Melendez whistleblower protection act passes in Senate

News release from Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez's office:

SACRAMENTO – Assemblywoman Melissa A. Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) announced today the California State Senate passed her Legislative Employee Whistleblower Protection Act, AB 403, with broad bipartisan support.

"We are one step closer to providing victims of sexual harassment the protections they deserve," said Melendez. "No woman, or man, should ever have to risk their careers and livelihood for reporting sexual harassment or any other type of illegal behavior."

Senate Republican Leader Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) presented AB 403 on the floor of the State Senate today.

"As a co-author of Assemblywoman Melendez’s bill, I’m encouraged that the Senate has recognized that business as usual is not going to cut it anymore. Assemblywoman Melendez deserves tremendous credit for resisting repeated attempts to bury her bill over the past four years. She – along with bipartisan allies in the capital community – persisted in pushing this bill through the Senate. The simple truth is that if it wasn’t for their determined efforts, today’s vote would never have happened," said Bates.

Assembly Bill 403 is one of the highest priorities advocates are seeking to end the pattern of sexual harassment and abuse in the state Capitol. The bill will extend common workplace protections to employees of the Legislature who report illegal or unethical behavior.

Melendez has made providing whistleblower protections one of her main priorities since she was elected to office in 2012. Melendez has run four prior iterations of this legislation. Every prior version received unanimous support in the Assembly and subsequent Senate policy committees, only to be held up in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Under current law, the California Whistleblower Protection Act provides protection to state employees in the executive and judicial branches who report any improper or unethical activity. However, employees of the Legislature are not covered under this act.

Assembly Bill 403 is joint authored by Assembly Republican Leader Brian Dahle (R-Bieber); Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus; and Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), Chair of the Joint Committee on Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response, along with 61 co-authors.

AB 403 will be heard next in the State Assembly on Monday.