The New Jersey Assembly voted Thursday to adopt its first new anti-harassment policy in nearly a decade, and the first of the #MeToo era.
The Democrat-led Assembly approved the new bipartisan policy and accompanying legislation 79-0 on Thursday. A state Senate vote is set for Thursday as well.
The policy, which lawmakers described as strict and "zero tolerance," supersedes a 2009 document and includes a handful of changes.
It requires anti-harassment training at least every two years, specifies examples of prohibited conduct, and spells out a method for final determination letters to become public under the Open Public Records Act.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, who called for a review of the previous policy, said the fact that highly charged testimony over alleged sexual misconduct in Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing was happening simultaneously was not related.
But other lawmakers mentioned the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford directly.
"I might describe it as an appropriate day. I listened to that testimony this morning. I listened to it right up to the minute I came into this hallway and to hear that brilliant honest woman stand up and speak out and then five minutes calling on us to do this. I couldn't find a more appropriate moment for us to be here," she said.
Democratic Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt specifically invoked the #MeToo movement on the floor during a speech, which garnered a standing ovation.
"We want to empower our daughters," she said.
The policy came after a review by lawmakers who began pushing for updates amid accounts of sexual misconduct as part of the anti-harassment movement that grew out of allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Earlier this year, The Associated Press filed records requests with legislatures in every state seeking information on the number of sexual misconduct or harassment complaints.
New Jersey was among a majority with no publicly available records.
