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DeSantis: Congressional sexual harassment payouts shouldn't be secret

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The proposed bill would also ban the use of taxpayer dollars for sexual harassment settlements for members of Congress or congressional employees. Any member of Congress named in such a settlement would have to reimburse the government.
U. S. Rep. Ron DeSantis wants to shine a light on secret congressional harassment payouts.
DeSantis, R-Palm Coast, announced Wednesday he will introduce legislation making all taxpayer-funded payments in harassment claims public, including “the nature of the initial allegation and the member of Congress implicated.”
The proposed bill would also ban the use of taxpayer dollars for sexual harassment settlements for members of Congress or congressional employees. Any member of Congress named in such a settlement would have to reimburse the government.
The legislation comes in the wake of news reports that Michigan Democratic U. S. Rep. John Conyers ’ office paid a woman more than $27,000 under a confidentiality agreement to settle a complaint in 2015 that she was fired from his Washington staff because she rejected his sexual advances. The settlement was first reported by Buzzfeed.
The government has paid more than $17 million in taxpayer money over the last 20 years, through both Democratic and Republican control of both chambers, to resolve claims of sexual harassment, overtime pay disputes and other workplace violations filed by employees of Congress.
“Settlements paid with tax dollars should not be kept secret,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is spent.”
“Furthermore, members of Congress cannot be allowed to use the American people’s money as a personal slushfund to cover wrongdoing,” he said. “I’m working on legislation to unseal the settlement records, bar the use of tax dollars to pay harassment claims against members and staff, prohibit members from using their office budgets to camouflage settlement payments” — what he called “the Conyers Rule” — “and require reimbursement of the taxpayer by members and staff who have had settlements paid due to their misconduct.”
The Commission, created this summer as a 501c3 nonprofit organization, kicked off with a fundraiser at the Mad Cow Theater this month and aims to raise $50,000 by the 2018 campaign season.
Florida governor Rick Scott addresses the accusations of sexual harassment surrounding state senator Jack Latvala during a tax-cut announcement in Sanford, Fla., Monday, November 6,2017. The governor did not mention Latvala by name in his remarks to reporters, but said “It’s disgusting. It’s wrong.” (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

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