It's time for a new open records law in Pennsylvania. Not next week. Not next month. Now.

The issue has been the topic of countless meetings involving legislators, government officials, interest groups including the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association and citizens. The measure that could come before the House of Representatives for a concurrence vote this week has had wide airing and has been revised, refined, tweaked and improved.

It is a huge advancement over the 51-year-old, not-even-close-to-open records law now on the books.

Here are some of the important ways Senate Bill 1 differs from the current law, all reasons for House members to pass this law and send it on for Gov. Ed Rendell's signature:

• Records of the Legislature, executive and judicial branches, county and municipal agencies would be presumed open. This is the most significant change because it says the public is entitled to records of government and, if access is denied, officials must prove why that's justified.

• It's the first time the Legislature would be covered by the state's open records law, including salary and expense information, audits, staff manuals and written policies, proposed regulations and other data.

• It shortens the response time for agencies to five days, imposes new reporting requirements for state-related universities and covers community colleges, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The bill is not perfect. It does not keep autopsy records open, as they are under current law. But the Senate made improvements over the last House version by keeping birth dates in the records, allowing release of 911 recordings in certain circumstances and saying correspondence between legislators and lobbyists is public.

Despite the bill's broad approach to openness, it is careful to balance privacy rights. For the House to reject it now would be completely unreasonable.