House resolution would let panels share limited information and publish anonymous closure reports

At a March 21 meeting of the House Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel, Representative Lalonde outlined a proposed House resolution that would let legislative panels share limited information about complaints, publish anonymous ‘‘closure reports’’ summarizing the nature of a complaint and how it was resolved, and create narrow exceptions to confidentiality to permit information‑sharing with other panels, courts or law enforcement.

The resolution is pending before the House Rules Committee; Lalonde said she is scheduled to explain the measure to the Rules Committee next Wednesday and hopes it will be considered on the floor later in the session. The proposal grew from work the ethics panel began during the last legislative session, Lalonde said.

Lalonde described three main changes in the draft resolution. First, if a matter has become public, a panel could make brief statements about the status of an inquiry or note that it is using a restorative process, without disclosing confidential details or identifying individuals. "We couldn't say anything about the status," Lalonde said of current practice when a matter is already public, citing a high‑profile example from last summer.

Second, the draft would require a closure report when a complaint is closed: a general, nonidentifying description of what the complaint involved and how it was resolved. "When we close a complaint, [being] able to describe generally without naming names, but describe generally what the complaint involved and then also generally how it was resolved," Lalonde said.

Third, the resolution would create limited exceptions to confidentiality that would allow information or records to be shared with members or staff of the discrimination prevention panel or the House Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel to inform investigations under each panel's rules, provided the recipients agree to maintain confidentiality. Lalonde said the language would still preserve the ability to provide records in response to a court order or to cooperate with law enforcement.

A committee member at the meeting said they supported the proposal but urged clearer language to prevent public statements from disclosing that two panels were collaborating on a particular case. "I'm in agreement with all of this," the committee member said, and asked that any public statements be drafted to avoid identifying cross‑panel collaboration.

Lalonde said the closure‑report concept was modeled on disclosure practices used by judicial conduct boards and by certain professional regulation bodies for attorneys, and that the panel could refine draft language with legislative counsel before presenting it to Rules. Other changes described — such as internal information‑sharing between staff and members of panels — could be added to each panel's procedural documents rather than placed in the House rules, Lalonde said.

The meeting did not include a formal vote on the draft resolution. The measure remains before the House Rules Committee; Lalonde said she will appear there next Wednesday to explain the proposal and any proposed amendments.