Legislature approves bill aimed to protecting Capitol employees who allege sexual harassment.

SACRAMENTO — Employees of the state Legislature are one signature away from gaining long-sought whistleblower protections.

On Monday afternoon, the Assembly passed an amended version of AB 403, the California Legislative Employee Whistleblower Protection Act, by a 74-0 vote. The bill codifies for the first time rules protecting employees who disclose sexual harassment or assault.

The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, introduced versions of the bill every year between 2014 and 2017. Each year, the bill died in a Senate committee.

Then, in October, more than 140 women working in state politics signed the #WeSaidEnough letter detailing their experiences with sexual harassment in Sacramento. The leaders of the group issued an official support letter for AB 403 on Jan. 31.

Before the vote, Melendez recognized the black-clad members of #WeSaidEnough who ringed the Assembly balcony for speaking out on the issue.

“If they hadn’t done so, I’m sure we would not be voting on this bill today,” Melendez said.

“I personally do not know a woman in the workforce who has not been the victim of sexual harassment,” she added.

Rather than kill the bill, this time the state Senate sent back legislation that was arguably tougher than the version passed by the Assembly last year.

Like the original, the bill lays out “a specific process for legislative employees who report legal and ethical violations,” in addition to the protections offered by the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.

It also states that legislators or staff who interfere with employees’ protected disclosures or retaliate against whistleblowers can personally face “civil and criminal liability,” including up to a year in prison.

But the Senate overhauled the bill’s language last month, making it potentially harder for violators to evade.

The new language is more specific about what constitutes interference, harassment and “protective disclosures” that could trigger the law. References to sexual harassment were also added, as well as language clarifying how the identities of whistleblowers should be protected.

The revised bill also simplified the reporting requirements, and calls on whistleblowers to report to the Rules Committee in each house instead of the Legislative Ethics Committee.

Perhaps most importantly, at least for current legislative employees, AB 403 became an “urgency” bill requiring a two-thirds vote in each house. That means it will become law when Gov. Jerry Brown signs it, as he is expected to do. If it hadn’t been amended, the bill would have gone into effect next Jan. 1.

The Senate passed AB 403 by a 38-0 vote on Thursday, but not before several Republican legislators chided the Senate’s Democratic leadership.

“Sadly it has taken four years for this bill, or any whistleblower language, to make it to this floor,” said Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine. “I don’t know why leadership wouldn’t want it to come to the floor.”

No one spoke against AB 403 on the Assembly floor, but several legislators suggested next steps. For instance, Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, urged his colleagues to update the Legislative Open Records Act, which some say was an impediment to Capitol harassment being reported earlier.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, said she would like to see additional legislation that would add a presumption that any adverse consequences suffered by an employee in the period just after a complaint would be presumed to be related to that complaint unless proven otherwise.

One potentially awkward moment came when Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, spoke in favor of the bill while also seeking to defend himself from allegations that surfaced on Friday. A document released by the Legislature showed two women had complained in 2013 that Allen had touched them in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.

“Trust me, I know that sometimes allegations can make great headlines, and sometimes even minor misunderstandings can create turmoil,” Allen said.