A bi-partisan group of women in the General Assembly has joined forces to tackle a series of issues – including paid parental leave for state workers and strengthening required reporting of sexual assault on college campuses.
It’s part of a package of 11 bills sponsored by nearly every woman in both parties, though Republicans are distancing themselves from ones that could affect the budget.
Most of the proposals are still being drafted behind the scenes with community interest groups helping to finalize details.
Advocates are already balking at a bill that would stiffen sexual assault reporting requirements on college campuses.
Federal law requires anyone in a position of trust to report sexual assaults to the school’s Title IX coordinator.
This bill would force the original reporter to then forward that information to the state Department of Justice and local law enforcement.
“I’m not in favor of anything that significantly dissuades victims from coming forward to get help,” said Eric Merlino, executive director of the counseling group ContactLifeline.
Merlino also says he’s hesitant to tell what universities or colleges what to do in these situations.
"This is an epidemic that needs some attention," said Rep. Kim Williams (D-Newport). "There's a lot of unreported sexual assaults going on."
But she notes that she "doesn't want to victimize victims anymore" and that she will be meeting with advocates next week to hear their concerns.
In a statement, the University of Delaware says, “"We look forward to reviewing the proposed bill, with hopes that any enacted legislation will respect victims' wishes about reporting sexual assault incidents.”
DSU officials didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Last year, the federal Department of Education announced it was investigating the University of Delaware over their sexual assault practices along with dozens of other higher education institutions across the country.
Another proposal would allow full time public employees four months of paid maternity or paternity leave after a year on the job.
That could be used any time within the first year of the child’s birth.
Rep. Ruth Briggs King (R-Georgetown) and other Republicans withheld their support for this bill and a few others, noting the affect on the budget.
Briggs King says she’s concerned about the potential for double dipping.
“I think particularly, we have a lot of state employees that husband and wife both for the state and there can be a tremendous fiscal responsibility, a financial burden for the state,” she said.
Currently, California, New Jersey and Rhode Island are the only states offering paid family leave according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The House’s prime sponsor, Rep. Debra Heffernan (D-Bellefonte), says the bill will have several positive affects.
“Granting paid leave will contribute to the establishment of parent-child bonds, breast feeding and also allows infants to receive their vaccines so they can develop stronger immune systems before they go to daycare,” Heffernan said.
House Democratic officials say that a fiscal analysis of the bill from the Controller General’s office will be inconclusive due to the amount of variables associated with it.
Other proposals in the package include increasing the amount of sexual assault training for law enforcement, allowing victims to testify remotely in court if judges approve and require state contractors to pay women as much as men working the same job.
None of these bills have been introduced and most of them are still waiting for either final approval from legislative lawyers or further consultations with interest groups.
Despite her opposition to some of the proposals, Briggs King says she supports the package as a whole, saying she agrees with advocates saying some of these reforms have taken too long to come to the forefront.
“We’ve heard them, but now we realize that [women] are voting and exercising their voice in another way and so people are taking more attention to that fact.”
Officials say they hope to have all of these 11 bills introduced by the time the General Assembly reconvenes from their spring break in the middle of April.
