State lawmakers and open government advocates said the legislation would increase transparency for institutions that receive taxpayer funds, but in 2007, Penn State officials opposed the right-to-know law because of fear that it would result in less revenue from donors and private companies.

Terry Mutchler, executive director of the state Office of Open Records, which enforces the right-to-know law, said, “any time you have an entity that receives state dollars, there should be transparency." 

Penn State received $318 million from state taxpayers in the current year’s budget.

Penn State officials did not return repeated calls for comment and did not respond to emails. 

In August 2007, when the state right-to-know law was being considered at a hearing in the House State Government Committee, Graham Spanier, then-president of Penn State, opposed the law. 

He said revenue would take a “multi-million dollar hit” from donors and private businesses who did not want their financial information public. 

Spanier also said making individual salary information public would increase administrative costs and pose a constant detriment to employee morale. 

Spanier resigned earlier this month, when the child sexual abuse allegations against former football coach Jerry Sandusky emerged, but he remains a tenured professor. 

Sandusky is charged with sexual assault against a minor, and the grand jury report details eight separate incidents in which Sandusky allegedly abused boys as young as eight years old between 1996 and 2005. 

The amount of state funding should be enough to require state-related institutions to be subject to the right-to-know law, said state Rep. Stephen Bloom, R-Cumberland. 

Pittsburgh, Temple and Lincoln universities received $160.5 million, $165 million and $13 million, respectively, from the state this year. 

Pitt officials declined to comment. Temple and Lincoln did not return a call for comment. 

“Taxpayer dollars are going in a substantial way to fund these institutions,” said Bloom. “Especially in light of the horrific revelations at Penn State, it is time they be brought to daylight and be back into public scrutiny.” 

Bloom said it is too soon to tell whether the bill would include language that allowed requests for information retroactive to the bill becoming law. 

Legislative leaders last week announced the creation of a bipartisan, bicameral commission to examine the Penn State scandal and propose legislative fixes where appropriate.

House GOP Whip Mike Vereb, R-Chester, said the commission would evaluate DePasquale's proposed change to the right-to-know law. 

Tor Michaels, chief of staff for state Rep. H. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, who represents State College, where Penn State is located, said Conklin “supports DePasquale’s effort” because the “more sunlight we can provide is essential as we move forward” from the scandal at Penn State. 

The 14 public universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, or PASSHE, are not exempt from the right-to-know law. DePasquale’s bill would not affect private universities in the state, even if they receive some state funding.