Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SJR6 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Rodríguez S.J.R. No. 6
2	2
3	3
4	4	SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
5	5	proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Sexual
6	6	Harassment Oversight Commission.
7	7	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. The Texas Constitution is amended by adding
9	9	Article XVIII to read as follows:
10	10	ARTICLE XVIII
11	11	Sec. 1. In this article:
12	12	(1) "Commission" means the Sexual Harassment
13	13	Oversight Commission.
14	14	(2) "Legislative employee" means an employee of the
15	15	senate, the house of representatives, or a legislative service
16	16	agency, including:
17	17	(A) legislative aides to members;
18	18	(B) legislative interns; or
19	19	(C) volunteer staff.
20	20	(3) "State agency" means a board, commission, office,
21	21	department, or other agency in the executive, judicial, or
22	22	legislative branch of state government. The term does include
23	23	institutions of higher education.
24	24	(4) "Third party" means a newsperson, lobbyist, or
25	25	member of the general public who has business at the State Capitol
26	26	or who is doing business with legislative service agencies, the
27	27	senate, or the house of representatives.
28	28	Sec. 2. (a) The Sexual Harassment Oversight Commission is
29	29	established.
30	30	(b) The commission is composed of five members as follows:
31	31	(1) one member appointed by the governor;
32	32	(2) one member appointed by the lieutenant governor;
33	33	(3) one member appointed by the speaker of the house of
34	34	representatives;
35	35	(4) one member appointed by the president of the State
36	36	Bar of Texas who is a licensed attorney specializing in employment
37	37	law; and
38	38	(5) one member appointed by the president of the
39	39	largest union representing employees of state agencies.
40	40	Sec. 3. (a) Members of the commission serve four-year
41	41	terms.
42	42	(b) A vacancy on the commission shall be filled in the same
43	43	manner as the original appointment.
44	44	Sec. 4. The commission shall:
45	45	(1) in consultation with each legislative standing
46	46	committee with primary jurisdiction over administration, human
47	47	resources staff employed by the legislature, and any legislative
48	48	staff attorneys who specialize in labor law, establish a
49	49	standardized sexual harassment policy for persons involved in the
50	50	work of the legislature;
51	51	(2) publish the policy established under Subdivision
52	52	(1) of this section on the public Internet websites of the house of
53	53	representatives and the senate;
54	54	(3) recommend to state agencies minimum standards for
55	55	sexual harassment policies;
56	56	(4) review and investigate all complaints of
57	57	violations of the commission's sexual harassment policy submitted
58	58	to the commission; and
59	59	(5) impose appropriate sanctions against persons who
60	60	violate the commission's sexual harassment policy.
61	61	Sec. 5. The sexual harassment policy under Section 4 of this
62	62	article must:
63	63	(1) include a clear definition of sexual harassment;
64	64	(2) apply to legislators, legislative employees, and
65	65	third parties;
66	66	(3) include a clear statement prohibiting retaliation
67	67	for submitting a complaint to the commission;
68	68	(4) include a statement providing confidentiality, to
69	69	the extent possible, for all persons involved with a complaint
70	70	submitted to the commission;
71	71	(5) include a procedure for obtaining assistance from
72	72	an independent investigator who is not involved with the work of the
73	73	legislature in investigating a sexual harassment complaint, if
74	74	warranted;
75	75	(6) include an appeals procedure; and
76	76	(7) provide notice that a complainant is not precluded
77	77	from also filing a complaint with the federal Equal Employment
78	78	Opportunity Commission or the Texas Workforce Commission for the
79	79	same conduct.
80	80	Sec. 6. The commission may receive classified information
81	81	and issue subpoenas to investigate complaints of violations of the
82	82	commission's sexual harassment policy under Section 4 of this
83	83	article submitted to the commission.
84	84	Sec. 7. The commission shall adopt sanctions that may be
85	85	imposed on a person found by the commission to have violated the
86	86	commission's sexual harassment policy under Section 4 of this
87	87	article.
88	88	Sec. 8. (a) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered
89	89	year, the commission shall prepare a report that includes:
90	90	(1) a description of each complaint of a violation of
91	91	the commission's sexual harassment policy under Section 4 of this
92	92	article submitted to the commission, including the commission's
93	93	conclusions regarding and response to the complaint and excluding
94	94	any confidential information;
95	95	(2) a review of sexual harassment policies adopted by
96	96	state agencies, including each agency's complaint investigation
97	97	procedures; and
98	98	(3) recommendations to prevent sexual harassment.
99	99	(b) The commission shall submit reports under Subsection
100	100	(a) of this section to the chairs of each legislative standing
101	101	committee with primary jurisdiction over administration, the
102	102	governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
103	103	representatives.
104	104	(c) The commission shall publish reports under Subsection
105	105	(a) of this section on the public Internet websites of the senate
106	106	and the house of representatives.
107	107	SECTION 2. The following temporary provision is added to
108	108	the Texas Constitution:
109	109	TEMPORARY PROVISION. (a) This temporary provision applies to
110	110	the constitutional amendment proposed by the 86th Legislature,
111	111	Regular Session, 2019, providing for the establishment of the
112	112	Sexual Harassment Oversight Commission.
113	113	(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of
114	114	Article XVIII of this constitution, the relevant appointing
115	115	authorities shall appoint the members of the Sexual Harassment
116	116	Oversight Commission.
117	117	(c) As soon as practicable after at least three members are
118	118	appointed, the Sexual Harassment Oversight Commission shall adopt a
119	119	sexual harassment policy under Section 4, Article XVIII, of this
120	120	constitution.
121	121	(d) Article XVIII of this constitution applies only to
122	122	conduct that occurs on or after the date the Sexual Harassment
123	123	Oversight Commission adopts the initial sexual harassment policy
124	124	under Section 4 of that article.
125	125	(e) This temporary provision expires November 1, 2020.
126	126	SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
127	127	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 5, 2019.
128	128	The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
129	129	proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing the
130	130	Sexual Harassment Oversight Commission."