Bill to prevent sex harassment by lobbyists passes committee

SACRAMENTO — An Assembly committee voted 4-0 Wednesday to advance a bill designed to prevent sexual harassment by lobbyists in the Capitol.

The author of AB 2055 agreed to several amendments, including removing the most serious punishment: a lobbying ban of up to four years. The bill will be clarified to only apply to harassment committed on the job.

But members of the Elections and Redistricting Committee who voted for the bill said they were skeptical of it as currently drafted — especially the portion that would put the state’s political watchdog in charge of enforcing harassment policies against lobbyists.

Meanwhile, an organization that represents lobbyists vowed to oppose the bill even after the amendments. In testimony, Institute for Governmental Advocates President Christy Bouma implied portions of AB 2055 might be unconstitutional.

“We are just professionals exercising what is a constitutional right of free speech,” Bouma told the committee. “Suggesting that somehow we can be banned from exercising this constitutional given right is troubling.”

The Institute for Governmental Advocates is the only group that has registered opposition to AB 2055. Bouma did not return calls seeking clarification of her comments, such as whether her group would consider litigation.

She reminded the committee she was one of the 140 original signers of the #WeSaidEnough letter that kicked off the sexual harassment scandal in the Capitol in October.

According to an Institute for Governmental Advocates opposition letter quoted in the committee’s analysis, “AB 2055 misdirects its focus solely on lobbyists who are more commonly the victims of unwanted sexual advances or harassment — not the perpetrators of such conduct.”

The letter noted that lobbying firms “are already subject to numerous state laws concerning sexual harassment in the workplace.”

Committee Chairman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, said it was important to better address harassment between people who work for different employers.

“Because they are not employees of the Legislature, there are challenges over how to respond to reports of sexual harassment by lobbyists,” Berman said.

The Institute for Governmental Advocates has its own code of conduct, but it does not address sexual harassment. The group’s treasurer, Bob Giroux, testified that registered lobbyists must take the same sexual harassment training as legislators and legislative staff. He said the ethics committees in each house are already tasked with taking complaints about harassment by lobbyists.

The bill’s author, Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-Marin County, noted that there have been numerous allegations of harassment against lobbyists, including by the signers of the #WeSaidEnough letter.

He also said current policies to prevent harassment by lobbyists were not working. Levine told the story of a young female legislative staffer who was repeatedly harassed by a lobbyist. The Legislature has fired staffers for harassment, but the only recourse the staffer had was to ask her chief of staff to call the lobbying firm, he said.

“There is nowhere to go to make sure someone is held accountable,” Levine said.

The bill would put enforcement power in the hands of the Fair Political Practices Commission. This agency already regulates lobbyists, under its mission of enforcing the Political Reform Act of 1974. The act defines who is considered a lobbyist, and lays out several standards of conduct for registered lobbyists.

Levine said he was open to someone else enforcing the rules, but added that lobbyists have not suggested another entity of offered any other amendments.

“I can’t see expanding the jurisdiction of an entity that has other scope of duties to take on this role when that’s the function of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing,” said Mary-Alice Coleman, a Davis-based attorney who has filed several lawsuits against the Legislature on behalf of former employees.

Coleman noted that employers have an obligation to address allegations of harassment by outside entities, such as clients or business partners.

However, one lobbyist who is a prominent member of the #WeSaidEnough organization sued her former employer, saying she was fired for reporting and speaking out about harassment. Lewis v. Wilke Fleury Hoffelt Gould & Birney LLP, 00224671 (Sacramento Super. Ct., filed Jan. 2, 2018).