By Tim King
Protecting people from sexual harassment in the work place is a non-partisan issue. We all agree that women should not be victimized, demeaned, and terrorized by harassers and predators. But somehow our Minnesota State Legislators have managed to turn the matter into a Republicans versus Democrats issue. Rather then figuring out how to protect people from becoming victims they've turned to debating the merits of two opposing policies.
The Republicans support using the regular legislative committee process to develop a self policing policy for addressing sexual harassment. Beginning in February The House Subcommittee on Workplace Safety and Respect begin reviewing the current policies of the Minnesota House of Representatives regarding sexual harassment. They also began to listen to testimony from knowledgeable people from inside the Legislature and from outside experts.
Since the House is controlled by Republicans the Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Joyce Peppin. Rep. Peppin, the Republican Majority Leader, is second in command among Republicans in the House. Melissa Hortman, the Majority Leader for the Democrats, is also on the seven member Subcommittee. The Subcommittee has met four times since February and, as of April 9th, there are no scheduled meetings. The Subcommittee has issued no proposals or reports regarding its four meetings. Some Republicans inaccurately refer to the Subcommittee as a Sexual Harassment Task Force.
You can learn more about the committee here http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cmte/minutes/minutelist.aspx?comm=90029&ls_year=90
The Democrats have been championing a Sexual Harassment Task Force made up of experts exclusively from outside of the Legislature. Last November Rep. Erin Maye Quade and Rep. Jamie Becker Finn sent a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton and other state leaders requesting that such a task force be established. On February 26th Rep. Hortman introduced HF3030 - a bill would establish the task force Maye Quade and Becker Finn had asked for. The bill specifically forbids legislators from being on the task force. The bill had no companion bill in the Senate. Without a companion it wasn't going anywhere. You can read HF3030 here https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF3030&ssn=0&y=2018
Hortman's HF3030 had numerous co-sponsors but it never received a committee hearing. It was informally discussed in the Subcommittee meeting on March 12th, however. So was Hortman's request to change House Rules and establish a task force using House Rules rather then legislation.
Presumably, Hortman felt she wasn't getting anywhere. So, on March 29th she scheduled a debate on HF3030 on the House floor. The bill had never been heard by a committee so, before it was debated House Rules had to be suspended. The March 29th House agenda included this item: Motion to Suspend the Rules in Order to Take up HF3030.
I've had an opportunity to watch the video of the debate over the motion to suspend the rules. I was moved by the conviction and passion of the speakers for both sides. I want to thank Representative John Poston for sending the video to me. You can watch it below -- use your curser to advance the video to what you want to see.
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hjvid/90/890494
Judge for yourself, but I take away a number of thoughts from the debate. Rep. Peppin's assertion that keeping the management of the House of Representatives in the House is credible. She says that the Legislature was elected by the people too do the people's work -- so they should do it. She also says that the Subcommittee is doing its work and that it will issue recommendations. That's credible. The Subcommittee has heard testimony from many people.
Peppin's personal attack on Hortman is not defensible, however. Her repeated claim that she is disappointed in Hortman seems highly partisan and destines the entire process to failure. Additionally, her assertion that if the Republicans can't work with the Democrat's on a solution to sexual assault they will go it alone, is the assertion of a bully.
Many of the co-sponsors of HF3030 testified in favor of suspending the rules. They said that the process was too slow and that women were suffering every day. They asked why HF3030 could not be debated now - wouldn't that demonstrate a show of non-partisanship? They expressed deep concern for the risk of harassment for lobbyists and the general public. And Rep. Becker Finn said simply that the Subcommittee process had failed.
The vote to suspend the rules failed on a largely party line vote. I asked Representatives John Poston and Ron Kresha why they voted not to suspend the rules. Rep. Poston said that suspending the rules is only done rarely and for only deeply urgent issues.
"I did not vote against a task force, but did vote against suspending house rules to debate a task force," Poston said. "We all ready have a bi-partisan committee working on this issue. There have been a lot of different opinions on how this should be handled. I wish we could just work together to get this put behind us and to move forward on things that are important for Minnesota!"
"I voted to not suspend the rules," Rep. Kresha said. "The motion was to suspend the rules and go around the committee process. This ultimately takes away the public’s right to give testimony and provide input. Majority leader Peppin is working on establishing a task force and providing recommendations in her rules committee — where it should be. Also we have attended implicit bias training and sexual harassment training this year."
I also asked Alex Hering his thoughts on the matter. Alex is running against John Poston for the District 9A House seat.
"I am in support of a Workplace Safety and Respect committee," he wrote me. "I am not clear that it would have the teeth required to train and enforce what seems to be lacking between legislators. I don't have a recommendation on who could provide an outside watch for disrespectful adult delinquents besides voters. The safety issues and policy against harassment in our legislature must be a priority but I need to learn more about this rather than just the spooned bits we are fed."
The vote not to suspend the rules probably killed HF3030. I expect Representatives Kesha and Poston, and their Republican colleagues, understood that. Ultimately, they were voting in favor of the Peppin approach and against the Hortman approach. But HF3030 was going to wither and blow away without a Senate companion bill anyway. So what was the beautiful fuss about?
Shortly after the vote Rep. Becker Finn sent out a tweet with the roster of votes. The tweet said: "These are the people who voted against moving forward on a sexual harassment task force". The tweet lacks context and you're normal red-blooded partisan DFLer (like me) is going respond to that by thinking that Republicans are Neanderthals. She was feeding us, as Alex Hering says, tiny spoonfuls of red meat. Just enough to keep us snarling at our Republican neighbors.
Becker Finn's inflammatory tweet added to the nails put in the Non-partisan coffin by Rep. Peppin earlier in the day.
Then on April 4th Becker Finn released a press release entitled
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/pressrelease.asp?pressid=19848&party=1&memid=15457
People run in gangs. They form churches, clubs, teams, and political parties all in an attempt to set themselves apart from the other gang or church. But we all know that the important things in life such as cancer, hunger, education, and humiliating the less powerful through sexual intimidation are shared by each of us. Can we not think about safety and dignity of our daughters, sisters, wives, nieces, grand daughters, and friends for awhile. Can we not put aside our habits and patterns of egoism and power seeking just long enough to protect those that we love? The failure at the Legislature to address the threat of sexual harassment is a failure that we all own.
It's
Protecting people from sexual harassment in the work place is a non-partisan issue. We all agree that women should not be victimized, demeaned, and terrorized by harassers and predators. But somehow our Minnesota State Legislators have managed to turn the matter into a Republicans versus Democrats issue. Rather then figuring out how to protect people from becoming victims they've turned to debating the merits of two opposing policies.
The Republicans support using the regular legislative committee process to develop a self policing policy for addressing sexual harassment. Beginning in February The House Subcommittee on Workplace Safety and Respect begin reviewing the current policies of the Minnesota House of Representatives regarding sexual harassment. They also began to listen to testimony from knowledgeable people from inside the Legislature and from outside experts.
Since the House is controlled by Republicans the Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Joyce Peppin. Rep. Peppin, the Republican Majority Leader, is second in command among Republicans in the House. Melissa Hortman, the Majority Leader for the Democrats, is also on the seven member Subcommittee. The Subcommittee has met four times since February and, as of April 9th, there are no scheduled meetings. The Subcommittee has issued no proposals or reports regarding its four meetings. Some Republicans inaccurately refer to the Subcommittee as a Sexual Harassment Task Force.
You can learn more about the committee here http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cmte/minutes/minutelist.aspx?comm=90029&ls_year=90
The Democrats have been championing a Sexual Harassment Task Force made up of experts exclusively from outside of the Legislature. Last November Rep. Erin Maye Quade and Rep. Jamie Becker Finn sent a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton and other state leaders requesting that such a task force be established. On February 26th Rep. Hortman introduced HF3030 - a bill would establish the task force Maye Quade and Becker Finn had asked for. The bill specifically forbids legislators from being on the task force. The bill had no companion bill in the Senate. Without a companion it wasn't going anywhere. You can read HF3030 here https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF3030&ssn=0&y=2018
 |
| Rep. Jamie Becker Finn |
Presumably, Hortman felt she wasn't getting anywhere. So, on March 29th she scheduled a debate on HF3030 on the House floor. The bill had never been heard by a committee so, before it was debated House Rules had to be suspended. The March 29th House agenda included this item: Motion to Suspend the Rules in Order to Take up HF3030.
I've had an opportunity to watch the video of the debate over the motion to suspend the rules. I was moved by the conviction and passion of the speakers for both sides. I want to thank Representative John Poston for sending the video to me. You can watch it below -- use your curser to advance the video to what you want to see.
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hjvid/90/890494
Judge for yourself, but I take away a number of thoughts from the debate. Rep. Peppin's assertion that keeping the management of the House of Representatives in the House is credible. She says that the Legislature was elected by the people too do the people's work -- so they should do it. She also says that the Subcommittee is doing its work and that it will issue recommendations. That's credible. The Subcommittee has heard testimony from many people.
Peppin's personal attack on Hortman is not defensible, however. Her repeated claim that she is disappointed in Hortman seems highly partisan and destines the entire process to failure. Additionally, her assertion that if the Republicans can't work with the Democrat's on a solution to sexual assault they will go it alone, is the assertion of a bully.
 |
| Rep. Joyce Peppin |
The vote to suspend the rules failed on a largely party line vote. I asked Representatives John Poston and Ron Kresha why they voted not to suspend the rules. Rep. Poston said that suspending the rules is only done rarely and for only deeply urgent issues.
"I did not vote against a task force, but did vote against suspending house rules to debate a task force," Poston said. "We all ready have a bi-partisan committee working on this issue. There have been a lot of different opinions on how this should be handled. I wish we could just work together to get this put behind us and to move forward on things that are important for Minnesota!"
"I voted to not suspend the rules," Rep. Kresha said. "The motion was to suspend the rules and go around the committee process. This ultimately takes away the public’s right to give testimony and provide input. Majority leader Peppin is working on establishing a task force and providing recommendations in her rules committee — where it should be. Also we have attended implicit bias training and sexual harassment training this year."
I also asked Alex Hering his thoughts on the matter. Alex is running against John Poston for the District 9A House seat.
"I am in support of a Workplace Safety and Respect committee," he wrote me. "I am not clear that it would have the teeth required to train and enforce what seems to be lacking between legislators. I don't have a recommendation on who could provide an outside watch for disrespectful adult delinquents besides voters. The safety issues and policy against harassment in our legislature must be a priority but I need to learn more about this rather than just the spooned bits we are fed."
The vote not to suspend the rules probably killed HF3030. I expect Representatives Kesha and Poston, and their Republican colleagues, understood that. Ultimately, they were voting in favor of the Peppin approach and against the Hortman approach. But HF3030 was going to wither and blow away without a Senate companion bill anyway. So what was the beautiful fuss about?
Shortly after the vote Rep. Becker Finn sent out a tweet with the roster of votes. The tweet said: "These are the people who voted against moving forward on a sexual harassment task force". The tweet lacks context and you're normal red-blooded partisan DFLer (like me) is going respond to that by thinking that Republicans are Neanderthals. She was feeding us, as Alex Hering says, tiny spoonfuls of red meat. Just enough to keep us snarling at our Republican neighbors.
Becker Finn's inflammatory tweet added to the nails put in the Non-partisan coffin by Rep. Peppin earlier in the day.
Then on April 4th Becker Finn released a press release entitled
Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn to Convene Working Group to Address Sexual Harassment
In it she wrote;
"We gave legislative leaders the benefit of the doubt that this issue would be taken seriously," said Rep. Becker-Finn. "Republican legislators have now gone on record voting against a formal task force to address sexual harassment at the Capitol. Although I would have preferred to work together on this important issue, we have waited over four months for meaningful progress and it is time to move forward."
You can read the full coffin closing press release below:
"We gave legislative leaders the benefit of the doubt that this issue would be taken seriously," said Rep. Becker-Finn. "Republican legislators have now gone on record voting against a formal task force to address sexual harassment at the Capitol. Although I would have preferred to work together on this important issue, we have waited over four months for meaningful progress and it is time to move forward."
You can read the full coffin closing press release below:
People run in gangs. They form churches, clubs, teams, and political parties all in an attempt to set themselves apart from the other gang or church. But we all know that the important things in life such as cancer, hunger, education, and humiliating the less powerful through sexual intimidation are shared by each of us. Can we not think about safety and dignity of our daughters, sisters, wives, nieces, grand daughters, and friends for awhile. Can we not put aside our habits and patterns of egoism and power seeking just long enough to protect those that we love? The failure at the Legislature to address the threat of sexual harassment is a failure that we all own.
It's
Very good research and context. But I do not necessarily agree with your "both sides do it" conclusion. I think the republicans were fully aware of what they were doing. I know Jamie slightly and don't think she is a bomb-thrower. But as I am able I will try to talk with our local legislators to try to get their take on what happened.
ReplyDeletePS: Reading through your post again I think your comments are more nuanced than they appeared to me at first blush. Still, I stand by my original point that I believe Jaimie's outrage is proper.
DeleteI just added an edit to the article to the effect that HF3030 was destined to wither and blow away anyway without a Senate companion. So what was the beautiful fuss for?
DeleteBy the way Vin. Thanks for your comments. Its would be good to have Rep. Finn Becker's thoughts. Like Alex said, we only get spoonfuls of information. For example, Rep. Peppin said the Subcommittee met six times. The record shows only four meetings. Were there more meetings not on the record or as Rep. Peppin wrong? I don't know.
ReplyDelete