Panel reviews proposed rule change to allow information sharing among ethics, discrimination and harassment panels

Representative Molly Burke Cabralleborough, chair of the House Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel, opened the meeting to discuss a proposal to amend House rules to change the confidentiality provision to allow sharing information between the ethics panel, the discrimination prevention panel and the sexual harassment prevention panel.

The panel’s chair said the item grew out of questions raised earlier about whether combining that confidentiality change with a separate proposed change — allowing the ethics panel to issue public statements when a matter becomes generally known to explain procedure — could result in communications with this panel being disclosed publicly. "Her response was that they don't really consider any discussion with any other panel to be a part of their procedure for the purposes of that disclosure," Cabralleborough said, summarizing the response she received from Betsy Ann about the ethics panel's intent.

Panel members expressed caution. One member said a short guardrail sentence in the rules — explicitly stating that a public ethics statement may not disclose that the ethics panel consulted other panels — would reduce the risk that a press release or public statement unintentionally reveals the involvement of the sexual harassment prevention panel and thereby identifies sensitive matters.

Cabralleborough said she would report the panel’s lingering concerns back to Betsy Ann and follow up with Representative Lalonde (the chair of the House committee the change would pass through). The group agreed to convey its reservations rather than hold an immediate vote; if necessary, they said they would schedule another meeting.

The panel did not take a formal vote on the rule change during this meeting.