Gov. Tom Wolf at press time was evaluating a measure that backers say is aimed at preserving transparency for records during periods where a state disaster has been declared.

If he chooses to veto the measure it would mark just the third time in more than four decades that a Pennsylvania governor rejected a bill that passed with unanimous support in both houses of the General Assembly.

House Bill 2463 would prevent governors from directing commonwealth agencies to ignore requests under the Right-to-Know Law for records or suspend a commonwealth agency's process to answer a request for records during a disaster declaration. The legislation also strengthens penalties against state agencies should they fail to comply with RTK requests.

GOP lawmakers in a flurry of letters tried to persuade Wolf to sign the bill.

The Lancaster County delegation, including House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, said the bill would foster a free flow of information among the executive and legislative branches as well as the public.

"This bill wouldn't just allow information sharing between the legislature and the governor, but it would allow the public and the press to seek answers on critical questions as well," said seven GOP lawmakers. "During a public health emergency, these questions are vital to ensuring our government is doing everything possible to keep citizens safe in addition to promoting accountability."

Nine lawmakers from northern and western Pennsylvania said signing the measure should be a "no-brainer."

"Leadership in a time like this is admittedly not easy when there is essentially no 'playbook' to follow," said the letter, signed by nine lawmakers. "What House Bill 2463 asks for is a window into the reasons behind why some of the difficult decisions are made. A business owner for instance has a right to know why his or her competitors were deemed 'essential' through the granting of waivers while their request was denied. At the height of the pandemic, counties saw neighboring counties progress through the governor's 'color-coded recovery plan' and wondered why they didn't move with them."