1Providing for the establishment of a legal notices and job
2openings searchable public internet database, for obligations
3of newspapers; and imposing related subscription fees.

4The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5hereby enacts as follows:

6Section 1. Short title.

7This act shall be known and may be cited as the Legal Notices
8and Job Openings Database Act.

9Section 2.  Definitions.

10The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12context clearly indicates otherwise:

13"Department."  The Office of Open Records within the
14Department of Community and Economic Development of the
15Commonwealth.

16"Legal notice." Any notice, advertisement, publication,
17statement or report, including an abstract thereof, required by
18law or regulation to be published in a newspaper of general

1circulation relating to any of the following:

2(1) A meeting as defined in 65 Pa.C.S. § 703 (relating
3to definitions) of the governing body of the local government
4unit or its committees.

5(2) An ordinance or resolution.

6(3) A budget, auditor's report or financial statement.

7(4) A contract, agreement, request for bids or proposals
8or other documentation related to the procurement of
9supplies, services or construction.

10(5) A sale of real or personal property, including
11property sold for municipal taxes or claims.

12(6) A proceeding requiring public notice in accordance
13with the act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.805, No.247), known as the
14Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.

15(7) A proceeding requiring public notice in accordance
16with applicable laws governing zoning or subdivision and land
17development in municipalities not subject to the Pennsylvania
18Municipalities Planning Code.

19"Local government unit." A municipality, including a home
20rule municipality, school district, municipal authority, zoning
21hearing board or similar board or council of government or
22similar intergovernmental cooperative entity.

23"Municipality."  Any city, borough, incorporated town,
24township, county or agency thereof.

25"Newspaper of general circulation." A newspaper issued
26daily, or not less than once a week, intended for general
27distribution and circulation and sold at fixed prices per copy
28per week, per month or per annum, to subscribers and readers
29without regard to business, trade, profession or class.

30"PennWATCH." The public Internet website authorized by the

1act of June 30, 2011 (P.L.81, No.18), known as the Pennsylvania
2Web Accountability and Transparency (PennWATCH) Act.

3Section 3. Internet website with searchable databases.

4The department shall develop, implement and maintain
5searchable public Internet databases, called Pennsylvania Public
6Information Notice (PennPIN) and Pennsylvania Municipal Open
7Position (PennMOP), linked to a searchable public Internet
8website. The department may contract with a third party to
9develop, implement or maintain the Internet website or
10databases. The department may enter into an agreement with the
11Governor's Office of Administration for PennPIN and PennMOP to
12be linked to PennWATCH. If the databases are linked to
13PennWATCH, the department shall continue to be responsible for
14developing, implementing and maintaining the databases.

15Section 4. Searchable PennPIN database.

16(a) Development.--No later December 31, 2014, the department
17shall develop, implement and maintain PennPIN. The Internet
18website hosting PennPIN shall allow a local government unit to
19post a legal notice. Information on the website shall include
20all of the following:

21(1)  The name and address of the local government unit
22electronically posting the legal notice.

23(2)  A counter to show the number of times the database
24was accessed.

25(b) Legal notices.--A local government unit located in this 
26Commonwealth shall be required to post a legal notice on the 
27Internet website hosting PennPIN. The local government unit may
28post the legal notice on PennPIN in lieu of publishing the legal
29notice in a newspaper of general circulation.

30(c) Access.--The Internet website hosting PennPIN shall

1allow members of the public to search for information on the
2database at no charge. The Internet website's search function
3shall allow a member of the public to query the database by all
4of the following:

5(1) Name of the local government unit.

6(2) Subject matter.

7(3) Date posted.

8(4) Date of a meeting or hearing to be held.

9(5) Another specified search term.

10(d)  Maintenance.--A posted legal notice shall remain on the
11Internet website hosting PennPIN for a period of no less than
12ten years from the date the legal notice was posted. After one
13year from the date a legal notice was posted, the legal notice
14may be filed in a searchable archived file accessible from the
15Internet website.

16Section 5.  Searchable PennMOP database.

17(a) Development.--No later than December 31, 2016, the
18department shall develop, implement and maintain PennMOP. The
19Internet website hosting PennMOP shall allow a local government
20unit located in this Commonwealth to post a job opening with the
21local government unit. The Internet website shall include a
22counter to show the number of times the database was accessed.

23(b) Job openings.--A local government unit located in this
24Commonwealth shall post a job opening with the local government
25unit on the Internet website hosting PennMOP. The posting shall
26include all of the following:

27(1) The job title.

28(2) The date the job is available.

29(3) The deadline for applying for the job.

30(4) The required work experience.

1(5) The required education.

2(6) A brief description of the position.

3(7) The salary or wage information and applicable
4benefits.

5(8) How to apply for the position.

6(9) The name and contact information of the person to
7whom inquiries may be directed.

8Nothing in this section shall preclude a local government unit
9from advertising a job opening in addition to the method
10provided under this subsection.

11(c) Filled position.--Within a reasonable time after filling
12a job opening posted on the Internet website hosting PennMOP, a
13local government unit shall post the date the position was
14filled on the Internet website. As used in this subsection, the
15term "filled" means the date when a local government unit's
16offer of employment was accepted by an applicant to whom the
17position was offered.

18(d)  Access.--The Internet website hosting PennMOP shall
19allow a member of the public to search for job information at no
20charge. The Internet website's search function shall allow a
21member of the public to query the database by all of the
22following.

23(1) Name of the local government unit.

24(2) Job title.

25(3) Relevant date.

26(4) Another specified search term.

27(e) Maintenance.--A posted job opening shall remain on the
28Internet website hosting PennMOP for a period of no less than
29ten years from the date the position was filled. The Internet
30website shall clearly differentiate between a job opening to be

1filled and a job opening that has been filled. After one year
2from the date a job opening is posted, the information posted
3under subsection (b) may be filed in a searchable archived file
4accessible from the Internet website.

5Section 6. Administration.

6(a) Requirement.--A local government unit shall cooperate
7with the department in submitting or in uploading the data as
8required under this act.

9(b) Accuracy.--A local government unit shall be responsible
10for verifying the accuracy and completeness of information
11submitted or uploaded to the department as required under this
12act.

13Section 7. Funding and subscription fees.

14(a) Initial funding.--Initial funding shall be provided by
15the Commonwealth to the department in an amount sufficient for
16the department to develop and implement PennPIN and PennMOP and
17the Internet website to host the databases.

18(b)  Subscription fees.--

19(1) In the first and second years of operation of the
20PennPIN and PennMOP, a local government unit shall pay an
21annual subscription fee to the department equal to the amount
22the local government unit paid in legal advertising costs for
23the calendar year prior to the operation of the databases.

24(2) In the third and subsequent years of operation of
25PennPIN and PennMOP, a local government unit shall pay a per-
26unit cost for each legal notice or job opening posted by the
27local government unit for the actual costs of operation and
28maintenance of the databases and the hosting Internet
29website. If the PennWATCH Internet website is hosting PennPIN
30and PennMOP, the costs of operation and maintenance of the

1PennWATCH database may not be included in the cost unless the
2Governor's Office of Administration and the department agree
3on an amount that fairly represents or reasonably estimates
4the additional costs of hosting the databases. The respective
5share that a local government unit shall pay to the
6department shall be determined by dividing the collective
7costs for the two prior calendar years plus 5% of the
8collective costs, not to exceed the total amount of funds 
9generated by professional subscription fees in the prior two 
10calendar years, by the number of legal notices or job
11openings posted to the databases in the prior two years to
12calculate the per unit cost of each posting. The per unit
13cost for each legal notice or job opening posted shall be
14recalculated by the department in January of each year using
15the costs and fees from the prior calendar year. The per unit
16cost shall be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin no later
17than February 1 of each year and the new per unit cost shall
18be effective upon publication.

19(c) Professional subscription.--In the first and subsequent
20years of operation of PennPIN and PennMOP, the department shall
21allow an individual to subscribe to receive an automatic
22electronic notice sent to an email address of the subscriber
23when a posted legal notice or job opening meets the subscriber's
24established criteria. The department shall establish a
25reasonable subscription fee to be charged to a subscriber.

26(d) Newspaper subscription.--In the first and subsequent
27years of operation of PennPIN, the department shall establish a
28reasonable fee to be charged to a newspaper of general
29circulation in this Commonwealth for access to the database to
30obtain the necessary information from the posted legal notices

1in order to provide notice of required postings as required
2under section 9(b).

3Section 8. Vendor identification system.

4The department shall establish a vendor identification system
5to be used to provide a common designation of each local
6government unit to facilitate accurate posting of legal notices
7and billing by the department to the local government unit.

8Section 9. Obligation of newspapers.

9(a) Publish meetings.--As a condition of doing business in
10this Commonwealth, a newspaper of general circulation in this
11Commonwealth that identifies itself as materially important to
12providing public information notices to the public shall post or
13publish the date, time, location and general subject matter of a
14meeting of a governing body of a local government unit or its
15committees to be held by within the local distribution area of
16the newspaper of general circulation. As used in this section,
17the term "meeting" means any prearranged gathering of a
18governing agency of a local government unit or its committees
19which is attended or participated in by a quorum of the members
20held for the purpose of deliberating business or taking official
21action.

22(b) Deadline.--A newspaper of general circulation required
23to post or publish the information as provided in subsection (a)
24shall:

25(1) post the information either on the newspaper's
26website no later than 24 hours after the information appears
27on the website hosting PennPIN; or

28(2) publish the information in the newspaper's next
29regularly scheduled printed edition after the information is
30posted on the Internet website.

1Section 10. Report to General Assembly.

2The department shall prepare an annual report containing
3statistical information on the usage and performance of the
4Internet website. The report shall contain frequency of user
5access of the Internet website, types of data being accessed and
6Internet website performance. The report shall be submitted to
7the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader of the Senate and
8the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader of the House of
9Representatives by March 30 of each year beginning March 30,
102017.

11Section 11.  Effective date.

12This act shall take effect as follows:

13(1) Section 9 shall take effect January 1, 2015.

14(2) The remainder of the act shall take effect
15immediately.