HARRISBURG — The state Senate on Tuesday gave final legislative approval to a drastic overhaul of Pennsylvania's public access law, which critics have often dismissed as one of the nation's weakest.

Changing the Right-to-Know Law became a central element of the reform agenda that lawmakers embraced after two dozen of their colleagues were ousted in the wake of the 2005 pay raise debacle.

The bill, which passed the House on Monday and the Senate on Tuesday, aims to provide people with far greater information about the actions of their state and local governments. Gov. Ed Rendell's office said he will sign it.

"What this proves is when House and Senate, Democrat and Republican get together and put their heads together instead of banging their heads against one another, anything is possible," said Sen. Mike O'Pake, D-Berks. "We hope that this bodes well for other major pieces of legislation."

The bill that emerged — after numerous revisions over 13 months — would force agencies to disclose all records beyond a list of exceptions, instead of the current law's narrow list of public records that are available.

It also would require agencies to prove records they do not want to release can be secret, where current law puts that legal burden on the public to prove why a record must be disclosed.

"We set out to replace an old, antiquated law with a law that everybody can work with that reverses the presumption, and we met that goal," said Pennsylvania Newspaper Association lobbyist Deb Musselman.

A central office would set policies and deal with disputes about what should be released. Penalties would be stiffer for agencies that violate the law. And it would require state agencies to respond faster when people request records.

The revisions would improve access to 911 tapes and transcripts, mandate access to many of the General Assembly's records and expand the law to the "state-related" universities: Penn State, Pitt, Lincoln and Temple.

The current law defines public records so narrowly that officials have been able to turn down requests for everything from lists of dangerous intersections to packets that are distributed to school board members before meetings.

Critics say current law has a cumbersome and costly system of appealing when requests are rejected and comparatively weak penalties for officials who violate it.

The legislation emerged as a major reform element after about two dozen lawmakers were voted out in the wake of a huge legislative pay raise rushed through the General Assembly in the middle of one summer night in 2005. The lawmakers' pay raise was later repealed.