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Why pay more when you can get something better for less?

Basic economics tells us that paying more for something when you can get something better for less is never a good idea.

That’s why we don’t understand the reasoning behind a bill recently proposed by state Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Hollidaysburg, to change the requirements for government public notices.

If you flip to the classifieds in this paper, not just today, but every day, you will see public notices from a variety of government entities. Sometimes, it’s about a proposed ordinance from a local township or borough. Other times, it’s a government entity seeking bids for a public works project, a proposed tax increase, sheriff’s sales of foreclosed property or a wide variety of other things that are of public interest.

Those notices are not in the newspaper because the government is being nice and looking out for you. They’re in the newspaper because it is a requirement. It’s about transparency and allowing the public to know what is going on with those entities in charge of spending our tax money.

But Sen. Eichelberger wants to change that. His bill would remove the newspaper requirement and instead allow government bodies to merely upload public notices to a government-owned website.

He claims this is a needed cost-saving measure. He couldn’t be more wrong.

First, there is already a website — www.publicnoticepa.com — where Pennsylvania’s newspapers upload their public notices at no additional cost to the taxpayer. A government-run website would cost money for personnel, IT, security, archiving and other related expenditures, which would certainly cost the taxpayer more money than advertising in the local newspaper. Why have the state government pay to operate a website when a free one is already in use?

Plus — and we hear from many of you who fall into this category regularly — not everyone has access to or the ability to use the internet. In fact, a recent study shows that approximately 29 percent of all Pennsylvanians do not use the internet at all.

Going to an all-online system would disproportionately affect seniors as the same study indicates 36 percent of seniors don’t use the internet at all and 49 percent — nearly half! — of seniors do not have broadband access at home. There are also higher numbers of non-usage by rural residents, minorities, low-income individuals and the disabled. And we haven’t even mentioned certain religious groups like the Amish who use the internet exceedingly rarely.

Having the notices in newspapers allows those who cannot or do not have regular internet access a chance to see what is going on. Those same newspapers already upload notices to a website, so those who would prefer to access them online can do so right now.

It also ensures the participation of an independent party in the notice process. Allowing the government to run a centralized website puts the government in control of the process from start to finish.

That’s a recipe for abuse, misuse and corruption.

And how often have stories of various cyber attacks been in the news recently? Having a website serve as the only centralized location for important public notices is practically an engraved invitation for hackers to do their best to cripple the system.

We’re not somehow claiming that every person in Pennsylvania reads a newspaper regularly. But 82 percent of adults in the state read a newspaper at least once a week, either in print or online. That’s a lot better than many government websites that have such limited web traffic, it’s not able to be measured.

In an era where government is more distrusted than ever before, more transparency is needed, not less, especially when moving in that direction is the most cost-efficient option.

We urge all of Sen. Eichelberger’s colleagues in the state capitol to reject this bill in the best interests of the taxpaying citizens they serve.

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