The Massachusetts Senate passed a measure Thursday that would make the records of the MBTA pension fund open to the public.

The amendment, part of a broader bill to expand access to the state’s public records, would specifically require “any document made or received’’ by the secretive $1.6 billion retirement fund for transit workers to be considered a public record.

The measure appeared to go further than past, failed, efforts by the Legislature to require the T pension fund to follow the rules of other pensions for public workers.

The pension fund was organized as a private trust and has long refused to disclose its records, beyond its yearly investment return and an annual report that generally is published 12 months after the end of each year.

The rule would apply to the T retirement board, “or any other legal entity, public or private,’’ that receives funds from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for payment or administration of pensions.

The measure comes as the authority is struggling financially and after a critical report last summer on the finances of the taxpayer-supported pension fund, which has $2.4 billion in future liabilities to retirees.

“Disclosures about the stability of the MBTA pension fund are paramount and deserve to be subject to this records reform law and transparency,’’ Senate minority leader Bruce Tarr, a Republican from Gloucester who was a sponsor of the amendment, said in a statement.

Steve Crawford, a spokesman for the T pension board, declined to comment on the legislation.

The Senate version of the bill must still be matched with a House version that passed last year. Governor Charlie Baker has previously proposed making T retirement records public.

Steve Grossman, the former state treasurer who is one of three recent Baker appointees to the MBTA retirement board, said, “Having fully supported the application of open records at the T pension fund since I was appointed, I could not be more delighted by the passage of today’s amendment.’’

He also said, “The taxpayers of Massachusetts deserve complete transparency when their hard-earned dollars are being spent or invested.’’

Grossman, as treasurer, was chairman of the larger state pension fund, which has $60 billion in assets and makes most of its records public.

Wall Street whistle-blower Harry Markopolos and Boston University finance professor Mark Williams last summer delivered a critical report on the T pension’s finances to federal authorities. According to their findings, the pension fund may be overstating its assets by as much as $470 million.

The pension board has said it stands by its financial reports and hired an outside consultant to conduct an audit that is currently underway.

State Senator William Brownsberger, a Democrat from Belmont, opposed elements of the public records bill Thursday, including the amendment to make T pension records public.

In an interview after the session, Brownsberger said, “I opposed it because I think we’ve already been down this path and lost legally.’’ He said he does favor transparency.

Brownsberger in 2013 had himself proposed a measure to open the T pension’s records, but reversed his position a year later after the state’s supervisor of public records ruled, in response to requests from the Globe and other news outlets, that his measure was not specific enough.

Brownsberger helped craft a separate agreement with the Boston Carmen’s Union to release the amounts of pension payouts to members and to improve the fund’s annual report to meet a higher standard.

The Boston Globe is suing the T pension fund board to release records related to a $25 million hedge fund loss in 2012 that it failed to disclose to the public or its retirees for more than a year.

Beth Healy can be reached at beth.healy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @HealyBeth.