“The testimony I heard at the public hearing on Friday makes one thing clear: we have a lot of work to do if we are going to make New York a leader in preventing sexual harassment and protecting our workers. Further, we must ensure that claims are judiciously processed and protect employees from retaliation. Today, that’s simply not the case. Our state needs to move forward. We need more stringent protections against sexual harassment in state government and in the private sector. We need the bureaucracy to be more responsive, more compassionate and more efficient. Quite frankly, we’re lagging behind the New York City Human Rights Commission, and there’s no good reason for it. Powerful people in the Legislature and across state government agencies have been stifling, ignoring and mishandling these claims for far too long. I look forward to taking decisive, bipartisan action to make sure people feel safe, supported and empowered when they’re working for the state of New York,” said Ra.