'An affront to citizens'

From the editorial page of The Pottstown Mercury:

THORNS to the state Legislature for a stance that the new Right-to-Know Law does not give the public the right to review correspondence between lawmakers and lobbyists. The House and Senate last week rejected requests by The Associated Press for communications last year between registered lobbyists and the four floor leaders: Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware; Sen. Bob Mellow, D-Lackawanna; Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Greene; and Rep. Sam Smith, R-Jefferson. The caucuses denied the requests last month, after which the AP appealed to House Parliamentarian Reizdan Moore and Senate Secretary Mark Corrigan. Moore and Corrigan are designated as the House and Senate appeals officers. Moore and Corrigan both said lobbyist communications are not covered by the law's definition of the types of "legislative records" the public can get. The four appeals were the first to be handled by the House and Senate under the process established by the Right-to-Know Law that took effect Jan. 1. Again, any affront to open government is an affront to citizens.

Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS