There was an incredible legislative effort and public groundswell that led to the adoption last month of House Bill 2463 despite Gov. Tom Wolf’s reservations.

The bill requires state agencies to respond to Right to Know Law requests during the COVID-19 pandemic and other declared emergencies.

The bill had the unanimous approval of both houses of the General Assembly and overwhelming support from Pennsylvanians, so, although Wolf did not sign the measure, he didn’t block it either, so it automatically became law.

Wolf realized that he was between a rock and a hard place. If he had vetoed the bill, as he had threatened, he would have been the first governor since 1978 to veto legislation that had the unanimous approval of both houses of the General Assembly.

I, of course, cannot be more delighted by this legislation, but as far as I am concerned this is the proverbial half a loaf. The next target should be transparency within the General Assembly itself.

This may come as a shocker for some of you, but legislators are not bound by the Open Records Law, also known as the Sunshine Act. Why “sunshine?” Because sunshine and openness are the best disinfectants.

That’s right, the Open Records Act applies to just about every other governmental body in the state, but when legislators passed the act in 2008, they exempted themselves from having to reveal most of the records that other government agencies routinely make public. Pretty crafty, wouldn’t you say?

I was interested in the comments from local legislators when noting that House Bill 2463 had become law. Sen. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe and Northampton, noted how Wolf initially vowed to veto this “good-government reform,” but after “enormous pressure from lawmakers, editorial boards and the public, he instead backed down and allowed it to be enacted into law without his signature.”

This is the kind of pressure we should bring to bear on legislators to get them to open up their secretive dealings in Harrisburg. For example, I would like to know with whom some legislators meet and for what reason. I can’t have that information.

One of the few things legislators allow to be scrutinized is financial records, and now some of them are giving the news media a hard time with these, too.

Spotlight Pa., a relatively new statewide news agency whose mission is to produce nonpartisan investigative journalism about Pennsylvania government and urgent statewide issues, fought back after receiving some but nowhere nearly all financial information it requested, and what they did get was heavily redacted.

After a few days of intense pressure, attorneys for legislative leaders who had blocked the release of the full information relented, and the information is now slowly becoming available.

House officials initially argued the state Constitution gave them the right to shield certain information about how lawmakers and their staff spend money, according to Spotlight Pa., but they backed off that position and restored dozens of spending details and promised to turn over hundreds more in the coming weeks.

Republican leaders will also propose a new House rule that would narrow the scope of redactions in the future, according to Jake Smeltz, chief of staff for House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster.

In a statement to Spotlight Pa., House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, said, “We are open and transparent about our expenditures.” This was a day after his office hand-delivered copies of some of his expenses without blacked-out details, Spotlight Pa. said.

Legislators talk about being for transparency, and this is fantastic, because Pennsylvanians need to be able to look deeply into their business in Harrisburg.

For 12 years they have been talking the talk. It’s time for them to prove that they are not paying lip service to transparency. If they are unwilling to walk the walk, we need to tell them to take a hike.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com