173.927. ����� (2) The Legislative Equity Officer may employ and fix the compensation of such professional assistants and other employees as the officer deems necessary for the work under the officer

173.927.

����� (2) The Legislative Equity Officer may employ and fix the compensation of such professional assistants and other employees as the officer deems necessary for the work under the officer�s charge.

����� (3) The Legislative Equity Officer may enter into contracts to carry out the functions of the Legislative Equity Office. [2019 c.604 �5]

����� 173.912 Contracting for independent investigator; investigator duties. (1) Under the direction of the Joint Committee on Conduct, the Legislative Equity Officer shall contract with one or more individuals who are unaffiliated with the legislative branch and who meet the standards and criteria established by the committee for performing services for the legislative branch as an independent investigator. An independent investigator shall:

����� (a) Receive complaints and reports alleging harassment or other conduct that is asserted to violate standards of harassment, discrimination or retaliation prescribed by legislative branch personnel rules;

����� (b) Conduct investigations, determine facts, write investigative reports and report outcomes of investigations to appointing authorities or other persons or entities identified in legislative branch personnel rules or chamber rules as recipients of independent investigator reports; and

����� (c) Make recommendations regarding interim safety measures to appointing authorities or other persons or entities identified in legislative branch personnel rules or chamber rules as recipients of independent investigator recommendations on interim safety measures.

����� (2) An independent investigator may not have access to confidential files and records of the Legislative Equity Officer. [2019 c.604 �6]

����� 173.915 Respectful workplace training. (1) The Legislative Equity Officer shall at least once each calendar quarter conduct a minimum of two hours of respectful workplace training, including training on:

����� (a) Legislative branch workplace harassment avoidance policies and rules;

����� (b) Legislative branch procedures and rules for reporting or filing complaints to address instances of harassment; and

����� (c) Free speech and free expression rights guaranteed under the Oregon and United States Constitutions.

����� (2) The training described in subsection (1) of this section must be attended annually by all legislators, legislative staff, legislative interns, legislative volunteers and lobbyists who are required to register with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. Employees of contractors who reasonably expect to be regularly present in the State Capitol must also attend the training described in subsection (1) of this section. Executive branch and judicial branch personnel who are regularly present in the State Capitol may be invited to attend the training. The Legislative Equity Officer shall record attendance at the trainings and shall make attendance records publicly available.

����� (3)(a) The Legislative Equity Officer shall make the training described in subsection (1) of this section available online. The officer shall maintain records of all persons who have taken online training.

����� (b) The online training described in this subsection is intended to be a last-resort alternative to the in-person training described in subsection (1) of this section. Except for a registered lobbyist whose principal office is outside of this state, an individual required to attend training under this section may substitute online training for in-person attendance only once in any two-year period.

����� (4)(a) The Legislative Equity Officer shall strive to present the training in small group settings and employ best practices to maximize attendance at in-person trainings.

����� (b) Of the trainings described in subsection (1) of this section, at least one training session annually shall be on basic requirements under legislative branch personnel rules and at least one training session annually shall be an in-depth focus on one of the following topics:

����� (A) Conduct that constitutes harassment under legislative branch personnel rules or other law;

����� (B) Specific guidance addressing subtle forms of discrimination and harassment that become unlawful because of the pervasiveness of the conduct;

����� (C) Available methods of reporting harassment;

����� (D) Supervisor obligations to report harassment;

����� (E) The authority every individual has to withdraw consent to intimate conduct and the challenges associated with consensual relationships in the workplace;

����� (F) Examples of positive workplace behaviors and constructive working relationships;

����� (G) Skills necessary for individuals to become active bystanders who promote culture change and oppose harassing behavior they observe in the workplace;

����� (H) Methods for discouraging behavior that does not promote a productive and inclusive work environment;

����� (I) The human impact and harm to the work environment that harassment causes; or

����� (J) Free speech and free expression rights guaranteed under the Oregon and United States Constitutions.

����� (5) The Legislative Equity Officer may contract with other persons or entities with experience performing harassment avoidance and respectful workplace training for the performance of the training described in this section.

����� (6) The Legislative Equity Officer shall employ best practices in:

����� (a) Developing training content described in this section and delivery methodologies for the training content; and

����� (b) Writing and publishing written guidance on Legislative Branch Rules and policies relating to:

����� (A) Promoting a respectful and inclusive workplace;

����� (B) Reporting or filing complaints about harassing, discriminatory or retaliatory behavior, or other behavior prohibited by branch rules or policies; and

����� (C) Understanding options available to those who are experiencing behavior prohibited by branch rules or policies.

����� (7) The Legislative Equity Officer shall consult with the Legislative Administrator and the committee described in ORS 173.921 (2) in the development of respectful workplace training. [2019 c.604 �7; 2019 c.604 �9]

����� 173.918 Adopting policies for lobbyist respectful workplace training. The Joint Committee on Conduct established under ORS 173.900 may adopt policies that establish content and duration requirements for training sessions described in ORS 171.742. [2019 c.604 �24]

����� 173.921 Culture and climate surveys. (1) The Legislative Equity Officer shall regularly conduct culture and climate surveys of legislators, legislative staff, lobbyists and others who regularly interact with the legislative branch to ascertain the alignment between stated legislative branch policies and goals relating to workplace culture and standards of behavior, and actual beliefs and experiences of those who work in the legislative branch or regularly interact with the legislative branch. The officer shall make the results of culture and climate surveys publicly available.

����� (2) If a diversity, equity and inclusion committee composed of members of the Legislative Assembly and partisan and nonpartisan staff of the legislative branch exists at the time of consultation, the Legislative Equity Officer shall consult with the committee on culture and climate surveys, training, building policies and practices that may affect legislative branch employees.

����� (3) The Legislative Equity Officer may contract with other persons or entities with experience conducting culture and climate surveys to conduct the surveys described in subsection (1) of this section.

����� (4) The Legislative Equity Officer may collaborate with the Legislative Administrator to provide training, coaching and the production of materials intended to improve State Capitol culture and on matters other than workplace harassment. [2019 c.604 �11]

����� 173.924 Reporting harassment to Legislative Equity Officer. (1) The Legislative Equity Officer shall be available to receive information from any individual about harassing behavior occurring in the State Capitol or involving legislators, legislative staff, lobbyists or others who are present in the State Capitol or who engage with legislators, legislative staff or lobbyists, whether in the State Capitol or elsewhere.

����� (2) The Legislative Equity Officer shall provide confidential process counseling to individuals who believe they have experienced or observed harassment, including but not limited to:

����� (a) Providing information on legislative branch personnel rules, policies and reporting processes; and

����� (b) Providing information on the extent to which information may be kept confidential or may be subject to disclosure.

����� (3) If the Legislative Equity Officer receives information concerning conduct that is inconsistent with a respectful workplace policy adopted by the Joint Committee on Conduct but that does not rise to the level of creating a hostile work environment or violating public accommodation law, the officer shall refer the reporter to the Legislative Administrator.

����� (4) The Legislative Equity Officer may not engage in any investigation following a report or complaint alleging harassment or following any consultation described in subsection (1) or (2) of this section.

����� (5) The Legislative Equity Officer may not share any information acquired during a disclosure or consultation made confidential by legislative rule with an independent investigator performing services under ORS 173.912, except that nonpersonally identifiable information may be disclosed to facilitate the taking of any action that is consistent with legislative rules and with the principles of the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. [2019 c.604 �12]

����� 173.927 Establishing and maintaining Capitol Leadership Team; team duties. (1) The Legislative Equity Officer shall establish and maintain a Capitol Leadership Team, consisting of legislators, legislative staff, lobbyists, executive and judicial branch staff who regularly interact with the legislative branch, employees of contractors who regularly interact with the legislative branch, and interested members of the public, who have an interest in promoting a productive and inclusive environment in the State Capitol and at functions and events outside of the State Capitol at which legislators, staff, lobbyists and others interact. The officer shall give preference to interested individuals who wish to serve on the team and who also have had experience working on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Capitol Leadership Team members who are legislators or partisan legislative staff shall be composed equally of those affiliated with the majority party and the minority party, so that there are equal numbers of legislators from the majority party and from the minority party and equal numbers of partisan staff team members from the majority party and from the minority party.

����� (2) The Legislative Administrator shall provide members of the Capitol Leadership Team with advanced respectful workplace training, with an emphasis on implementing cultural change in the workplace.

����� (3) Capitol Leadership Team members shall serve as mentors and informal resources of information for others who are interested in promoting a more respectful workplace or who are facing challenges in the workplace.

����� (4) The Capitol Leadership Team shall identify additional services or additional training needs and shall report those identified additional services or training needs to the Legislative Equity Officer and to the Joint Committee on Conduct. [2019 c.604 �13]

����� 173.930 Contracting for offsite process counselor. (1) At the direction of the Joint Committee on Conduct, the Legislative Equity Officer shall contract with one or more offsite process counselors to perform the duties described in ORS 173.933 or such other duties as are assigned by legislative rule or by the committee.

����� (2) The committee shall establish minimum qualifications for an offsite process counselor and may establish other criteria for the selection of an offsite process counselor, including criteria by which a request for proposals may be evaluated or by which external experts may be invited to advise the committee on the selection of an offsite process counselor. [2019 c.604 �14]

����� 173.933 Offsite process counselor duties. (1) An offsite process counselor under contract with the Legislative Equity Officer under ORS 173.930 shall be available to receive information from any individual about harassing behavior occurring in the State Capitol or involving legislators, legislative staff, lobbyists or others who are present in the State Capitol or who engage with legislators, legislative staff or lobbyists, whether in the State Capitol or elsewhere.

����� (2) The offsite process counselor shall provide confidential process counseling to individuals who believe they have experienced or observed harassment, including but not limited to:

����� (a) Providing information on legislative branch personnel rules, policies and reporting processes; and

����� (b) Providing information on the extent to which information may be kept confidential or may be subject to disclosure.

����� (3) The offsite process counselor may not engage in any investigation following a report or complaint alleging harassment or following any consultation described in subsection (1) or (2) of this section.

����� (4) The offsite process counselor may not share any information acquired during a consultation described in subsection (1) or (2) of this section with the independent investigator performing services under ORS 173.912 and legislative branch personnel rules, except that nonpersonally identifiable information may be disclosed to facilitate the taking of any action that is consistent with legislative rules and with the principles of the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.

����� (5) Upon request of a person making a disclosure, report or complaint to the Legislative Equity Officer, the offsite process counselor may be present when the disclosure, report or complaint is made. [2019 c.604 �15]

����� 173.936 Exemption from public record disclosure; exceptions to exemption. Records and information of the Legislative Equity Officer appointed in ORS 173.900 that relate to disclosures, reports or other allegations made to the equity officer or that relate to investigations, reports or counseling undertaken by the equity officer or by an independent investigator or offsite process counselor at the request or direction of the equity officer are exempt from required disclosure under ORS