A landmark bill that would make New Jersey one of the first states in the nation to outlaw sexual harassment in political campaigns is back under consideration in Trenton three months after sponsors pulled it amid disagreements over what it should say.
Advocates say the legislation is sorely needed in state and local political campaigns where sexual misconduct often goes unreported and there are no human resources departments for campaign workers and candidates to turn to if they are sexually harassed.
The heart of the proposed law (S3389) calls for spending $2 million in state funds to create the Office on Discrimination and Harassment Prevention inside the state’s nonpartisan Election Law Enforcement Commission, which oversees campaign finance and lobbying laws.
The three-person office would investigate claims of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct, as well as develop an anti-sexual harassment policy that campaigns would be required to adopt.
An identical bill was also introduced in the state Assembly. But sponsors paused the bills in March after some political insiders criticized the legislation.
Some said the original version of the bill unnecessarily excluded unpaid and short-time campaign workers, who would have little or no training on how to report sexual misconduct. Others said the legislation also gave too much power to three elected officials — the governor, senate president and assembly speaker — to pick who would serve on an advisory board helping guide the new Office on Discrimination and Harassment Prevention.
Earlier this week, the Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in New Jersey Politics held a virtual hearing to discuss amendments to the legislation.
Under the new plan:
- The governor, senate president and assembly speaker would still get to appoint members of the advisory board. But the names of the appointees must come from community organizations known for their work advocating for women and minorities, according to amendments to the bill.
- Gov. Phil Murphy’s seven nominees to the advisory board must be suggested by: the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the Center for American Women and Politics and the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University; the New Jersey State Bar Association; the state chapter of the NAACP; New Jersey Latino Action Network; and one person with “expertise in the area of harassment,” according to the revised bill.
- Paid and unpaid campaign workers who log fewer than four days on a political campaign must sign a form acknowledging they have read the anti-sexual harassment law. The form would contain the name and contact information of the campaign’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment coordinator should the campaign workers want to file a complaint.
Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, co-chair of the workgroup and a prime sponsor of the bill, acknowledged that critics of the legislation wanted all campaign workers to undergo sexual harassment training, even if they were high school or college students who only volunteered for a few days. But that was not included in the amended bill.
“We felt it was a burden that would be too difficult to enforce,” Weinberg, the state Senate Majority Leader, said at Monday’s virtual hearing.
No one attending the virtual meeting commented on the revised legislation. But some critics said the bill is still flawed.
Jasmine Story, an attorney and Eatontown councilwoman, questioned why the legislation still includes a rule that says all investigations of sexual harassment must be completed within 60 days of when a complaint is filed. That tight time frame would likely be in the heart of a political campaign, when victims and key players might be less likely to cooperate with an investigation because they don’t want a scandal tainting a campaign before an election, she said.
“As a woman of color my concerns and experiences continue to be dismissed. I raised legit concerns regarding the merits of the bill and Sen. Weinberg has yet to even acknowledge or address it,” Story said.
Tiffany Kaszuba — a former congressional candidate who dropped out of her 2019 race after she said she was stalked and bullied by a campaign volunteer — also said lawmakers failed to address problems in the bill.
“It is clear that this working group is disinterested in doing the work it would take to create legislation that would actually prevent violence against women in New Jersey politics,” Kaszuba said. “These most recent edits are yet another attempt to appear like they are doing something, rather than do the hard work of bringing together the right experts, having the tough conversations, and crafting strong legislation.”
The idea of drastically overhauling how New Jersey handles sexual harassment complaints in political campaigns was first proposed in January in a 76-page report by the Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in New Jersey Politics.
The workgroup of female lawmakers and prominent women in government was created by Weinberg after NJ Advance Media published a 2019 report on NJ.com and in The Star-Ledger and its affiliated newspapers detailing widespread and unreported sexual assault, misconduct and harassment in New Jersey politics.
Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, also convened a nine-member Working Group on Campaign Harassment Legislation in 2019 after Kaszuba dropped out of her congressional race in Monmouth County after she said the county Democratic party failed to address the stalking and harassment by a campaign volunteer.
Weinberg and Gopal are sponsors of the legislation proposing the new methods of investigating sexual harassment on campaigns. But Kaszuba, who co-chaired Gopal’s working group that helped craft the bill, said many of her contributions were ignored in the current version of the legislation.
The bill is likely going to be the subject of a public hearing next week, giving the public several more opportunities to offer criticism and suggestions, Weinberg said.
Weinberg and other workgroup members said they believe this was the first legislation of its kind directly focused on preventing and addressing sexual harassment during the high-pressure, loosely-organized world of political campaigns.
Weinberg, who has announced she is retiring in January after a 30-year political career, is trying to shepherd the sexual harassment bill and legislation on domestic violence through the state Legislature in her final months as the state Senate’s most powerful female leader.
Weinberg and the Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny had an easier time getting a related group of sexual harassment and sexual assault bills signed into law by Murphy in April. That seven-bill package, which moved through the Senate and Assembly relatively quickly, included new laws that require sexual assault victims to get copies of police reports and be notified when prosecutors are filing charges against their assailants.
The new laws also created a “restorative justice” program for sexual assault victims who don’t want to go to court and additional procedures to make law enforcement more responsive to people who file complaints.
Tell us your experiences with allegations of sexual harassment in New Jersey: Here’s how to share your story.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com.
Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.