Lobbyist calls for anti-sexual harassment policy during House speaker’s listening tour in Philadelphia

A lobbyist who says she was sexually harassed by a state legislator asked Pennsylvania lawmakers Friday to strengthen the legislature’s misconduct policy.

Andi Perez, a lobbyist for the labor union SEIU, described the harassment during a forum in Philadelphia organized by state House Speaker Mark Rozzi (D., Berks). The event at St. Joseph’s University was part of a “listening tour” Rozzi began this week to get input from the public about how to reform Harrisburg.

Appearing before Rozzi and other lawmakers, Perez recounted how she was discussing legislation with a sitting lawmaker outside the Capitol building when he harassed her.

“This lawmaker decided to caress my leg — I was wearing a skirt — all the while telling me he was impressed by my passion and knowledge of the issues we were discussing. … I moved away from him, hoping he would stop,“ Perez said. “He did not.”

When Perez tried to file a complaint with the House Ethics Committee, she said, she was told that under House rules, only employees of the House can file such complaints. “There was nothing in the House rules that allowed leadership to officially take any further action,” she said.

Perez said she wants the House rules to change to “protect any person from harassment from a lawmaker.”

She did not identify the legislator who harassed her.

At the conclusion of her remarks, Rozzi told her: “Thank you, Andi. Thank you for your bravery.”

» READ MORE: Lobbyist says she was harassed by current Pa. lawmaker

Rozzi’s listening tour comes amid an impasse among House leaders over the rules governing the legislative body. Typically the rules are enacted the first day of the new session — as was the case earlier this month in the GOP-led Senate. But in the narrowly divided House — there are 101 Republicans and 99 Democrats — the parties haven’t passed a rules package.

The House can’t legislate without rules, and Rozzi has recessed the chamber until Feb. 27. The Senate is also in recess.

By that point in time, Democrats are expected to hold a majority. Three special elections are scheduled for Feb. 7 to fill vacancies in districts that favor Democrats.

Those wins would give the party a one-seat majority — assuming Rozzi remains a Democrat. That’s an open question, because he’s said he would govern as an independent.

» READ MORE: Pa.’s top House leader wants you to help fix gridlock in Harrisburg

Rozzi this week said he would keep the state House doors locked until lawmakers compromise on rules and promise to pass a constitutional amendment to allow adults who suffered childhood sexual abuse to file civil suits in a two-year window.

The Republican-led Senate passed the amendment this month as part of a broader package, including one measure that would impose stricter voter ID requirements. Democrats largely opposed the bundling of those amendments, saying the issue of abuse shouldn’t be paired with what they called more partisan initiatives. The amendments didn’t come up for a vote in the House.

“I know the answers are not going to come from the very people who got us here in the first place,” Rozzi said Friday in Philadelphia. “We need to look outside of Harrisburg and reach out directly to the people.”

Several speakers criticized how power is concentrated in legislative leadership and committee chairs, who can halt bills even if the legislation has broad support. They said rules should be changed to empower rank-and-file members and the minority party.

Some called for Pennsylvania to open primary elections to voters who aren’t affiliated with either major party, and for an independent redistricting commission.

“Instead of, ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’ the golden rule in Harrisburg is: ‘The guy with the gold makes the rules,’” said Rabbi Michael Pollack, executive director of March on Harrisburg. “It’s structured to favor big-moneyed special interests.”

Some Harrisburg observers have expressed skepticism toward Rozzi’s approach.

Elizabeth Stelle, director of policy analysis at the conservative-leaning Commonwealth Foundation, urged Rozzi to reconvene the House.

“The pursuit of this listening tour drowns out the voice of all Pennsylvanians eager to make their voice heard through the time-tried democratic process of representative government,” Stelle said in prepared remarks during Rozzi’s Pittsburgh forum Wednesday.

Laslo Boyd, head of the Democratic political group Change PA, described the tour as a “gimmick.”

“Rozzi, after failing to even get agreement on a Rules package for the session, said that, despite having served in Harrisburg for 10 years, he has just discovered that the system is broken,” Boyd wrote in an email to donors this week. “Seriously, is that what constitutes leadership these days?”