Sexual harassment bill advances; House votes on amendment for flood mitigation fund
One bill by Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) addressing sexual harassment in the workplace has been voted out of committee, and others will be discussed today, her office said Monday. Zwiener also voted in recent days to support an amendment to the Texas Constitution to create a state-wide fund for flood mitigation.
Zwiener’s House Bill 2279 was passed unanimously by the House International Relations & Economic Development Committee Monday. It would require the Texas Workforce Commission to accept sexual harassment claims from companies of all sizes. Currently, companies with 14 or fewer employees are exempted from such claims.
“It is our duty to make sure protections, especially sexual harassment protections, extend to each and every Texas worker,” Zwiener said. “We know that sexual harassment can occur in any workplace regardless of the size of the company, yet current law does not property protect individuals at smaller companies. With this bill, we make sure that every Texan has access to a fair and transparent process, which both protects the rights of individual workers and helps small business work environments across Texas.
HB 2279 is one of four bills Zwiener has introduced concerning sexual harassment and assault. Today, Zwiener is scheduled to lay out HB 2672, which relates to rates of sexual assault prosecution and HB 2678, related to the compilation of data about sexual assault, before the House Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee.
Regarding the constitutional amendment, Zwiener was one of those who helped House Joint Resolution 4 to pass overwhelmingly out of the house. If voters approve in November, the amendment would create the Flood Infrastructure Fund for mitigation and drainage projects, and would receive $3.26 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
“As our communities in Hays and Blanco counties continue to grow, we need to invest in smarter, safer ways to manage and mitigate natural disasters such as flooding,” Zwiener said. “By creating this fund, we are planning ahead and equipping our state with the resources necessary to handle the volume of flooding we’ve seen in recent years.”
Speaker of the house Dennis Bonnen (R-Houston) praised the vote. “I applaud Representative Zwiener for help int to pass these critical pieces of legislation,” he said. “It reflects her unwavering commitment to better prepare our state for future disasters, and will undoubtedly save lives. This legislation applies the lessons learned from Hurricane Harvey to improve response and recovery statewide, while also providing support to those affected. Texans have undergone tremendous challenges in the months since Hurricane Harvey devastated the Gulf Coast. But even in the face of our state’s greatest disaster, they remained resilient. Thanks to Representative Zwiener we now have the resources to match.”
