Make harassment policy stronger
State legislators are hard at work on a new sexual harassment policy designed to protect staffers, members of the public and others who take part in the complicated process of lawmaking. With recent allegations (and more than some confirmation) of misconduct by politicians in New Mexico and the nation, an update to the policy is overdue. It has not been revised since 2008.
The biggest change is a welcome one — expanding the policy to cover all who participate in the process, including lobbyists and members of the public as well as lawmakers and legislative staffers. The new policy also makes the reporting process clearer and sets firmer deadlines for the handling of complaints.
The draft policy can be read at nmlegis.gov; comments are being accepted there as well. They are needed, because the policy still is not strong enough. Most critical is establishing an outside group to hear complaints. As written, the policy would have legislative staff or lawmakers themselves deciding how to handle complaints. That’s not enough. An independent body needs to hear and investigate allegations of harassment. Victims need a safe, third-party outlet even to begin to have confidence in the system.
As GOP Rep. Kelly Fajardo put it: “I do not believe we should be policing ourselves.” She is correct that such complaints would be better handled by the proposed independent ethics commission, needed now as never before.
Lawmakers need to be unafraid to let the doings of the Legislature be examined by outsiders, people able to assess actions and recommend sanctions with fewer ties to those involved. Such a system would create trust in the process and remove any cloud of suspicions that lawmakers will protect (or punish) their own.
The days of keeping things quiet must end. Victims of sexual harassment, in particular, need to believe they will be heard and their complaints handled fairly. Consequences must be swift, and in some cases severe. Settlements should not be kept private. Taxpayers, too, have an interest both in how laws are made and how their dollars are spent.
Change is definitely in the air. Democratic Sen. Michael Padilla, formerly majority whip in the Senate, has been stripped of his position because of harassment lawsuits from 2010, stemming from work he did for the city of Albuquerque. His fellow Democrats removed Padilla from party leadership last weekend; he already had dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, despite being the acknowledged front-runner.
What makes this development groundbreaking is that Padilla’s history was known before he won the position as whip and announced his run for statewide office. Only now, with the issue of previously unacknowledged sexual harassment in the public eye, has Padilla been held to account. For now, he remains in the Senate. Eventually, the voters of his district will decide his future.
Progress is taking place. For New Mexico to engage fully in a world where harassment is halted and women feel safe at work and in the Legislature — all the time — lawmakers putting together an improved policy on sexual harassment should insist on third-party investigations. A revised version must be put together quickly, since lawmakers want the new policy in place before the 2018 session begins next month. Make the right improvements. Otherwise, victims won’t trust the system, weakening the new policy even before it takes hold.