Pennsylvania legislation could shield some of the largest public university salaries from disclosure; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2/25/15

Bill Schackner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Pennsylvania legislation could shield some of the largest public university salaries from disclosure:

"Senate legislation intended to require more public disclosure by Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities would, as currently written, enable those schools to shield from the public many of their largest employee salaries — figures they currently release.

Senate Bill 412, introduced this month by state Sen. John Blake, D-Lackawanna, is part of an ongoing effort to revamp Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law that has been working its way through the Legislature for two years.

Mr. Blake said his bill’s intent is to give the public greater insight into the workings of the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University and Temple and Lincoln universities, which receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year but are largely exempt from Right-to-Know requirements.

Indeed, his bill (explore below) would create free accessible online databases with extensive budgetary information, non-personal employee and enrollment data, and would compel the four universities to list vendor contracts above $5,000 and maintain a 20-year archive of minutes from school trustee meetings.

But in one key area of disclosure — individual salaries — the bill’s language appears to be at least a partial retreat."