Brown signs bill to protect whistleblowers
SACRAMENTO — A bill to extend whistleblower protections to Capitol staffers that had been repeatedly shelved in previous years cleared the Legislature on Monday and was promptly signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The legislation by Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) would protect legislative employees who report legal or ethical violations, including sexual harassment, by fellow staff or lawmakers.
“No one should have to decide between keeping their job and reporting abuse,” Melendez said while presenting Assembly Bill 403 on the Assembly floor. It passed on a 74-0 vote to applause in the chamber.
Melendez first introduced the measure in 2014, after a string of ethical scandals in the state Senate led to the unprecedented suspension of three senators. In four attempts, her proposal easily passed the Assembly, only to be held in the Senate Appropriations Committee with little explanation.
The renewed focus on sexual harassment in recent months breathed new life into the bill, with the list of coauthors swelling to more than 60. The measure was amended to more explicitly include protections for staff who are filing reports on sexual harassment and also to include an urgency clause, which makes it go into immediate effect with Brown’s signature.
Assembly members and staff wore black to mark Monday’s vote, the final leg-
islative hurdle for the measure. The bill also became a rallying point for advocates seeking an overhaul to the way the Capitol handles sexual harassment complaints. We Said Enough, a nonprofit group formed by some of the authors of an open letter released in October decrying Capitol culture toward women, lauded its passage.
“We hope that the passage of AB 403 provides some comfort to victims and acts as a warning to perpetrators that harassment and discrimination is unacceptable,” the group said in a statement. “The responsibility to change behavior rests with all of us, and as a community we need to remain committed to continuing the fight for this goal.”
The vote came three days after the Legislature released records on more than a decade’s worth of substantiated sexual harassment claims filed in the Capitol. The disclosure offered the most detailed look yet at how the institution investigates and disciplines complaints of misconduct.
There were 18 substantiated cases of sexual harassment or abuse since 2006, according to the records, and both houses say additional inquiries are ongoing. Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) said the uptick in investigations in 2017 is not a reflection of increased harassment in the Capitol, but of more women coming forward.
“I think that this will have a chilling effect on people who operate in the Capitol, who know that women aren’t going to be silent any longer,” said Friedman, who chairs a committee evaluating the Legislature’s handling of harassment complaints. “They’re willing to come forward, and this Legislature will investigate and we will release the names of people who are committing these kinds of actions.”