2007-2011 PHEAA Outrageous Bonus & Expenditures, Open Records Bill, and PennWATCH

In 2007, Rock the Capital, good-government groups, and newspapers throughout Pennsylvania called on more accountability and an audit of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance program.

PHEAA spent $854,000 on board retreats, and another $409,000 on legal fees in a failed attempt to keep information about the board retreats from the public. In August 2007, five top officials received more than $500,000 in bonuses.

• September 28, 2007: PHEAA CEO to get $360,000 annual pension. Jan Murphy of The Patriot News” reported on the pension that retiring PHEAA CEO Dick Willey will receive. The pension is so elevated because his $180,000 bonus counts toward the pension calculation.

Of course, he will receive that pension even if takes another job with the state – and he would be wise to take the pension now, as no other job is likely to pay as well (pension is based on the final three years’ pay). That is what his predecessor at PHEAA did: As the “Tribune Review” notes, Michael Hershock received a $222,000 annual pension (following a $321,000 lump-sum withdrawal) when he retired at PHEAA, then took a $147,000 job heading the PHEAA Foundation.

October 2007: The state’s auditor general Jack Wagner revealed a total of $75 million in bonuses to all PHEAA staff. In November, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported PHEAA spent $2.2 million on give-away items. Altogether this questionable spending could have paid a year’s worth of full grants for more than 2,700 students at 4-year schools and 5,400 students at community colleges.

• October 7, 2007: Critics say that the open records bill is not open enough.

A state Senate committee has approved a measure to help citizens get information from state and local agencies, but critics complained that senators are using a weaker standard on themselves than on other branches of government.

Common Cause/Pennsylvania Executive Director Barry Kauffman called the bill that was approved October 6, 2025, "a tiny step forward, but it's still inadequate."

Eric Epstein of Rock the Capital, one of the pay-raise protest groups, complained that senators largely "left themselves out" of the open records process, a charge denied by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester.

Mr. Epstein contended that the number of records the Legislature would have to release is "less than that covered for the governor's agencies and local municipal agencies."

The criticism started after the State Government Committee voted 10-0 to send the full Senate a proposal titled Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Mr. Pileggi. The bill does something important with regard to the executive branch of state government, run by Gov. Ed Rendell and many state and local agencies: It reverses the long-held presumption that state records were private unless a requester could convince an agency to make them public."A record in the possession of a commonwealth agency or local agency shall be presumed to be a public record unless that record is one of the (24) listed exceptions under this act," the bill states.

Exceptions to the law include records containing someone's Social Security number or medical records, homeland security plans, trade secrets, plans for computer safety or security, state emergency response plans, floor plans or design of buildings, real estate appraisals, questions for employee tests, 911 recordings, collective bargaining talks and drafts of bills.

"Commonwealth agencies" affected by that provision include executive branch agencies under the governor, the attorney general, auditor general, treasury, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, the State System of Higher Education, the Turnpike Commission and the Public Utility Commission, but not "state-related" schools such as Pitt and Penn State.

Critics complained the bill doesn't list the Legislature itself as a "commonwealth agency." Instead, the General Assembly would be a "legislative agency" and have a different standard for openness.”

Deb Musselman of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association wasn't as critical of the bill as the citizens’ groups. She said 36 states treat their legislatures differently regarding release of information than the executive branch of government. She called the committee-approved bill "a step in the right direction" and said it's better than another bill passed by a House committee two weeks prior.

“The battle over open records is far from over. Today, the House will begin debate on its version of the bill, House Bill 443, proposed by Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Uniontown. His colleagues have submitted more than 70 amendments to the bill, so discussion could continue.” (Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau, Tom Barnes, October 30, 2007.)

February 14, 2008: The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR) was officially created on February 14, 2008, as part of the state's Right-to-Know Law (RTKL). This law, also known as Act 3 of 2008, significantly changed public access to government records in Pennsylvania by establishing a presumption that all records are public and requiring agencies to justify withholding them. The OOR plays a crucial role in enforcing the Right To Know Law and ensuring transparency in government operations.

• 2011: PennWATCH, Pennsylvania's transparency website, was created to provide public access to state government spending and revenue information. It was established by the Pennsylvania Web Accountability and Transparency Act (Act 18 of 2011), which mandated a searchable database-driven website detailing taxpayer expenditures and investments. The site aims to increase transparency and accountability in state government by allowing citizens to monitor how taxpayer dollars are spent.