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Diverse team of New Mexico lawmakers drafts harassment rules

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Eight New Mexico state lawmakers have been assigned to rewriting policies that guard against sexual harassment in the Statehouse amid accounts by women of entrenched misconduct. The working group that met this week includes a retired First Amendment-rights attorney and a millennial-generation organizer for social justice causes. Republicans and Democrats are equally represented, while women outnumber men 5-3. Republican Rep. Kelly Fajardo of Belen already has made it clear she wants independent investigations of future harassment complaints to safeguard against reprisals and build trust. She'll be working alongside GOP Rep. Jim Dines, the driving force behind a 2018 ballot measure to create an independent state ethics commission. Democrats in the commission include first-term legislator Angelica Rubio of Las Cruces and two committee chairwomen.