The open records bill, which met unanimous approval in the state Senate yesterday, may soon shed light on previously guarded Penn State financial information.

The bill would make all records in the commonwealth -- including additional salaries and financial information of Penn State employees and administrators beyond those who earn pensions from the state -- open for public examination unless the government can prove they should be kept private.

Penn State President Graham Spanier wrote in an e-mail that, while dissatisfied with the bill, the university would follow it if enacted into law.

"Penn State will, upon the effective date of the legislation, be required to disclose the salaries of its senior officers, with information equivalent to what would be on an IRS 990 form, and in addition, the salaries of the 25 most highly-compensated employees," he wrote.

The legislation would also release more than just Joe Paterno's base salary of $512,664 from the university, said Don Houser, chief of staff for Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, who helped draft the bill.

"The big question has always been ... 'What is Joe Paterno's salary?' " he said.

A November ruling handed down by the state Supreme Court required the university to release salaries of employees who receive pensions from the state.

In November, Robert Gentzel, the State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) communications director, said the released figure is not inclusive of other compensation such as money from television and apparel contracts and other bonuses Paterno and other football bowl subdivision coaches may earn. Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers also said in November that the release of those amounts could only come at the university's approval, which would not happen.

Spanier wrote that he still believes salaries should be private.

" ... the disclosure of the salaries of certain faculty members will not help Penn State from a standpoint of morale and competition with private universities in particular," he wrote. "But we have been very cooperative in saying that we understand the public desire for such information and will comply with the law."

Spanier wrote in a July 2007 editorial on his Web site, president.psu.edu, that because Penn State receives less than 10 percent of its budget from state funding, it and the three other state-related universities should not be singled out in the bill.

"No other state-aided universities or private universities that receive appropriated funds are included in the legislation as drafted. These other universities receive tens of millions of dollars in state appropriation every year," he wrote.

Penn State spokeswoman Annemarie Mountz wrote in an e-mail that she could not speculate as to what effect the bill would have until it is signed by Gov. Ed Rendell.

According to a press release, universities and state agencies specified in the bill must give information from their IRS Form 990s. This applies to universities regardless of filing requirement, said Melissa Melewsky, media law attorney at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

The IRS Form 990 is an annual report that supplies expenditure information about a filer's financial condition, according to the Internal Revenue Service Web site, irs.gov.

Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said he supports the bill.

He could offer no specific date for the House vote but said it should occur before the summer recess.

He called the bill an "evolutionary document" and said it can be revisited as technology advances.

Tor Michaels, chief of staff for Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, said that only for a "vigorous reason" should records be kept closed, but at the same time personal information must be kept safe.

"It should pass. It better," Michaels said.

Melewsky said her organization receives more than 2,000 calls annually regarding problems accessing records.

If reporters are having difficulty finding information, then citizens could be, as well, Melewsky said .

"The current law ... is one of the worst in the nation," she said.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester/Delaware, drafted the bill, officially referred to as Senate Bill 1, with Corman. It was initially introduced on March 29, Houser said.