Discrediting of Staffer's Date Rape Drug Claim
Doesn't Slow Lobby Behavior Regulation Bill

Capitol Inside
April 30, 2021

Texas lawmakers could be doing a significant disservice to the #MeToo crusade with legislation that was cooked up on the spur of the moment in a feeding frenzy that was ignited by a state House staffer's claims in a date rape drug case that appears to have been a hoax.

Democratic State Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Houston hatched House Bill 4661 on Wednesday and laid it out in the State Affairs Committee on Thursday morning with a personal account on how she'd been sexually harassed as a legislator earlier in her career.

Thompson - a member of the House since 1973 - acknowledged that the measure had been prompted by revelations of "appalling and nauseating behavior" in a reference to the allegations that a female aide lodged against a professional public advocate at the Capitol City's premier lobby shop.

The veteran lawmaker didn't appear to realize at the time of the presentation that the staffer's accusations would be effectively discredited later in the day when the Department of Public Safety and Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza announced that a probe had turned up no evidence of wrongdoing in the date rape drugging tale.

But the State Affairs Committee should have been aware of the developments before it voted 12-0 last night for HD 4661 in a move that set stage for a potential trip to the House floor next week. The measure would require thousands of people who register to lobby in Texas to complete sexual harassment prevention training with the Legislature reserving the right to police it.

The Senate State Affairs Committee held a public hearing on Thursday on a similar proposal that Democratic State Senator Jose Menéndez of San Antonio filed earlier this week amid the outrage that the date rape drug story triggered among Democrats and Republicans alike. The Senate panel left the lobby regulation measure pending before the upper chamber adjourned for the weekend.

The legislation's supporters have contended that it speaks to a problem that women have frequently encountered at a statehouse where the lure of power can be seductive and intoxicating and some of the men there have taken advantage of that at times when alcohol is usually involved. Lawmakers say they took steps to curb sexual misconduct at the Capitol in recent years with requirements for people on their staffs to be forced to undergo the same training.

But the measure smacks of hypocrisy in light of the fact the legislators who've been far worse in the realm of indecent sexual behavior are exempting themselves from the new state mandates that are proposed in HB 4661. There were no interim studies on the House and Senate bills that would increase state regulations for an entire lobby industry without any recent or timely evidence of the problem they seek to tackle. The legislation is bad public policy because it was designed as punishment for a crime that was never committed.

The bill's supporters stress how important it is for women to have the courage to come forward when they've been sexually abused or harassed or both. But the spirit of the women's movement is set back significantly every time a woman makes a false accusation that's spread recklessly by people for self-serving purposes.

The legislation - while well intended - is a monumental example of government overreach that hurts the women's movement because it gives credence to a character assassination scheme that most lawmakers failed to recognize and some could have even been behind.

GOP Speaker Dade Phelan has a chance to help colleagues and himself save face by allowing the measure to stew in place until it dies when deadlines start kicking in next month. Phelan could decide that the move that the foiled set up spawned has the potential to be viewed as government overkill and overreach to the extreme.