We appreciate both that state Rep. Jeff Wheeland, R-Loyalsock Township, takes transparency and the public’s right to know seriously and that he’s is working to improve laws regarding state and local government’s disclosures of information to the public they serve.

In a sub-committee hearing, Liz Wagenseller, executive director of the state’s Office of Open Records, said there was a 41% increase in appeals to the office when municipal governments and state offices decline to release requested information. Wheeland fears this increase reflects that government officials are stalling and using the appeals process to make transparency a time-consuming and more labor-intensive pursuit for people who seek to hold governments accountable — a completely valid fear.

As Wheeland notes, in some cases, the government authorities allowed a court hearing to be scheduled, only to release the information a day or two before the court date.

“Why didn’t they do that from the beginning?” Wheeland asks.

Wheeland hopes to see fellow legislators sit down with journalists and watchdog groups to draft new legislation to improve the right-to-know law, in part by closing loopholes. He cautions that it can’t be done hastily and that the process needs to be careful and deliberative.

We agree. Moving too quickly to closes loopholes is apt to simply creat new, different loopholes. The state Legislature needs to be thorough in ensuring the public has the avenues to hold government officials and agencies — local and state — accountable.