Authorities launch inquiry into Statehouse sexual harassment

Providence — State authorities said Wednesday they have launched an inquiry in response to a Rhode Island lawmaker saying that a higher-ranking legislator told her sexual favors would allow her bills to go further.

Democratic Attorney General Peter Kilmartin’s office and state police said they are working together to conduct what they termed a “review” and “inquiry” after state Rep. Teresa Tanzi came forward. The agencies did not elaborate and said they would not comment further.

Tanzi, a Democrat elected in 2010, has not identified the legislator who made the comment or said when it happened. She told The Providence Journal that she had experienced sexual harassment at the Statehouse.

“I have been told sexual favors would allow my bills to go further,” Tanzi said, adding that the lawmaker who made the comment was “not someone who was my equal . ... It was someone who had a higher-ranking position.”

Tanzi told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she had not yet spoken to state police or the attorney general and she declined to say whether she planned to do so. She said she was focused on looking at possible changes in the law, such as improving protections for nontraditional workers in jobs as varied as legislators and Lyft drivers.

Tanzi spoke out Tuesday as thousands of other women came forward to say they, too, had been victims of sexual assault or harassment. It was part of a call to action that trended on social media using #metoo following Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s downfall over allegations of sexual misconduct spanning decades.

The state Republican Party on Wednesday called on state and federal authorities to investigate what they termed “a sex-for-legislation racket.”