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House Votes To Require Sexual Harassment Training For Lawmakers

Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis) authored the amendment, requiring sexual harassment training for lawmakers.
Lauren Chapman/IPB News
Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis) authored the amendment, requiring sexual harassment training for lawmakers.

Lawmakers approved a House floor amendment Thursday to require yearly sexual harassment training for all state lawmakers.

The provision would require lawmakers take at least one hour of sexual harassment training each year. Exactly what qualifies as training would be decided by the House Speaker and the Senate President Pro Tem.

Rep. Karlee Macer (D-Indianapolis) says such a move is long overdue.

“And I don’t believe that Indiana has done everything right. But we certainly are on the path to doing so,” Macer says.

Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis), who authored the amendment, says it’s important the requirement be more than just informal policy.

“As Rep. Crawford used to say, ‘If it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist.’ If we put it in statute, it is in writing. It exists and it’s something that we’re going to continue to make sure that we get trained on,” Pryor says.

All 95 House members present voted in favor of the amendment.

Brandon Smith was the Statehouse reporter for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He also hosted Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state.
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