PA Meeting Agendas Now Must Go Online 24 Hours In Advance

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act just got a little brighter.

Governor Tom Wolf this week signed into law a measure to improve the state’s open meetings law.

The update to the law requires that municipalities, school boards and state government agencies make upcoming meeting agendas available online at least 24 hours prior so the public is made full aware of what will be discussed and considered at any given meeting.

The governor signed the measure, Senate Bill 554, on June 30, according to the state's Office of Open Records, which applauded the legislation's passing.

“The opportunity to review an agenda before a public meeting is a positive step toward increasing government accountability and citizen participation,” Office of Open Records Executive Director Liz Wagenseller said in a statement. “Access to timely and relevant information is crucial to promoting open and knowledgeable dialogue between citizens and government officials, and we look forward to the continued work of the legislature to improve government responsiveness and transparency.”

According to the OOR, the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act mandates that state and local agencies deliberate, and take action on, official agency business in an open and public setting. The law already required government agencies to give some type of prior notice of upcoming meetings, however, this latest change in law specifies that notice has to be 24 hours in advance, giving interested parties more time by which to become educated on what will be discussed, and possibly acted on, during a public meeting.

The law makes it so that government agencies cannot take any action on items not on the pre-posted agenda except in emergency situations.

The Office of Open Records announced that it will host a webinar on July 14 at 10 a.m. for those interested in learning more about the Sunshine Act and the recently enacted SB 554. Visit here for more information.

The new law also reportedly had the support of the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

Legislative records show that five out of the seven senators who had cosponsored the bill are from the general Southeastern Pennsylvania region.