SALT LAKE CITY — A House bill requiring lobbyists to undergo training in avoiding workplace harassment was endorsed Friday by the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee.
Only Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, voted against it, sending HB110to the full Senate. The bill has already been approved by the House, on a vote of 58-11 earlier this week.
Dayton said she was “just a tad uncomfortable with the assumption they can’t behave like adults unless we train them.”
The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Jeremy Peterson, R-Ogden, said the Legislature has already made that assumption about lawmakers by requiring them to take the training.
“I didn’t vote for that, either,” Dayton said.
The only public testimony on the bill was from Chase Thomas of the left-leaning Alliance for a Better Utah. Thomas said the organization supports the bill “particularly in light of the ‘Me Too’ movement.”
Peterson said the bill is intended to protect lobbyists, state employees and the public.
Article by Lisa Riley Roche with the Deseret News found here.
