May 25, 2021

President Majority Leader Minority Leader Speaker Majority Leader Minority Leader Hugh McKean

Dear Executive Committee Members:

Currently, we are working to pass Senate Bill 21-176 which is a much needed update to workplace harassment in . The expectations in the last few years have dramatically changed in the wake of both the #MeToo movement and the racial reckoning that our country has seen. Workers everywhere in Colorado have the expectation to show up to a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination. Eighty three percent of women have experienced workplace harassment which leads to decreased productivity and oftentimes women will simply leave the workforce.

The General Assembly experienced this drastic cultural shift and realized that our own policies must be updated. The Workplace Harassment Policy of the General Assembly in 2019 was a historic step forward to ensure that the people working at the Capitol are not subjected to workplace harassment. Putting this policy in place required the efforts of many legislators, legislative employees, partisan and nonpartisan staff. During the many difficult and important conversations that were required to reach this compromise, we repeatedly acknowledged the need to protect our colleagues and staff from harassment.

In crafting this policy, we took the best practices and the legal standards that were then available, and negotiated numerous details and wove together a policy that we are proud of. However, as more information has come to light in the recent past, we realize that the Capitol policy includes some aspects, like “severe or pervasive,” that should no longer be the standard by which we measure harassing conduct. The severe or pervasive standard established decades ago is outdated and has resulted in sexual assault, physical contact, verbal harassment, and various other forms of workplace discrimination that courts have decided to have not reached the standard of severe or pervasive. Essentially, severe and pervasive gives acceptance that there is an acceptable level of workplace harassment and discrimination. We all know that not to be true.

Should the POWR Act, SB21-176, be passed, the General Assembly’s Workplace Harassment Policy should be updated to comply with the standards outlined in the bill. We believe that modern standards for safety and dignity should be afforded to all, including those who work in the Colorado State Capitol.

Sincerely,

Representative Matt Gray Representative

Senator Senator