Committee Passes Local Lawmaker's Bill to Protect Whistleblowers

A bill by Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, that would establish protections for legislative staffers who report ethics or other breaches by their bosses cleared its first hurdle Tuesday.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee approved AB 1788 following a hearing, sending it to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

"There is no good reason to vote against this legislation," Melendez said. "Anyone who opposes this measure is siding with corruption and violating their oath of office.

"Every elected official owes it to the people who elected them to ensure there is zero tolerance when it comes to corruption."

AB 1788 is a repeat of AB 289, the "Legislative Employee Whistleblower Protection Act," which was died last August in the Senate Committee on Appropriations after its chairman, Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-South Gate, refused to bring the measure forward for a vote, even though it received unanimous support in the Assembly.

Melendez said AB 1788 aims to "hold politicians accountable and restore the public's trust in their government."

It would entitle legislators' staff members to the same protections afforded employees in state agencies and the courts under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1999.

The bill would make staffers free to file ethics complaints or other official allegations of wrongdoing by lawmakers or underlings without fear of retaliation.

Melendez said she wanted provisions of existing law to be universally applied, so any member of the Legislature, or his or her agent, would be subject to penalties for using "official authority or influence for the purpose of intimidating, threatening, or coercing" a whistleblower who might be dissuaded from exposing misdeeds.

"This is the people's government and will remain the people's government," Melendez said.

Assemblywoman Melissa A. Melendez represents the 67th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake, Murrieta, Menifee, Wildomar and a portion of Hemet. It also includes the Riverside County unincorporated areas of Lake Mathews, Good Hope, Nuevo, and Winchester.

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