An Act amending the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions; and, in procedure, providing for acceptable denials.

PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 465 PRINTER'S NO. 1281
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 431
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY PENNYCUICK, BROWN, BARTOLOTTA, CULVER, KEARNEY,
BAKER, MILLER, STEFANO AND DUSH, MARCH 21, 2025
SENATOR PENNYCUICK, COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY, AS AMENDED,
OCTOBER 28, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), entitled
"An act providing for access to public information, for a
designated open-records officer in each Commonwealth agency,
local agency, judicial agency and legislative agency, for
procedure, for appeal of agency determination, for judicial
review and for the Office of Open Records; imposing
penalties; providing for reporting by State-related
institutions; requiring the posting of certain State contract
information on the Internet; and making related repeals," in
preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
and, in procedure, providing for acceptable denials.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 102 of the act of February 14, 2008
(P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law, is amended by
adding definitions to read:
Section 102. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
* * *
"Artificial intelligence." A machine-based system that can,
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for a given set of explicit or implicit objectives, make
predictions, content, recommendations or decisions influencing
real or virtual environments, including the ability to:
(1) perceive real and virtual environments;
(2) abstract perceptions made under paragraph (1) into
models through analysis in an automated manner; and
(3) use model inference to formulate options for
information or action based on outcomes under paragraphs (1)
and (2).
* * *
"Generative artificial intelligence." The class of models
that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data in
order to generate derived synthetic content, including
information such as images, videos, audio clips or text that has
been significantly modified or generated by algorithms,
including by artificial intelligence.
* * *
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 709. Acceptable denials.
(a) Requests submitted by electronic means.-- An EXCEPT AS
PROVIDED UNDER SUBSECTION (C), AN agency may deny a records
request submitted by electronic means if any of the following
apply:
(1) The agency's open-records officer or information
technology professional reasonably believes that downloading
attached documents or accessing hyperlinks within the request
could pose a cybersecurity risk to the agency's network. This
paragraph shall not be construed to conflict with an agency
receiving or accepting a request under section 505(a).
(2) The agency has reasonable suspicion that the request
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was automatically generated by a computer program, script,
artificial intelligence or generative artificial
intelligence.
(b) Appeal.--A requester may appeal a denial issued under
subsection (a) as provided under Chapter 11.
(C) EXCEPTIONS.--SUBSECTION (A) SHALL NOT APPLY TO:
(1) A REQUEST BY AN INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYED BY, OR CONNECTED
WITH, A NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE OF GENERAL CIRCULATION, WEEKLY
PUBLICATION, PRESS ASSOCIATION OR RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION
FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST.
(2) A REQUEST BY A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION FOR THE
CONDUCT OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH.
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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